We live 15 minutes away from Niagara Falls. Here are some pictures of what it looks like right now with the pictures from last spring. The first set of pictures is the Falls.
The second set is a picture of the rapids leading up to the Falls.
It’s an amazing sight to see so I wanted to share it. You can find more pictures on our local news stations page
here: Niagara Falls Frozen
This weekend has been frigid. I am not a complainer and I still will not complain today in -2 F temperatures and getting the 4 wheeler stuck about 1/8 mile away from the house and having to walk back to tell the man of the house (who had told me not to try and get it back there which made it MUCH worse!).
The kids were upset school was closed on Friday as they missed their Valentines parties but that lasted about 45 seconds and they realized it was great to be home and headed out to snowmobile.
Saturday morning we were hit with a snowy blustery day. In the morning you can see how much it snowed by the snow on the bird feeder and trees.
This railing is waist high showing how much snow we have and drifting which made it a challenging walk to the barn for sure.
The new hens adjusted fine to their move and already are earning their keep!
In the afternoon the boy had a hockey game at a new outdoor hockey arena called Buffalo Riverworks . It was snowing and blowing like crazy and the temperatures were around 17F but with the wind it was much colder.
The new facility is fabulous and the boys had a blast even though they lost the game and we all bundled up, even Grandma, and stood out there to cheer them on.
The drive home was quite the challenge but it was heavenly coming home to a roaring fire in the woodburner and a nice hot dinner of Turkey Chowder made with the leftover turkey and stock from Thanksgiving.
And tonight we will end the evening with a mom and dad night heading out to dinner at 716
followed by checking out our new Buffalo Sabres player at the game!
When you keep bird feeders around your yard, the birds let you know when they are empty. This little cardinal was pecking at the window today letting me know it was time to refill.
As I went out to refill the feeder (it was very snowy and windy) he sat on a nearby tree branch watching. He was very happy, as you can see by the picture, to swoop in and get his breakfast.
Soon after, his breakfast was disturbed by a pesky bluebird who kept flying at him to chase him off.
The cute little redhead would not give up and declared war on the bluebird. He swooped at him over and over until the bluebird finally decided it was best to move on.
And the bluebird and a few sparrows surrendered and decided to eat the seed from below the feeder that the feisty redhead dropped!
Saturday was a busy day in this household. After early morning feeding and barn chores we kicked off the day at 7:30 a.m. This weekend was a huge tournament in Buffalo, NY for hockey. Teams came in from all across the US, Canada and even a team from Moscow. The boys team played in the tournament and were featured in our local paper. Chance is the boy on the bench holding the white bladed stick waiting for his shift on the ice.
The hockey game was followed by an 11:30 basketball game for the tween queen. The team did awesome and won their game and even posed nicely for a team picture!
After the game we decided to hit a local antique shop and look for some goodies. There really were some unique items at this shop such as this sombrero.
A quick stop for a late lunch on the way home and the kids were off to play outside.
After some fun snow wars it was time for some snowmobiling and sledding.
And then grandma stayed with the kids so mom and dad could enjoy an evening ride around half of the Island.
Ice Fog is minute ice crystals that form in the air in extremely cold temperatures. This morning it was -9 F while driving to work and the beautiful ice fog was drifting down the river with the ice, moving along with the current. This eventually will end up at Niagara Falls and tumble over the falls.
This is very early in our area to see this as it’s usually around the first week of February this rolls in. Regardless it is still such a beautiful sight to behold.
A fellow blogger, who has a wonderful blog hopping from Maine to Texas, recently posted pictures of the Sea Smoke in Maine. Take the time to visit her page here: Lulu’s Musings Sea Smoke. Her pictures are stunning (and her blog is fun and full of beautiful pictures and ideas). Sea smoke is a fog that is formed when very cold air moves over warmer water.
As the ice was moving this morning the ice fog was getting thicker and was so cool to watch drifting down current as it went.
Mother Nature’s beauty at her best on a very cold morning with the beautiful sun highlighting every detail.
Today we had our first lunch “cookout” of 2015 complete with hot dogs and chicken on the grill, macaroni salad, potato salad, fruit platter, and chocolate pie for dessert. It was our salute to the 2014 Christmas break as it’s officially over tomorrow and back to work and school for us. Our neighbors came over to join in the goodbye.
My friend Julie is a great cook and always makes beautifully displayed and tasty dishes. She made a macaroni salad with wagon wheel noodles which the kids love. She also brought a wonderful assortment of fresh fruit. 
I marinated chicken breasts in a store bought Italian dressing and we grilled that along with the tasty hot dogs.
I also made potato salad and a snack tray to pick at while waiting for the food to cook.
The tween queen decided she wanted to make a chocolate pudding pie for dessert.
She assembled the ingredients and using a store bought crust made the homemade filling. Recipe here: Chocolate Pudding
This is the easiest and creamiest pudding recipe I have used and I am thankful to fellow blogger Jodi from Of Kids and Cows for this perfect pudding recipe!
It’s a sad day saying goodbye to another year and wonderful break with the kids home from school, but it was a nice afternoon easing us into the coming routine again.
You can find my Classic cook out Potato Salad recipe here: Potato Salad
Being on an Island surrounded by the Niagara River which is fed from Lake Erie and flows over Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario, offers us many wonderful things to do.
Grand Island
On the second last day of the year we headed along Lake Erie to Hamburg, NY and had a fun Hibatchi style dinner.
On New Years Eve we had an early dinner on Lake Ontario. The streets lining Lewiston, NY were wonderfully decorated and the lights twinkled as you made your way down to Lake Ontario where we had a nice dinner overlooking a dock with a fishing boat ready to head out the next morning.
And a few nights later we were headed to Canalside in downtown Buffalo, NY on Lake Erie for a fun night of visiting the new ice rink which opened a few weeks ago.
It was a balmy 30 degrees but there are plenty of heat lamps along the rink and a warm room with benches. There are little shops along the way, a few different food trucks and these really, REALLY cool ice bikes you can rent.
Can you tell what I will be renting soon??? I can’t wait to try these. But tonight was not the night as we were headed to watch the sad Sabres play. The kids had fun heckling the opposing team 🙂
And after another bad loss for the Sabres we headed back to the rink to watch the novice curlers trying to learn the game which is another feature of the new rink.
I love the fact we have so many things to experience right in our back and front yard just over the bridges.
This is our ice rink behind our horse pastures. This rink should be frozen and we should be skating on it!! I mean it is December in Buffalo, NY right????
Apparently Mother Nature has other plans this year or is feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
This is what the ice rink should look like
Maybe this will serve as a boost to Mother Nature to get her butt in gear!!!! We are ready for winter 🙂
This is our home. I took this picture last evening. I love our house in the snow!!
Some people long for the big, modern, majestic homes, but I am not one of them. I can drive through a modern neighborhood and not notice a single thing about a house. I feel nothing. Put me on a country road with 100+ year old homes and I can tell you the character I feel from each house. These houses have a history, they are a part of a different time; a time I wish to have known.
We have kept the cedar shake shingles on our home as true to the country red it was when it was first painted. I could never picture any other color on this house. The red is a statement to me boasting of the farming homestead it was created for so long ago. (You can see pictures of updates to our home here: Little Red House)
We planted a burm of blue spruce trees in front of our property. When they are snow covered they make the house even more beautiful! It’s like a Christmas card scene to me.
Here are some of the other pictures I took Thursday before the snow came and again last night while we were getting a nice dusting of snow.
We place 6 fake Christmas trees throughout the property and enjoy looking out at night at the sparkling lights in the open. Thursday was the day to set them up as the ground was not frozen and the temperatures were moderate. The night picture is 4 of the trees in the back.
And last night the snow came and the trees were beautifully lit.
We had a nice amount of snow falling throughout the day and night yesterday. After barn chores were done, I decided to pay a visit to the cute little snow bunnies all cozy in their house for the night.
This is our home.
Martha on top roost and Cherry below all nestled in from the wind and rain
Fall is my favorite season. But with fall comes cold temperatures, windy days, less daylight and MUD everywhere. The chickens stop laying eggs consistently, the goats only roam out of their house for short periods and will spend time in their outdoor hut which offers protection from the wind and a full view of the house and yard, and the horses spend many days in their stalls and walkout areas as wet mud is not good for their feet and legs all day.
I like to keep things as natural as possible for our animals. The goats have a hill and rocks to climb in their pen. They have grass and trees as well. The horses have 12×12 stalls and outside the stalls are walkout areas made of stone and rubber matting so they can walk and stretch their legs all day and night. The chickens free range so get to be in their natural habitat all day. Some farmers keep a light on in their coops to “trick” their chickens into thinking it’s daylight longer and they will produce more eggs. I prefer to only use a red heat lamp and let their bodies act naturally during the winter months.
This is our hen Grrr having a drink of water that contains apple cider vinegar to keep her healthy all winter long
This is our hen Catness. She likes to roost on the highest part of the house
Some days I will let the horses out when the ground is slightly frozen in the morning. However as the day progresses and the ground warms up, this is what you get:
Our paint mare, Mysty decided to enjoy the mud!! Bad horse!
And this week I am dog and chicken sitting for a neighbor. Her chickens are full of personality.
They are spoiled like our chickens and enjoy hot oatmeal, fresh salad, tomatoes and some nice yogurt during the cold days. These are all young hens born in the spring and they are still laying eggs. The perk of this job is the eggs I get to bring home every day!
And while it’s much more work it’s also great to spend some “me” time on a nice ride through the bare trails on my oldest horse Bailey.
Wet and muddy on those trails but worth it!!
Mud, water, and ice spots line the trail
And about now I am ready for the change of season with its snow and frozen ground!!
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Natalie. Writer. Photographer. Etc.
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