Walk with me to our property boundary little creek

Trapped in ice #macrophotography under a rock ledge

Greenery in the winter #macrophotography on a rock by our creek

Hey kiddos! It's just us here today and some of the snow has melted off. Let's go take care of the chickens, and then go down to the little creek! I hear it rushing pretty loudly down there below the barn!

One way to crush eggshells for the garden: Hey kids, wanna come stomp on these eggshells?

I opened up the barn and then the chicken coop. As usual, the chickens excitedly burst out, rushed across the barn, skidded to a stop at the sight of the snow, and turned tail and ran back into the barn interior. They've done this every. single. day. since it snowed. I wasn't having it today, what with their propensity to poop prolifically all over the barn. I chased them outside with the leaf rake so I could change their water, top off their food and collect eggs without tripping over chickens.

Bunch of pansies, haha

Sunny is a really good sport.

At this point I cheated a bit with the "walking" part. Our three choices for getting to the creek were
1 - scrabble down the steep hillside behind the barn, through deep snow and jagger bushes
2 - walk nearly half a mile along the roadside out front
3 - drive the UTV along the road

1 and 2 didn't appeal to me, between my sinus infection and having small children in tow. I opted for #3 :)

Melting snow is making this fuller than usual!

I really like these smooth stair-stepped rock ledges

Because I'm mother of the year, yes, I let my kids play in frigid creeks. Their Bogs rain boots are rated to keep their feet warm and dry down to -30 degrees F though. I just reminded them about a hundred times to stay out of deep spots so the water wouldn't pour in over the tops ;)

Can't keep this little guy out of the water no matter what time of year it is

Beautiful!

I like how that balanced stick is completely iced over on the bottom end

Little waterfall in a tunnel created by the twisted tree

Looking further up the creek

She wouldn't wade at first because she didn't want to get her new pants wet. But after awhile, she couldn't resist!

Trying out some #macrophotography on this moss and snow

Then we walked up the road a little ways, where the rock walls are, looking for icicles shining in the late afternoon light.

We spotted some!

Can't....reeeeach....

We then headed home because Mommy was wearing only yoga pants and garden boots and getting cold--well, obviously I had some other clothes too, but inadequate in the pants and boots department. The temperature was dropping fast! I'm glad we got out and enjoyed a little fresh air!