Alarm clock with big ears (and eyes!)

Every morning, Pixel, who is our 16-year-old donkey, greets us with his amazing voice. If you have never heard a donkey speak, it sounds alternately like a lion roaring and a really squeaky door opening. He is usually happy to see us when we come outside, but lately, he pays attention to what is happening in the house, which he can see from his winter pasture. First thing in the morning, when our bedroom light goes on, Pixel lights up with a quiet bray that ends in a real crescendo half a minute later. Because it's always still dark outside at wake-up time, it must be obvious to him that something is finally about to happen in his calm world.

"What do you do in the winter?"

Lots of people ask us what we do in the winter, maybe wondering if we have other jobs or just vacation in the off season. We welcome this question, because it makes us consider once again why we do what we do. We usually answer the casual questioner with "nine months of the year, we grow our own food and homeschool our kids."

What does that look like? Cutting firewood, tapping trees for maple syrup, butchering various wild and domestic animals, smoking bacon, keeping the rest of the animals alive and healthy in the cold, gardening and canning (in fall), trying to read for a couple of hours a day (if we're lucky) and continuing to finish out our half-renovated house, along with the regular school work. And pretty much doing everything together as a family.

If that sounds too idyllic, there's rec hockey, gym nights, library, exercise class, meetings, hockey night in Canada, church and family gatherings to keep us sort of normal.

So far, this winter has lived up to its potential- ask us again in spring if we got everything done that we wanted to!