Getting colder or getting older?

It's been clear and cold here for over a week now. Nice winter weather when you can get it in the Pacific Northwest, but also worrisome. Last winter we had a bit of normal wet weather to start with and then the faucet was turned off and mostly stayed off until this month; not good. But it can stay dry until we get a Christmas tree cut and installed indoors next weekend. ;-)  We often do that the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but this year Brian requested that we do it as part of his 14th(!!!) birthday celebration.

Last night my MIL treated us to ZooLights at the Oregon Zoo. BRRR! We adults bundled up but still got chilled (the teenager ignored our warnings about how cold it would be and froze); I thought my hands were going to fall off every time I removed my gloves to take pictures (but you can see I managed).  ;-)  When we got in the car to come home, it was only 39° – not nearly as cold as it felt. All but Brian have lived in much colder climes, so we must be getting soft in our old age. Or is there something about the dampness that exacerbates the temperature? We did get nearly 7" of rain in 8-9 days before this clear spell....

It does stay colder in pockets. On Friday I rode my horse down the hollow just south of us, and it looked like it had snowed there:

Things have changed in the henhouse, and not for the better. The morning after we found the Buff Orpington dead, we found a Speckled Sussex in obvious distress. Rick examined her and found a broken humorous, so she had to be dispatched and buried. Also, we have gotten ONE egg in the last week, after getting 1-3 a day this month. All suspicions rest squarely on aptly named Elvira. After fatality #2, I've been confining her to a cage at night, so there can be no fighting in the henhouse before the popdoor is opened in the morning. I am contemplating tossing her out to join the neighbor's free-ranging flock, but I'm afraid the damage may be done, that the two dead hens may have been the main layers. Time will tell, I guess. Chickens!!!

The sheep, of course, are fine. The wethers have an abundance of crunchy potato chips, otherwise known as picturesque fall leaves; I love capturing them in the slanting morning sun:

The traffic has been bad on our lane, thanks to this tradition. I cannot believe that every vehicle leaving neighborhood wineries is piloted by an unimpaired driver, and that makes me nervous. I prefer wineries at night, quiet and vacant:

That's it for now from . . .