My Chickens Prefer a Snowless Winter

From the snowless, iceless days of December -- meet a few of my "girls," all grown up:

Almost a glamor-shot of Mabel, the Silver-laced Wyandotte (Clementine and Pearl in the background).

Mabel and Olive (Speckled Sussex) at the melon, Penelope (Buckeye) and Ivy (Speckled Sussex) behind.

Clementine (Buff Orpington), Ivy, Pearl (Black Austrolorp), and Penelope enjoying the lawn.

The chickens have stayed safe and warm enough, despite living outdoors during this most bizarre winter.  Unfortunately, they quite dislike the snow and stay cooped (!) up when there is snow or ice on the ground.  I'm sure they are looking forward to the coming of spring, though, sadly, that is still some time away.

Here are a couple of pictures of Mabel trying to figure out how to get out of the coop without touching any snow.  Ivy is poking her head out, too:

Snowshoe Hike on Mount Warner

Yesterday, The Trustees of Reservations led a snow-shoe hike around Mount Warner.  It was the perfect day for it, with the freshly fallen (and falling) snow.  For upcoming events at Mount Warner, see the TToR website.

 Snowshoes were available for rent.

 Our young fearless leaders.

 The beauty of the snow.

 Our fearless leader/coordinator, Josh.

Don't get lost -- follow the yellow dots on the trees.

 Snow on wire.

 The view from atop, by Carr's Orchards.

Celebrating the end of the ascent with hot chocolate and whipped cream, provided by the other fearless leader/coordinator, Scott.

There will be more hiking and biking events coming -- don't miss them!

Valley Gives!

Valley Gives Day is a fun opportunity to donate to local nonprofit organizations and to watch the donations add up.  You can follow the action on leaderboards and hope your favourite nonprofit comes out on top.  This is the third year for VGD, and to date more than $3million has been raised for our community!
Valley Gives Day this year is Wednesday, December 10.  Don't forget to give!

Library Planning & Design -- and community survey

The Hadley Goodwin Memorial Library is currently undergoing a planning and design study regarding the functionality of the library building and what changes may need to be made to it to keep it on track for Hadley residents' use.  You can follow the Planning & Design Committee's efforts at their new blog: https://goodwinmemoriallibrary.wordpress.com/

There is now also a community survey about the library's physical space and collection.  You can find it by following this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Goodwin2014
I request and highly recommend that you take the survey -- the responses will provide important information about library usage.  Thank you!

If You Missed the Leaf-Peep

Columbus Day weekend is often touted as leaf-peeping weekend, when the leaves are at their autumnal peak.  I'm not yet convinced that the trees don't get a little more grand just a few days later, but nevertheless, the leaves are beautiful over that long weekend.  If you missed them, either couldn't make it to Massachusetts, or just didn't get outside because of the weather, here are lovely pics to show you what you missed.

Happy Autumn in Western Massachusetts!

Mount Warner Reservation Opening Celebration

Some pictures from the Opening Celebration yesterday morning for the Mount Warner Reservation.  The Trustees of Reservations now holds stewardship over the property and has recently put in a new trail system.
There was quite a turnout for the opening, and both John Scibak and Stan Rosenberg were there, as well as the trustees (a shout-out to Josh who coordinated it all) and volunteers who have helped put the reservation together and get it ready for opening day.

After the speakers, everyone went on a hike, and at the top (The Overlook, owned by the Carrs as part of their apple orchard), there was sweet cider and apples and a representation by Carr's Ciderhouse, with samples of their hard ciders, apple vinegar, and super-delicious apple syrup. I was very happy to be able to bring home a bottle of apple syrup and expect that I will be purchasing many more bottles in the future.

It was a great opening -- kudos to all those who helped put it together!

If you like to hike, if you enjoy nature, if you want to mountain bike or do some trail walking with your dog or cross country ski, the new trails on Mount Warner are perfect for it all!  And there's now a new parking lot with a bike rack available, so you don't have to pull off onto the side of the road to enjoy it.

Chicks and Flowers in the Autumn

It's such a beautiful day today that I had to let the chicks out to enjoy it.  I hate keeping them cooped (!) up, but when I'm not home most of the day, and when I know I'll have the new dog outside, I tend to let them just roam their run and coop.  But today is gorgeous, and they are enjoying the freedom.

 

They are hanging out under the lilac bush -- in these pics you can see Penelope (top), our Buckeye chicken; Olive and Ivy (middle), our two Speckled Sussex; Clementine (bottom), our Buff Orpington; and in the bottom picture on the right, just out of the frame is Mabel, our Silver-Laced Wyandotte.  They are happily dust bathing, napping, scratching for bugs, cooing and chirruping, and staying warm in the sun.

And now, just a few more...

I was happy to notice this week that our Mexican sunflowers have finally decided to bloom.  What a wonderful burst of colour for the fall! 

A few days later, and we have a few more blossoms and more getting ready to pop.  What beauties!

Enjoy these opening days of October.  They have already been amazing!