For the first time in a while I've had a whole weekend off, and it has been wonderful. I've barely got out of my pj's, only to put on a lot of clothes to go out and play in the ENORMOUS amounts of snow we have now. Yesterday, I decided to dig a track in the snow in our field, so we can use it for sledging, and halfway up I felt hot and bothered and laid down in the snow, flat on my back. I closed my eyes, felt the snowflakes land and melt on my face. It was so quiet, so I drifted off, into a half-sleep sort of meditative state, I don't know how long I was there. The world was white and padded and soft. Wonderful.

Speaking of white: we have started getting fresh milk from a farmer friend of ours, and this weekend he lent us a separator to make cream and skimmed milk (which can then be made into sour cream, butter, cheeses etc). So fascinating! So Mr. Payne made luvely butter and we are making yoghurt and cottage cheese too. Daisy, one of our cows, will have her calf in early May, so we better learn these things and get ready for a whole lot of milk to come!

The next big step into self-sufficiency is coming up, and it feels great.