Fickle February

February is such a tease of a month.  It starts out with Groundhog  Day;  if the groundhog sees its shadow we will have 6 more weeks of winter. In Minnesota, ONLY 6 more weeks of winter would be welcome. We know better than to  be that optimistic.
Most of this February has been very cold. Last weekend it warmed up enough to get a bit of fresh snow that made the dog tracks through the yard look  pillowy soft.

But then we got cold again. The birds seem to know when the weather  is going to change--they gorge themselves at the feeders.  It costs a small fortune to feed these little birds, at least as much as it costs to feed my 75 chickens!

Yesterday and today we enjoyed a brief,  balmy warm spell - almost 40 degrees! Snow melted and slid off the roofs. We should have known better than to leave lawn furniture on the stage; the garden bench was out of the way of the snow blower but right in the path of the barn roof avalanche. Broken to smithereens!

Snow on the east end of the barn roof is lying in wait for an unsuspecting person or dog to walk beneath it.

It was  so warm today today (but we are forecast for a blizzard, 60 mph winds and 10 to 14 inches of snow tomorrow!) so I decided I better check on my beehives - I have to order bees pronto if i need them.  I was expecting the worst and was happy to discover the top bar hive seemed pretty active and healthy. This is the view through the observation window. The bees were  moving about. I found a few dead bees on the snow; that’s a good thing-- the result of bee housekeeping on a warm day.

Wading through the deep snow from the top bar hive to the Warre hive at the bottom of the yard was good exercise--the snow had drifted thigh deep and was dense and wet.

The Warre hive did not look so good - lots of dead bees in front of the hive, and bee droppings all over the hive and the snow.

Bee poop polka dots on the top of the hive. Bees often suffer from dysentery in late winter/early spring because they are unable to clean the hive of droppings until it warms up, usually a January thaw, which we did not get this year. There might also have been too much moisture from so many bees breathing in a small closed space - this hive was very heavily populated last fall. Or worse, it could be nosema, bee diarrhea caused by a parasitic infection. This has been an especially stressful winter with unusual, unrelenting cold.   But when I put my ear to the hive I could hear a faint humming, so perhaps the hive will survive.  Nevertheless,  I think I will order two packages of bees to ensure I have at least two hives next summer.

I’ll close on a sweeter note--dark chocolate poppyseed cakes

and  savory heart turnovers with greens, mushrooms,  walnuts and creamcheese, made for

a Valentine party at our house last Friday, "Chocolate, Champagne & Love Songs.”  Thanks to the  Nodding Wild Onions for providing the music, and thanks to all our wonderful guests for bringing a bounty of bubbly and decadent chocolate delicacies.
Sending Valentine love to you all!

Hot Date on A Cold Night

Rog and I had a much-too-rare date night last night, heading into town for Social-Ice,  an outdoor ice bar that is part of Rochester’s Winterfest celebration. It’s a sensory feast, with  colored lights glowing through ice bars and sculptures, live music and  crowds of people festively bundled up against the cold.

It was a brisk night, a few degrees above zero with a stiff breeze, but we dressed for it. I wore fleece pants under my jeans (not the most slimming look), and a turtleneck, wool sweater and fleece vest under my shearling coat and was toasty warm all night.

Families playing miniature golf on an ice course.

Diamond ring ice carving at the jewelry store.

Icy shoe lost by a Paul-Bunyan-sized Cinderella?

Back side of one of the ice bars (the front was obscured by people ordering drinks.)

Another ice bar.

The bartenders from Chesters glowed green. They made us a delectable hot chocolate with Grand Marnier.

A fellow in a foxy fur hat

The Sontes bar had citrus fruits suspended in the ice for a cool effect.

Tessa, the owner of Sontes, made me their signature drink of the evening - a decadent Red Velvet Hot Chocolate.

At the other end of the Peace plaza, the Chateau Theater (home of Barnes and Noble bookstore) glowed warmly. So warmly that we had to go inside so Rog could warm up a bit.

Next, we walked a few blocks south to the delightful temporary ice rink created in the parking lot of the Creative Salon.  It is a very good year for ice -- most years it would be too warm to do this!
Inside the Salon (through the windows lit up behind the ice rink) was a terrific art exhibition opening and music, with a big crowd.  We ran into lots of people we knew there and I purchased a small print that I will frame for my office.

Our final stop was the Doggery, a speakeasy bar we had not visited before. We descended the steps to the  underground bar.

It is a pretty funky place for Rochester! It feels like you have been transported to Portland or San Francisco. No hint of the antique mall that used to be in this space.

  

We peeled off a few of our warm layers and sank down into a big, cushy leather sofa. Rog ordered a Scottie Karate ale which he enjoyed very much.  After those rich hot chocolates I needed something very light, and ordered a Movie Star cocktail, made with ginger, black pepper, and lime (no alcohol). Perfect.  What a great date night.

We ought to do this more often!

A Lull in the Action

It has been so cold lately that the dogs aren't even tracking up the snow much. They  go out briefly, then come inside where it is warm.  If you drive by, unless it is chore time, you probably won’t see us outside much. But just because there appears to be a lull in the farm action  doesn’t  mean nothing is happening. Au contraire. Big things are happening --really big things! Big expensive things!

A few days ago, our commercial pizza oven arrived. It is that huge metal box in the trailer in this photo. Yes, it is true that we already have two wonderful pizza ovens, much prettier than this one (so far) but we are not allowed to use them for commercial baking. This is an NSF-certified wood and gas-fired oven from a former pizza place in Mankato. It will be able to bake 30 loaves of bread at a time! When it is installed it will be covered with brickwork, so it will not look so industrial.
The night before it was to be delivered, Rog had fitful dreams all night about having to take care of a nuclear warhead, so apparently he was stressing.

Unfortunately, the equipment we had lined up with our farmer neighbor to unload the 4600 lb. oven was not able to do the task,  so the oven has been sitting on the trailer in the driveway waiting to be unloaded.

Early this morning a contractor drove over his Lull, a large machine with a forklift that comes from the back of the machine, over the top. I don't know why the  fork operates this way, perhaps for a better center of gravity with such a heavy load.

Long fork extensions needed to be added to the existing forks.

Sliding the fork extensions onto the forks.

Rog supervised the unloading, wearing his farm duds over his architect costume.  The dogs and I tried to stay out of the way. You can’t tell,  but it was very cold.

Now for a real Lull in the action! The Lull lifted the oven out of the  trailer.

The oven is very top-heavey, and I know this was a nerve-wracking part for Rog. But these guys are experts - I bet they often unload fancy, heavy medical equipment like MRI machines for Mayo- all went smoothly.

The  pizza oven has landed.  

The Lull headed off into the sunrise. It will return on a warmer spring day, once we have the concrete slab poured in the barn, to move the oven to its ultimate destination.

How Cold Is It?

Just how cold was it doing chores this morning?  I don’t know -- the thermometer bottomed out!  I wish I had noticed this thermometer only went to -20F when I bought it, but then why would they sell such a limited thermometer in Minnesota?
I just now checked weather.com and it said we are up to -15F, with a -38F windchill factor.

I am a bit surprised about that windchill factor - it is quite calm compared to last night when the wind was absolutely blasting, creating whiteout conditions.  It blew a little snowdrift precisely where my shoveled chore path was. At least the snow is so hard-packed from the fierce wind that you barely sink in.

I  dressed warmly enough in so many layers that I did not get cold except for my fingers and eyebrows.

The sun is flanked by brilliant sun dogs this morning - this is the  one to the north of the sun just after sunrise.

Here is the sunrise, taken at the same time. I need a much wider-angle lens to fit the sun and sundogs all in the same frame.

Face peeking through the snow on the wood-fired oven.

Despite the cold, the dogs took off on their  daily rabbit hunt this morning and were rewarded with a warm breakfast. I think Zinnie is probably the one who actually catches the rabbit, she is SO fast and agile, but Nutmeg must be the alpha dog --she eats first, then Zinnie.

Cocoa gets the leftovers.

This wintery weather has put me in the mood to dive into my treasure trove of shrunken wool sweaters and sew more mittens.  I am sure the restaurant will be closed today due to the cold, so I plan to stay home and sew more mittens, then paint!  The mittens will now all be on sale - $5 off.  The way this winter is going, I am sure everyone will get plenty of use out of them before spring!

Wordless Wednesday: Winterscapes