Beautiful story. Living life as you and your family do is pretty much an adventure, tapping into the depths of things many of us don't ever know exist.
My part of the world at the moment is a blue-skies, mostly-warm and sunny Mediterranean city. No challenges at all —of the sort you have, I mean.
I wish you enjoy more beautiful chilly days until the snow melts away.
Oh my, Mediterranean skies! I did a term abroad in college studying Italian, and I'll never forget how blue the sky can be there. Days laying on the beach on the Amalfi coast, and a whole weekend hiking around Capri, will be with me always. I'm warm just thinking about it!
The one thing I definitely don't miss is driving a little Fiat up mountain roads. I'm a better driver for having that experience...but I don't miss driving in Italy at all!
Loved reading this! Brrr. I will enjoy the nice 75 this weekend because we are dropping 20 degrees beginning Monday. We are in for a cold spell next week in the 50’s!! That’s 4 layer clothes weather there!
I remember going to high school in California, and when it'd dip into the 50's all the girls would bring full size blankets with them to school and stay wrapped in them all day (over their 4 layers of clothes). I definitely remember when 50 was cold to me. It's all relative, and what you get used to. Now 40's are tank top weather =)
S. FL. here! Truthfully, south of Palm Beach, there's only 2 seasons-Wet and Dry. There's a Fire Season, so, 3? LOL. Fire season is at the very end of Dry, when the first thunderstorms bring lightning to the somewhat volatile vegetation.
I have a friend in LA. Now that I think of it, he never complains about snow or ice...
Snow throwing. Do mind your lower back as you don't want that kind of pain to become chronic. (I know about this....). Maple sap is flowing here in Shrewsbury, MA and I'll start boiling today. That freak cold snap reset the trees. I actually had flow 3 weeks ago... for one day.
Very cold and strange weather here in Oregon. But not as cold as you. Cold enough to have issues doing farm chores. It was so icy down to my barn that instead of ice cleats I could have used ice skates. I wanted to know what kind of a stove it is at the end of life in the snow? What do you use it for as i looks like the top is a tray with steam.
That's a maple syrup evaporator from Vermont Evaporator Company. We got it many years ago, and it was actually one of their very first prototypes when they were first getting started. They're making really sleek ones now, that also double as BBQ's and Smokers. https://vermontevaporator.com/
Hi Ashley. You left no stone unturned in your description of living and working in the frozen north. I grew up in western Kentucky and although it’s nowhere near as brutal at your neck of the woods there are some of the same challenges in dealing with cold weather. I live in Florida now in retirement and love this easy life. I have a couple old farm tractors that use around to clean up after hurricanes. I’ve read about your back up power system and I have one also. I’m always interested on renewable energy. I’ve learned to lacto ferment. I follow Karen Diggs in that regard. My wife and I always have something growing in our little garden plot. Right now we have some lettuce, beets, and radishes. We had some passion fruits before the frost knocked down our vines. We have some snow birds here but they’ll be leaving soon enough heading back north. My favorite bird is the Swallowtail Kite, which winter in central and South America but they be arriving here soon to raise new chicks.
I love fresh passion fruits! They grew on the fence line on my walk to school growing up, and those crazy flowers were really amazing to see as a kid (and the fruit too).
Aside from the crazy blizzard and cold snap that swept half the country right before Christmas (and sent us down to -40 windchills in Kentucky, of all places) it has been a very uneventful winter here. We've had maybe 3-4 cumulative inches of snow all winter and nothing is on the ground right now. The last several days have been in the mid 50 degree range for us, and I'm quite glad about it. I already dislike winter, but this year has been particularly challenging since our half-mile driveway is in desperate need of gravel. I've been praying for the snow, ice, and rain to stay away to keep the driveway in good enough shape to last us until it dries out and our gravel guy is willing to deliver out here. So far so good! We've had more sunny days lately too, which our off-grid system has been loving. Not having to run the generator has been pretty nice this week. Patiently waiting for real spring to show up. Until then, I'll continue enjoying the photos of your snowy winter wonderland from a distance! It is beautiful, if nothing else. And having shoveled 1/4 mile of our driveway many times, I can absolutely relate!
Our driveway is also in desperate need of gravel! We completely re-built it about 3 years ago as most of it had washed out, but it seems like it's going to need a gravel every other year to stay in decent shape. I was really hoping it'd last longer!
Sounds about right. We have to do new gravel every 2-3 years depending on how the weather has treated it during that time. We did the back half of our driveway back in 2020 but the front half hasn't had any since 2019 for a variety of *fun reasons* and it is getting desperate there. It's been a warm, dry February here and I am just hoping it holds out a little longer so we can get our gravel guy out here. We really want to improve the slope and the drainage ditches as much as we can too so we can keep more of the gravel on the driveway and less of it washing away. The parts we've improved so far seem to be holding up pretty well. Other areas need some serious intervention 😬
As always, you share such helpful info, Ashley! We are new to CT having come from MD and before that Alaska, so we're breaking in our wintering skills again. CT isn't VT though! This last cold snap we got down to -30 and did fine heat wise having just installed a new heating system and a backup one. A good time to be inside by the fire perusing seed magazines. :o)
Yeah, that -40 was really something. I was so glad that it didn't last for more than 48 hours. I did the usual drill of leaving cupboards open to receive the ambient temperature of the room. I forgot to turn on the oil furnace to aid the geothermal heat. When I woke up, it was 48 degrees; the geo just couldn't keep up and the yellow light was on. I immediately turned on the oil, shut off the geo and changed the filter and then rebooted. Phew, the green light came back on! I am stingy with the oil. I get the tank topped off every ten years or so. The solar usually covers the electric that the geothermal system uses, so I only have to use the oil when it's that kind of cold. We hadn't had frigid temps all winter, so it wasn't anything I'd even thought about.
I have a battery-operated snow blower that I love. My driveway is large, but it's flat. I used to shovel it, but now I look at it and wonder how I ever managed it. I'm too cheap to pay for plowing, and I don't know what it is, but plow drivers don't seem to regard the property as anything that they need to be careful with. Lawn and garden near the driveway are in tatters come spring when I've hired the rare plow out. I have to dedicate many more hours to restoring it than I would by just dealing with the snow myself!
I used to dread winter, but I too, have really come to rely on the slower pace. It is a time of rest. I want to be inside doing inside stuff: cooking, bread baking, sewing and making enameled jewelry--all fun stuff; notice I didn't have cleaning on the list!
A few years back, I had a sunroom built that connects the house to the garage. This has made all of the difference because it is so bright. It is also a safety thing. The winter before it was built was a particularly icy one, and traversing the driveway was treacherous and I did fall a few times. This way, I don't have to cross the driveway to get to the car or other equipment. When designing it, I put in a sauna, which some might see as an extravagance, but it is about a tenth of the cost of a hot tub and there are no chemicals or upkeep. To sit in there and watch the snow fall is the best! The sunroom is where I sew, read and check email, and generally spend a lot of my winter waking hours!
I actually like those fall and winter days when the dark comes early because then I can change into my pj's and relax. (My mom ran a B&B in order to help pay the taxes; I inherited it and ran it for well over ten years while teaching full time; this meant I had to be up and dressed before guests were up, and I had to remain dressed until they all were settled in for the night, so some 20 years later, I still relish in being able to put on comfy sweatpants early in the evening and keep them on through the morning!)
I love when the days start getting longer, too. I've had all winter to plan and visualize changes in the garden, so that when the ground is workable, I'm ready to get going. There is nothing like the blank canvas that snow provides to be able to see possibilities within my gardens. I wouldn't be able to keep up the pace of what is required come spring, summer and fall if there wasn't the respite winter provides.
We've been looking at places with Geothermal heat, and that does seem like such a lovely thing to have! (Good to know about how it keeps up with extreme cold though.)
This part "plow drivers don't seem to regard the property as anything that they need to be careful with. Lawn and garden near the driveway are in tatters come spring when I've hired the rare plow out." You're so right!
Reading your story was like reading about my precious mother's life living on a remote shore of a Canadian glacier lake. Like her, you are a very strong, determined and resourceful woman. You are such an inspiration to all those who are blessed to find your site.
Thank you for all that you share here. You have been instrumental in me relearning what my mother taught me as a child. God Bless you for all that you share here!
Old snow 4" still, bare frozen spots and ice skating roads. But warm wood fires and quilting help me pass the time. I'm going to start seeds soon. Then preparing my gardening tools to be ready for the season. I to love winter... It's relaxing...
I love, love, love my geothermal. 99% of the time, it does it all. The other 1%, you would just need some kind of supplemental heat, whether it be wood, propane...whatever. Never an issue with cooling and the solar makes it free! My home is an 1850's farmhouse that is drafty, even though there have been many attempts at insulating, and even with all that, it really does the place. It ties into the ductwork that was in place. I set the thermostat, and it does the rest. I did have to have a well dug, which was 10K and the system itself was another 10K, but I was paying at least 5K for heat when it was installed fifteen or so years ago. It paid for itself after 4 years, say nothing of cooling. I used to have those huge, bulky window units that had to be dealt with every spring and fall. They blocked half the light coming in from the window, and took an exorbitant amount of electricity to run. Never again!
Oh, it was frigid with ice on the inside of the windows even with the wood cooking stove always burning. She was trained as a nurse and also knew herbalism. We were taught survival skills as soon as we could walk and swim.
My father swam every day of the year. He was the only man to swim the 22 mile lake and he did it in 12 1/2 hours. Yup, they were both tough and made the kids tough and able to navigate through anything that the life tosses at us.
You are giving your children a wonderful gift with the skills you teach them. God Bless you dear Ashley.
The whole mapling process never ceases to amaze me! I canned 2.5 quarts on Friday and will be doing more this week. I had beehives and the relationship with the bees feels like the relationship with my trees. It's a lot of work but I love it.
Beautiful story. Living life as you and your family do is pretty much an adventure, tapping into the depths of things many of us don't ever know exist.
My part of the world at the moment is a blue-skies, mostly-warm and sunny Mediterranean city. No challenges at all —of the sort you have, I mean.
I wish you enjoy more beautiful chilly days until the snow melts away.
Oh my, Mediterranean skies! I did a term abroad in college studying Italian, and I'll never forget how blue the sky can be there. Days laying on the beach on the Amalfi coast, and a whole weekend hiking around Capri, will be with me always. I'm warm just thinking about it!
The one thing I definitely don't miss is driving a little Fiat up mountain roads. I'm a better driver for having that experience...but I don't miss driving in Italy at all!
Every place has it's own magic. Enjoy it!
Loved reading this! Brrr. I will enjoy the nice 75 this weekend because we are dropping 20 degrees beginning Monday. We are in for a cold spell next week in the 50’s!! That’s 4 layer clothes weather there!
I remember going to high school in California, and when it'd dip into the 50's all the girls would bring full size blankets with them to school and stay wrapped in them all day (over their 4 layers of clothes). I definitely remember when 50 was cold to me. It's all relative, and what you get used to. Now 40's are tank top weather =)
Yes! It lived in Seattle 38 years & I freeze when I visit- yet I was never cold when I lived there. 😊
We only have Spring and Summer.
I grew up like that...or...well, we only had summer, no spring to speak of. That's California for you =)
S. FL. here! Truthfully, south of Palm Beach, there's only 2 seasons-Wet and Dry. There's a Fire Season, so, 3? LOL. Fire season is at the very end of Dry, when the first thunderstorms bring lightning to the somewhat volatile vegetation.
I have a friend in LA. Now that I think of it, he never complains about snow or ice...
Snow throwing. Do mind your lower back as you don't want that kind of pain to become chronic. (I know about this....). Maple sap is flowing here in Shrewsbury, MA and I'll start boiling today. That freak cold snap reset the trees. I actually had flow 3 weeks ago... for one day.
Our temps are now like spring, and we just tapped yesterday. Sap's already flowing hard! Amazing how quickly things change =)
Hello ashly,
Very cold and strange weather here in Oregon. But not as cold as you. Cold enough to have issues doing farm chores. It was so icy down to my barn that instead of ice cleats I could have used ice skates. I wanted to know what kind of a stove it is at the end of life in the snow? What do you use it for as i looks like the top is a tray with steam.
janice
That's a maple syrup evaporator from Vermont Evaporator Company. We got it many years ago, and it was actually one of their very first prototypes when they were first getting started. They're making really sleek ones now, that also double as BBQ's and Smokers. https://vermontevaporator.com/
Hi Ashley. You left no stone unturned in your description of living and working in the frozen north. I grew up in western Kentucky and although it’s nowhere near as brutal at your neck of the woods there are some of the same challenges in dealing with cold weather. I live in Florida now in retirement and love this easy life. I have a couple old farm tractors that use around to clean up after hurricanes. I’ve read about your back up power system and I have one also. I’m always interested on renewable energy. I’ve learned to lacto ferment. I follow Karen Diggs in that regard. My wife and I always have something growing in our little garden plot. Right now we have some lettuce, beets, and radishes. We had some passion fruits before the frost knocked down our vines. We have some snow birds here but they’ll be leaving soon enough heading back north. My favorite bird is the Swallowtail Kite, which winter in central and South America but they be arriving here soon to raise new chicks.
Love your posts and family adventures. Thank you!
Glenn
I love fresh passion fruits! They grew on the fence line on my walk to school growing up, and those crazy flowers were really amazing to see as a kid (and the fruit too).
Aside from the crazy blizzard and cold snap that swept half the country right before Christmas (and sent us down to -40 windchills in Kentucky, of all places) it has been a very uneventful winter here. We've had maybe 3-4 cumulative inches of snow all winter and nothing is on the ground right now. The last several days have been in the mid 50 degree range for us, and I'm quite glad about it. I already dislike winter, but this year has been particularly challenging since our half-mile driveway is in desperate need of gravel. I've been praying for the snow, ice, and rain to stay away to keep the driveway in good enough shape to last us until it dries out and our gravel guy is willing to deliver out here. So far so good! We've had more sunny days lately too, which our off-grid system has been loving. Not having to run the generator has been pretty nice this week. Patiently waiting for real spring to show up. Until then, I'll continue enjoying the photos of your snowy winter wonderland from a distance! It is beautiful, if nothing else. And having shoveled 1/4 mile of our driveway many times, I can absolutely relate!
Our driveway is also in desperate need of gravel! We completely re-built it about 3 years ago as most of it had washed out, but it seems like it's going to need a gravel every other year to stay in decent shape. I was really hoping it'd last longer!
Sounds about right. We have to do new gravel every 2-3 years depending on how the weather has treated it during that time. We did the back half of our driveway back in 2020 but the front half hasn't had any since 2019 for a variety of *fun reasons* and it is getting desperate there. It's been a warm, dry February here and I am just hoping it holds out a little longer so we can get our gravel guy out here. We really want to improve the slope and the drainage ditches as much as we can too so we can keep more of the gravel on the driveway and less of it washing away. The parts we've improved so far seem to be holding up pretty well. Other areas need some serious intervention 😬
I feel your pain . 😂
As always, you share such helpful info, Ashley! We are new to CT having come from MD and before that Alaska, so we're breaking in our wintering skills again. CT isn't VT though! This last cold snap we got down to -30 and did fine heat wise having just installed a new heating system and a backup one. A good time to be inside by the fire perusing seed magazines. :o)
I love seed catalog season!
Took your suggestion and got a Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog...OH my! I need more gardening space!
Yeah, that -40 was really something. I was so glad that it didn't last for more than 48 hours. I did the usual drill of leaving cupboards open to receive the ambient temperature of the room. I forgot to turn on the oil furnace to aid the geothermal heat. When I woke up, it was 48 degrees; the geo just couldn't keep up and the yellow light was on. I immediately turned on the oil, shut off the geo and changed the filter and then rebooted. Phew, the green light came back on! I am stingy with the oil. I get the tank topped off every ten years or so. The solar usually covers the electric that the geothermal system uses, so I only have to use the oil when it's that kind of cold. We hadn't had frigid temps all winter, so it wasn't anything I'd even thought about.
I have a battery-operated snow blower that I love. My driveway is large, but it's flat. I used to shovel it, but now I look at it and wonder how I ever managed it. I'm too cheap to pay for plowing, and I don't know what it is, but plow drivers don't seem to regard the property as anything that they need to be careful with. Lawn and garden near the driveway are in tatters come spring when I've hired the rare plow out. I have to dedicate many more hours to restoring it than I would by just dealing with the snow myself!
I used to dread winter, but I too, have really come to rely on the slower pace. It is a time of rest. I want to be inside doing inside stuff: cooking, bread baking, sewing and making enameled jewelry--all fun stuff; notice I didn't have cleaning on the list!
A few years back, I had a sunroom built that connects the house to the garage. This has made all of the difference because it is so bright. It is also a safety thing. The winter before it was built was a particularly icy one, and traversing the driveway was treacherous and I did fall a few times. This way, I don't have to cross the driveway to get to the car or other equipment. When designing it, I put in a sauna, which some might see as an extravagance, but it is about a tenth of the cost of a hot tub and there are no chemicals or upkeep. To sit in there and watch the snow fall is the best! The sunroom is where I sew, read and check email, and generally spend a lot of my winter waking hours!
I actually like those fall and winter days when the dark comes early because then I can change into my pj's and relax. (My mom ran a B&B in order to help pay the taxes; I inherited it and ran it for well over ten years while teaching full time; this meant I had to be up and dressed before guests were up, and I had to remain dressed until they all were settled in for the night, so some 20 years later, I still relish in being able to put on comfy sweatpants early in the evening and keep them on through the morning!)
I love when the days start getting longer, too. I've had all winter to plan and visualize changes in the garden, so that when the ground is workable, I'm ready to get going. There is nothing like the blank canvas that snow provides to be able to see possibilities within my gardens. I wouldn't be able to keep up the pace of what is required come spring, summer and fall if there wasn't the respite winter provides.
We've been looking at places with Geothermal heat, and that does seem like such a lovely thing to have! (Good to know about how it keeps up with extreme cold though.)
This part "plow drivers don't seem to regard the property as anything that they need to be careful with. Lawn and garden near the driveway are in tatters come spring when I've hired the rare plow out." You're so right!
Reading your story was like reading about my precious mother's life living on a remote shore of a Canadian glacier lake. Like her, you are a very strong, determined and resourceful woman. You are such an inspiration to all those who are blessed to find your site.
Thank you for all that you share here. You have been instrumental in me relearning what my mother taught me as a child. God Bless you for all that you share here!
I bet a Canadian Glacier Lake is a good bit colder than here too, your mother must have been quite a woman!
Old snow 4" still, bare frozen spots and ice skating roads. But warm wood fires and quilting help me pass the time. I'm going to start seeds soon. Then preparing my gardening tools to be ready for the season. I to love winter... It's relaxing...
I love, love, love my geothermal. 99% of the time, it does it all. The other 1%, you would just need some kind of supplemental heat, whether it be wood, propane...whatever. Never an issue with cooling and the solar makes it free! My home is an 1850's farmhouse that is drafty, even though there have been many attempts at insulating, and even with all that, it really does the place. It ties into the ductwork that was in place. I set the thermostat, and it does the rest. I did have to have a well dug, which was 10K and the system itself was another 10K, but I was paying at least 5K for heat when it was installed fifteen or so years ago. It paid for itself after 4 years, say nothing of cooling. I used to have those huge, bulky window units that had to be dealt with every spring and fall. They blocked half the light coming in from the window, and took an exorbitant amount of electricity to run. Never again!
Oh, it was frigid with ice on the inside of the windows even with the wood cooking stove always burning. She was trained as a nurse and also knew herbalism. We were taught survival skills as soon as we could walk and swim.
My father swam every day of the year. He was the only man to swim the 22 mile lake and he did it in 12 1/2 hours. Yup, they were both tough and made the kids tough and able to navigate through anything that the life tosses at us.
You are giving your children a wonderful gift with the skills you teach them. God Bless you dear Ashley.
The whole mapling process never ceases to amaze me! I canned 2.5 quarts on Friday and will be doing more this week. I had beehives and the relationship with the bees feels like the relationship with my trees. It's a lot of work but I love it.