A major distraction

So, I need to fess up.

I basically got nothing, beyond animal care and picture-taking, done today.

I know many of you have been dealing with the situation I was in today for what probably seems like months now, but my part of northwest Oregon sure hasn't.

This was our first "big one" of the year.

So, while you might groan and shake your head at me, we were absolutely delighted this morning when we woke up to this:

About 4 1/2" of the lovely white stuff:

It came down hard last night and left our small farm feeling like it was a cozy mountain-side retreat.

The little snowman I made outside our bedroom door last night had lost some of his definition and his candy necklace had all but disappeared in the new snow:

And, darn, I guess I won't be pruning back these raspberries today:

The chickens were happy to see me coming with breakfast, though:

All was well inside the run - however, there was a great deal of excited chatter over what was going on outside:

Skippy, who grows bolder with each passing day, was particularly talkative and wanted to tell me all about it:

Morning, boys! (They look like they've got those bands across their eyes to protect their privacy, don't they?):

Hey Beau, you've got something on your nose:

No, it's still there:

And, yes, if you tilt your head like that I can't see it at all:

Rain or shine or snow, there are some things that still need doing every day:

But as I was doing those things, I found myself totally distracted:

...by how different everything looked. Everything around me looked even more beautiful than usual.

And I mean everything:

That'll do, donkey:

And although there was a lot of other stuff needing done:

I found myself mesmerized by the smallest details:

Uh oh. Looks like these raspberries aren't going to get pruned today either:

After feeding, I headed into the house to get Roxy - she loves the snow:

She raced around like a puppy:

And then she posed for me:

Repeatedly:

Until she got cold:

And needed to put her new coat on:

The big critters were completely surprised by the blue-green bullet speeding by:

And it took poor Kai, who normally takes Roxy completely in stride, a while to figure out that the turquoise-garbed critter was not a threat:

They did eventually work it out. Fortunately:

But I'm telling you, with all this going on, it was absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to focus on anything else:

Seriously: