Thursday

And again, this is what below 0F (-18C) looks like:






Our two little wayward kittens, Calico and Cutie, spent the night on the porch, huddled in the lair with the (mildly) heated pad. This is just plain nuts in my view. They know there is a shed with a radiant heated floor. Been there, slept there. But they wont go back. They do not want to intrude on the space of the shed cats. (I have learned that "do not want to invade the space of another cat" is a guiding principle in much of feral cat behavior.) So they sleep on the porch.

(Dance, with her thick winter coat, doesn't mind escorting me to the sheep shed.)






Breakfast.






It would be tempting to spend another morning in the farmhouse, but I do have grocery shopping to take care of and once you're out, you may as well run other errands. This is winter thinking for you: pack as much into one outing as you can. Then stay indoors.

Of course, Thursdays can't really be indoor days. There are kids to pick up at school and cart back to the farmette...

(playing with her Polish magnet dolls)






(playing with Duplo legos)






And there's a little girl to take to dance class.






(exuberance, with pig tails)





Each time I open the door and feel the bracing air hit my face, I think -- it's likely the last Arctic air this year.

I am thankful that we don't live in an even colder climate.