And not a creature was stirring.....

Except for me of course, Winter Solstice Poodle! The Red Queen & CEO built a great, huge(1o foot minimum) pile of sticks and culled trees over the summer and set it blazing on the 21st. Oh, I should mention that we are completely nuts (all of us) because it was close to zero degrees with winds up to 25mph and LAKE EFFECT SNOW. By the time the CEO had set the fire, over 13 inches of new snow had fallen this day.
I had some reservations the fire would take, however with the very dry timber accompanied by the wind the conflagration was spectacular at times. Pitch black dark outside, red sparks roiling across the snow,wind whipping the flames to a cresendo....ahhhh, the beauty of it all. Tie it all together with a little homemade mead (the Red Queen drank Pinot, the meads much to sweet for her), and a dinner of root vegetables w/ venison tenderloin, and my friends you have a perfect celebration to the unconquered sun. I will end this post with two of my favorite quotes about winter....

The cold was our pride, the snow was our beauty. It fell and fell, lacing day and night together in a milky haze, making everything quieter as it fell, so that winter seemed to partake of religion in a way no other season did, hushed, solemn.
~Patricia Hampl~

Turn down the noise. Reduce the speed. Be like somnolent bears, or those other animals that slow down and almost die in the cold season. Let it be the way it is. The magic is there in it's power.
~Henry Mitchell

And yes, the fire did burn through the night, waiting for the sun to return.

Ain't no Sunshine when You're gone

After making it through the first Alberta Clipper of the winter unscathed, it became apparent that the sun was going to have to shine vicariously through Bartzella here, showing her full true colours.

Bartzella...a beautiful true Intersectional Hybrid peony developed by Roger Anderson. We are lucky enough to have two of these beauties in out gardens here at the Smiling Dog. Intersectionals are a rare cross of herbaceous & tree peonies,displaying the best of both cultivars. Along with the beauty of the bloom there is a very mild hint of lemon fragrance....truely a stunner.

She's napping now, with her blanket of snow pulled tight around her, anticipating the warmth of the spring sun and many happy days ahead.

Alberta Clipper and Brother I don't mean ship

Poodle here. 3F this morning. Remember when I mentioned Lake Effect a few posts back...well I failed to mention that along with this 'effect' there is another weather phenomena referred to as the (dun dun dun, cue scream) Alberta Clipper. This is a small low pressure system that comes to us (no not via parcel post, or even Fed-Ex) by the way of Alberta Canada and moves really, really, really fast (hence clipper). The system moves from WNW to ESE and slides along a track separating cold air from the north from warm air to the south and is usually followed by a run of cold weather, and yes, sometimes more than not, lots of Lake effect.

Now...we all know how to dress warmly up here (notice fur coat), and aren't deterred much by the chill, however when you combine the cold with wind you end up with a factor known as wind chill. Even though our outdoor temperature is registering 12F as the Red Queen types for me, it actually feels like -6F with the wind. Charming huh?

That means my toes freeze, dog snot forms little balls on my nose and in general even if everyone is dressed warmly, we don't get to play outside for very long. This early winter is a little soon for a clipper....which means from past experience that the pattern may be set for a clipper year....and leads to (OK, really big scream here) Cabin Fever! A 'been in the house way too long' manifestation. Usually not a problem until February when the BIG CHILL usually happens. But, it's been very,very grey,along with very,very dark, and now very,very cold (did I say very?), and it looks like we may have trouble my friends. As long as the Red Queen keeps

her paws off Baudelaire and Poe, and the CEO (who is always good hearted and kind) makes her go out for oxygen now and again, we might be alright. Stay tuned.

Pagan Smagan, The Evolution of the Wreath

The Red Queen (yes, she does quite frequently say "OFF with their heads!") has finished her wreath of choice for the house. Not an easy task, considering the abundance of brush and other essential ornamentation growing around the farm. Usually the wreath is done later in the season with cast offs after making wreaths for everyone else, but being in the 'spirit' early on she decided to get the damn thing done before the mood passed.

The history of the wreath is rich, steeped in ancient practices from Persia (wealth & power), to Greece (champions), to Rome (saturn,soltice). Many Celts decorated the interiors of their homes with wreaths of hollyberrries and evergreens to celebrate the end of the long winter and the strength of life, which today would be a good thing ( I AM going to digress here...) because we are having 24 mph winds with considerable Lake Effect Snow. The color of he sky from now on will be grey, offset with other shades of grey, sort of a tone on tone symphony of grey. No wonder they went for the red berries.....

I should also mention our sun rises here this morning at 8:15AM and sets at 5:04PM(lat/46.55N long/87.40W)....not exactly a great vitamin D day....no wonder the pagans hauled life into their homes...Poodle being a Germanic dog, I can totally get this Winter Solstice, Birth of the Unconquered Sun diatribe....by the time we hit December 21st, many people in our area suffer a form of depression called Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD). The affected sit in front of light boxes to get their serotonin flowing....

So, Winter Solstice is only 20 days away.....Bonfire anyone? Burn On!