Enjoying a rainy day

We had 0.3 inches of rain yesterday, and I spent the morning working on the 2015 garden layout and ordering new seeds. The horses had their own kind of fun.

We just finished cleaning them up, sort of, because matted fur does not keep you warm as well. They wasted no time in rolling in the mud again, but at least we tried. It is sunny and supposed to reach 60 degrees.

Winter at the WD

Freezing nights, cool days and mostly sunny. The sun is deceptive though: there is often a thin little breeze from the north that makes it just unpleasant enough to be playing outside.

The horses (here Bueno and Buggs, Cody is out in the arena already) have good winter coats, though it is difficult to see in this photo.

The garden is sleeping, but still producing carrots, green onions, lettuce, kale, cabbage. See the remainder of snow that blew in sideways on New Year's day.

The chicks have grown into little hens that no longer peep but cluck. It will be another month before they start laying eggs. The always curious Cindy in the middle foreground, airhead Marilyn furthest from the camera.

It is a splendid time to be perusing seed catalogs by the fire.

Almost winter

It does feel like winter today: it is 45 degrees at 3 pm and there is frost in the forecast for tonight. We have had some rain too the last couple of days, 0.7 inches so far, and that contributes to that cold, wintry, feeling. But it does make it feel that the holidays are near and I much enjoy that. If you were brought up in a cool climate that saw some snow and dark days at the end of December, it is difficult to sing Oh Christmas Tree when you are walking around in short sleeves.

I am not the only one cold this afternoon. Here is Roadie trying to warm up in an errant ray of sun. I think it is time for a fire in the fireplace.