January 13, 2017 Who Needs Sleep?

Mt. Stuart to the west
Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday 1/11. We had received another 3/4" of snow last night.  After dropping a lot of snow bombs, the breeze all but disappeared mid morning.  But at these low temperatures, the slightest air movement feels icy and makes your teeth ache right through your cheeks!  And these low temps are supposed to stick around for a while.  This has been a weird season with the temps fluctuating up and down like they have.

This morning JB and I were so sleep deprived that we went back to bed after feeding the girls and dogs.  About ten minutes into our nap, just enough to start falling asleep, the pan of frozen chicken water that I had brought in to thaw, gave out a very loud CRACK.  That always startles Dinga and she jumped out of her bed to run around to my side of our bed.  Somehow her collar became caught on the handle of the safe, which is really odd because the handle is pointing in the direction she was going.  Anyway, it scared her so much that she actually pulled the safe out several inches, peeing while she did so.  I jumped up to see what was going on, but by that time she had got herself free.  At that point, JB just got up, mumbling something about taking a nap in the afternoon.  I climbed back in bed and slept for an hour.

Yesterday I HAD to clean the poop out of the girls' house  Because it freezes so quickly, there was a mountain of poop building under their roosting ladder.  I pretty much had to chop it up with the shovel and take three bucket loads to the compost pile.  There is still a little left, but it will have to wait.  At least when it is frozen, it doesn't stink.

JB's Mom was taken to the hospital today with pneumonia caused by aspiration.  She really should not have been taking anything but clear liquids, regardless of what her doctor said.

Last night Larry told us that the two "abandoned dogs" were not really abandoned after all, but had got loose from their home further up the paved road.  They obviously could not find their way home, but they are there now.  Thank goodness.

I started a new book today, The Maid's Version by Daniel Woodrell.  Excellent.

Today was a three-egg day as Blondie has started laying again.  Her eggs are easily identified, as they are almost white.  Belinda may be laying also, but it is hard to tell as her eggs are brown, like all the others.

Our high for the day was 18, but that was probably no more than five minutes.  By 2:30 pm, it had already sunk down to 12.

We finished watching the first season of Fargo this evening.  So well done and entertaining, despite a bit of gore.  It will be interesting to see how they handle season two.

Thursday 1/12. It was 6 and clear this morning.  We seem to have been bypassed by the forecast high winds to the north and east of us.  My cousin who lives near Brewster had drifts so high on his long driveway that it took him four hours to plow it out.  Many roads are closed until they can be cleared.

When I got up at 7:00 am to let the dogs out, the full moon was beginning to set.  I went up to the loft to have a look and it was phenomenal!  

JB baked two loaves of lemon-poppy seed bread this afternoon.  Yum!

I changed my annual physical from last Fall to March this year.  Probably not a good idea as I will weigh several more pounds, having not yet worked off my winter/holiday weight.

Randy says that when he gets up in the morning, there are moose tracks coming up the steep slope behind his house and up to his kitchen window.  He has a peeping-Tom moose!  And even lower temperatures than we do.

I finished the book I started yesterday and quite enjoyed it.  Amazing how he uses our language.

I have discovered that rubbing coconut oil on the pads of Jesse's paws really helps to keep them from cracking.  Our dogs are so different from each other.  Dinga needs absolutely no help from humans when it comes to grooming.  Her fur sheds dirt and water, and does not smell doggy.  She does her own pedicures, by chewing on her nails.

We haven't been able to send or receive any mail since 12/27.  My thank-you notes from Christmas are really going to be late. . .

Friday 1/13. It is a frigid 2 degrees this morning with high valley fog and mostly clear skies.  Brrrrr!

Thought for the day:  In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.  Albert Camus