Winter Solstice and More of my Farm
Welcome to the winter solstice, which will occur this evening at precisely 6:38 pm EST! The winter solstice, which occurs on December 21st or 22nd in the Northern Hemisphere, marks the beginning of winter. It’s also the one day of the year which has the shortest period of daylight. The word solstice, actually means “sun stands still”, an appropriate description of the sun as it hovers quite low in the sky. The earth travels around the sun, always tilted at about 23-1/2 degrees on its axis. It appears as though the sun is changing position, but it’s the earth revolving at this tilted angle, causing different parts of the world to receive different amounts of sunlight throughout the year. This is why seasons occur.
During summer, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun. During winter, the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun. The solstice is the point at which the sun seems to begin moving back in the opposite direction. The summer solstice occurs on June 21 or 22nd, and is our longest period of daylight. The sun appears to stand still, high in the sky, for several days, and then begin its journey back towards the equator. It crosses the equator around September 22, and the trip continues until the sun reaches its southern most point. This is what’s happening right now and why your days are so short in the Northern Hemisphere. Happy winter to you!
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- The tubing make for a neat-looking package and was a great idea this year!
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- An afternoon view across a snow-dusted paddock looking towards my house – The sun has been setting early, around 4:30 lately.
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- This is Billie, a most curious and friendly donkey.
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- They were so anxious to greet this new member of the farm.
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- Billie, Clive, and Rufus caught a glimpse of Betsy walking Sasa down the road.
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- They waited with great anticipation.
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- Without hesitation, Sasa gave them a warm hello.
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- Sasa has a great demeanor and is fitting in quite nicely to farm life.
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- Shaun is spraying all of the evergreens with an anti-dessicant called Wilt-Pruf.
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- This mixture dries on the leaves and helps protect them from freezing temperatures.
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- Covering the boxwood allee with burlap is a very big job.
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- The guys are nearly complete with this area.
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- Purba unrolling a bolt of burlap – This large boxwood will soon be completely covered.
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- Such interesting structures!
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- This is a birdbath, which is protected with a plywood top, wrapped in plastic and then burlap.
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- Sasa back in his stall
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- There is a large family of crows at the farm. These highly intelligent birds keep a watchful eye out for hawks and do a fine job of chasing those birds of prey away.
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- All of the fallen trees are taken to the compost area and stacked.
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- Some of this pile will be used for firewood, but most of it will eventually be fed into a tub grinder and turned into the rich compost, which is used extensively on the farm.
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- Various compost piles covered with tarps
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- Five horses plus three donkeys equals one large compost pile from the mucking of stalls.
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- And this large pile is all of the wood chips from the branches of all those fallen trees.
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- Across the way is my Christmas tree farm.
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- The gurgling streams on the property are now covered with ice.
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- I love the patterns that moving water makes as it freezes.
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- Frozen bubbles
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- A ribbon of ice through the woods
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- The water beneath the ice was bubbling up out of this hole.
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- A moss-covered rock with a layer of snow – The moss provided a happy home for a tree seed to grow – so Zen!
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- A fallen tree covered with moss and dusted with snow
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- Look carefully inside this woodpecker hole. There is an acorn brought here, most likely, by a squirrel.
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- This tree is a favorite eating spot for some woodpecker.
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- The lower hay field – Without leaves on the trees, the view is so open.
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- See what I mean? That neighboring house is only visible during winter.
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- The cleanup from last summer’s tornado damage is an ongoing process.
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- The carriage road winding through the woods
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- Bracket fungus growing on trees is usually a sign that the tree is dead or that a living tree is being infected by a particular fungus.
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- These bracket-shaped fruiting bodies are called conks and they make quite an interesting study.
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- This tree is host to two distinct varieties of fungi. Some species of bracket fungi are cultivated for human consumption or medicinal use.
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- These brackets are formed on interconnected horizontal rows.
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- This type of bracket fungus is known as turkey tail. The name comes from its cup-like shape with concentric zones of colors fanning across the shelf, resembling a turkey tail.
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- One of several bird houses in the woods and more fallen trees from the tornado.
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- Another bird house
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- My iconic sycamore with an owl house attached
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- Another icy brook
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- Up near the house, Wilmer has been working on burlapping the standard lilac trees. The frame for the burlap is made of bamboo stakes pounded into the ground and stiff, flexible plastic tubing.
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