The snow is melting

My walk in the pasture was easier yesterday than it has been in a long time. I took this picture a few days ago, and this was far from the deepest snow I had to walk through. It wore me out, and I shortened the distance of my walks, some days.

Even though Sadie often ended up in drifts more than belly-deep, she enjoyed every outing thoroughly. Here, she was scanning the woods for movement; not thirty seconds after I took this shot, she was off to the bottom of the ditch, barking up a tree. She no doubt saw a squirrel.

Hyperblogal left this comment on my last entry: "Barney Fife, cows and Santa.... you're okay in my book."

He was referring to these metal posters above my desk, items I purchased at a tractor show last summer. That cow one looks crooked in this picture, but sitting here at my desk looking up at it, it doesn't. That's strange. I'd better get my yardstick out and see whether it's crooked or not.

The Santa part of his statement came about because one of my Christmas plates was showing in a picture. I really, really love my Avon Christmas plates. I'll be putting them away before too long; there are some in almost every room of the house right now.

When my mom sold Avon, she set out to buy the plate for each year when it came out. After Daddy died she was getting rid of some stuff, and my sister bought her collection; I had never had any interest in the plates until I saw them displayed in Maxine's kitchen, and then I started picking them up at garage sales when the price was right.

They have very little value; they sell for practically nothing on Ebay. New, they're around $30, I believe. If I had a place to do so, I'd leave them on display all the time, because they really make me happy. Still, there's something to be said for putting them away; every December it's like discovering them all over again.

These two are my favorites.