MORE snow???

It's funny how your perspective changes. Two years ago a 38 degree day wouldn't seem warm. 32 degrees would be very much too cold. Yet, Wednesday morning it was going to get to 38 degrees and I decided it was warm and took the blankets off the horses.

It had been in the teens for days and 32 has been the high more than this part of Virginia has seen in years. Our first winter here with one snowfall that lasted less than a week and one that barely lasted a day did not prepare us for the weather we have now.

I don't like to leave the blankets on when it is warm - above 32 degrees being considered warm these days. I worry they will rub and cause a sore spot on the horses that I can't see. On the other hand, I know that standing in snow about 8 inches deep has got to be colder than the air temperature which is in the high 30s. Nonetheless, I left them naked. Libby does have a few spots without hair. They don't look red, just bare and I don't know if they are from the blankets or tussling with Claire or what caused them.

The first thing Claire did was roll in the snow. I wish I had had my camera, but I can't touch the right buttons with my gloves on. I guess Claire was scratching an itch. She also scrubbed the side of her face in the snow. I wondered if she had an itch or if she was just glad to be rid of the blanket. Maybe she just likes the snow! It's just one more instance where I wish they could talk!

Today, only two days later, all the county offices are closed. Only people with an emergency should be out on the road. I guess getting a book is not an emergency. It would be for me if I didn't have one, but I have a nice healthy stack next to my bed! I can barely see to the railroad tracks, which is the border of our property. I like snow when I don't have to get out to the airport to pick up returning children (adult children are still children) and I don't have to go to work. Then I can just enjoy the flakes drifting down and watching them pile up on fences and tree limbs. I had to put the blankets back on and the horses are stuck in the barn for the day. We put them out to clean stalls and feed them and they hung around the doors waiting to get back in!




I don't hate the cold days as much now that I have my lined, water-resistant coveralls. I also wear two pairs of gloves and a hat. All of this over jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. I wear rubber boots with thick socks in no matter what the weather is. I am only putting in this picture as I doubt I will ever be recognized!



The tree outside our back windows was also sporting two twitching bluebirds. The twitching was an effort to dislodge the snow and I felt bad that they had no houses that I could see. I will get some before next winter, but they'll have to be on tall posts, otherwise they will be a buffet for our cats. I hate to let them out for they sometimes return with some hapless rodent or bird. I guess if our pampered city cats can catch them they would eventually fall prey to native predators. Our only contribution to the cycle of life is to throw the poor wee beasties down the hill to feed whatever animal gets there first.

So I decided to stay in and do a bit of writing. Then I will fix a hot chocolate and read for a bit. I have plans to make Oatmeal Scotchies and I have a new recipe for scones. They are Pineapple Lime Scones with a cinnamon struesel kneaded throughout. (I got the recipe from Victorian House scones. They come to all the Mid-Atlantic Innkeeper Conferences. You can find them on the Internet if you are looking for scone recipes!) This is going to be a great weekend!! All except for going to the barn in the snow and freezing my scones off!