Weather update

Right now it's 23°F (-5°C) with a stiff, biting wind. Toto, I think we ARE in Kansas again! It certainly doesn't feel like NW Oregon, but everything is fine here. All the outside critters have plenty of food, water, and shelter as needed, and I'm tucked inside with the dogs, a fire, a hot drink, and additional heat coming from the oven where a squash is roasting. When I did evening chores I took a squash down to my easterly neighbor, and learned that there are frost-free hummingbird feeders; she has two! In fact, while we were saying our good-byes on her front porch, a hummer buzzed around us in the dark; perhaps in this harsh weather it needed a nightcap to survive until morning.

Speaking of Nightcap, he got a new companion today. I put Sarai and Vienna back in the fold so that all my breeding ewes are together (hopefully four of them are expecting), and took Bramble out to keep the old gent company in the Ram-ada Inn lot. It would be easier to have just two groups of sheep, girls and boys, but I don't want to risk putting the two rams together. We'll just let sleeping boys lie. ;-)

Blake and his Three Wetherteers enjoyed today's sunshine

This morning there were lots of tracks in the snow. Ours, the dogs, and Oreo-kitty, of course,

as well as birds, squirrels, some little rodent (I think), and raccoons – lots and LOTS of raccoons.

That's why we lock up the chickens at night....

Today's treasure is this beauty:

Claire shared photos of cute little American Red Squirrels on her blog yesterday; I learned that they are a different genus and species from our big Western Gray Squirrels with the flamboyant tails. Don't you love learning new stuff? I do!

That's it for today from . . .