Another Gray Ohio Winter Day

Winter is a season of resting and hibernating. The plants take a time to rest and get ready to bloom again in the spring. Different animals either burrow in for the winter or head for the South and warmer weather. People still have to go out, but it is also a good time to curl up by the fire with a good book or a winter project. Ohio has a lot of gray days in the winter. It can be depressing if you dwell on them. Or you can think ahead to spring time and the new beginnings that come with it. This year has been very different. There are cycles and patterns in the weather and all years are different in their own way. We have had some really cold temperatures and this past week, we had some days in the mid to high 60's. We have gotten snow and rain. It just got cold again last night, but our grass is green and the daffodils are starting to push their way up through the soil. I hear a lot of people complain about the weather and I have been guilty of that myself. However, "The Weatherman" controls the weather. He has told us that everything works together for our good. So, I need to learn to not complain. Today there is a light sleet/snow coming down. You have to be out there to see it or hear it or feel it.

God has been showing me so many things. Too much time is wasted picking at the surface things in life. There is too much fault finding. I was discussing this with a friend this week. Some people have a problem with what colors you wear. Some have a problem with what sort of food you eat. Some like to pick apart people because they look or act different than they do. When I was really noticing it in others, God showed me how I do the same thing. I am trying through His grace and strength to stop doing that. We are all different. We do things different ways. Some people who dress a certain way do so because their very heart is to please the Lord and they believe that is what He has called them to do. Others dress a certain way because they are part of a group or they think it makes them more holy somehow. God looks at our hearts and its motivations, not the outside. This can be said of anything we do or say. I need to give grace and be more merciful to some and also need to be checking my heart motivations for what I do.

Here is a picture of "the pup". Our yard is in constant need of picking up. Anything is fair game as a chew toy. In the next 2 pictures you can see some large bones she found somewhere. Someone probably butchered their own deer and the bone pile was found. There is also a tennis ball in the second picture. Star LOVES tennis balls. They are her favorite toy. She plays with them forever. Since Dixie has arrived on the farm, most of our tennis balls are naked and no longer yellow and fuzzy. =) Surprisingly the one in the picture still has its cover on.

Here is Belle laying around. We got her broke (most people call it fixed) and now she is a different dog. Gino the cat with his warm winter fur is testing the waters to be so close to her. He never knows if he will be tolerated or chased. I am not sure what the dogs would even do if they ever caught him. They just like to chase and herd. That is their instinct.
These next 2 pictures just show the bleak winter landscape here on the farm.

Here is a pictures of a couple of daffodils sticking their head out to test the weather.
This is in a more protected area of the grass. It looks like spring green to me!!!
Doesn't this look like weird little footprints going up the wall?
It is where ivy attached itself to the house and we pulled it down. Here are some vines that have not been pulled down yet.
What is winter like in your part of the world? I will have to post another list of countries that have visited my blog. I have not done that in awhile. Has your weather gotten cold and stayed there or is it flucuating like ours? Is it warm and sunny where you are? Let's hear from you.