Winter Images...

Not a cop-out. It's just that we took a lot of pictures in this cold snap. 

And no, none of them are of the temp indicator on our dashboards! 

Knitting... 

Nephew Afghan

Miles (and miles) to go on the afghan, but it's coming along. I have probably gotten close to the half-way mark here.  At 40" x 46" it's two couch cushions wide and just a hair longer. As Hubby says, "That's not very big." But I'm not planning on making a queen-sized afghan! All I want is sort of a "representation" afghan. My granny did the big ones; I'm not going to do that if I don't have to. This is enough for a snuggle afghan, which works for me.

The Namaste needle case for circulars? Urgh. Not impressed. Mine's full and I need about 4 more! So instead, I ordered the clear vinyl sleeves. I have binders, and I think this is probably the easiest way to store them. Sonda was right. I should've gotten them when she carried them!

Winter...

Yes, winter has arrived with a statement to make. What Winter is saying is "HA" -- We've been lulled into complacency with the mild winters we've had. The "February Blizzard" a few years ago was significant, but it was a tease. 

Winter version of the garden

This is cold. Bone-numbing cold. The actual temperature (remember, I said no dashboard pics) from The Weather Channel is -13*F and with the "feels like," which is their new term for "wind-chill," that's -35*F.  Negative. Thirty-Five. Degrees. Farenheit...

Baby It's Cold Outside!!!

Kid #2's car wouldn't start. Of course, it's the original battery, but -35* doesn't help.

He's off school today; my campus is closed. Most everything is closed, even our local free clinic, which is the first time I've known of that since I've been on the board - almost 15 years.

Our west-facing front window 

The wind-chill warning is on till noon tomorrow. "Prolonged period of dangerously cold and potentially life-threatening wind chills." 

-30 to -50* below zero, which are the lowest in about 20 years - for this part of the country. 

Even the dogs - Hubby isn't doing the usual walk. It's too cold even for a Norwegian Elkhound!

Luckily, they're saying that instead of a 2- to 3-day cold snap, this could be it. The picture here is of our west-facing front window at about 7:15 a.m. Frost. On the inside.

So much for Andersen "energy efficient" windows. But then, they're nearly 30 years old, too...

Church...

Sunday, there were 13 of us in the church for the 10:30 a.m. service. There were only 4 at 8 a.m. and one of those was Fr. Matt.

We had the regular Mass, at the back where they have the small altar, since 6 of the 13 were choir members! A hardy bunch, right? 

This is our church parking lot. It's a very old building, as you can see. And there's a drift there to the right: it was so high that you almost couldn't get into the lot. It's in a very old neighborhood, so as we left, the plows were coming, single-file because of the narrow roads. 

Fr. Matt was probably waiting for decades (well, he's not that old) to use this one: "Thank you, everyone, for coming out today and not making me preach to the choir." We did feel compelled to point out that almost half of us in attendance WERE the choir! 

Arborvitae

More pics...

Just captions, with a little explanation. On the north side of our house, we have a row of arborvitae. This is a close-up of one of them. They bow to the snow, and it's actually better if you knock the heavy stuff off. But you have to be careful because they are pretty brittle in this cold. They provide lots of cover for the birds. 

Tippi had a snow-face. I took her out over the weekend (now that Hubby's home, he's doing more of that) and she decided that plowing her face in the snow, searching for something only she knows about, was a good thing. The snow was falling, but it wasn't that cold this weekend. They saved the good stuff for during the week!!

She loved it. I wish we could take them to the dog park, but it's too cold out there for all of us. 

 Believe it or not, even northern breed dogs can get frostbite and hypothermia at this temperature range. Not worth risking it for a romp. 

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: If you see someone stupid enough to leave pets out in this?

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE call the authorities. 

Like I said, I don't care if your dog "always lives outside." It's too stinkin' cold. Bring the dog in. Period. 

Speaking of dogs...

Dolly...

Dolly found the hedgehog

We had our meet-and-greet. While I wasn't jazzed about some of the methods Lance used, I have to say that Tippi took to Dolly right away. Quinn? Not so much. But she's the one we worried about. 

After the outside meeting, we came inside. Mind you, our house is small. Dolly went on a "face-licking fest" and Lance kept pushing her aside. 

Actually, I wanted her to do this. It's a sign of submission and begging for food. It's a sign that she kind of 'gets' her place. She licked both dogs' faces, which was good. Quinn was still a little schizo, but I think it will all work out. 

Lance had some objections, based on Quinn, but we talked to two experts we know, and we're waiting for our trainer to call us. 

If the agency approves us, we'll take Dolly and Quinn to Bobbie and get them trained together; it'll be a bonding experience. 

Dolly found the hedgehog. And the couch. She'll fit right in. If it all works, her new name will be Raisa. That's Russian for "princess." Her middle name will be "Myrna" for Myrna Loy. 

As soon as we talk to Bobbie, we'll have a better idea. They said "think it over for 3 or 4 days." Hopefully, they'll approve our house. Steve, a veteran breeder and foster-parent, said that he didn't hear anything that would raise flags for us. And he's thinking that we should be approved. He was afraid that Lance wanted Dolly for himself, but I didn't get that vibe. I got the vibe that he was done fostering a puppy and wants to get her settled. 

We shall see... As I told Steve, if it comes to pass, then it was meant to be. Otherwise, all I can hope for is that Forever Husky finds a really perfect setting for Dolly. 

Soup for you!

Food...

This is soup weather. So that's what I made the other day. Chicken tortellini soup. It went over quite well. 

Tonight, we'll be making pasta. It's all about the comfort food right now. 

I have a pot roast in the fridge, thawing. That goes in the crock tomorrow. 

I would love to bake, but then I'd eat it. 

Maybe Hubby will do some bread. That would be good. 

For The Birds...

This weather isn't "for the birds." Hubby will take our old heated dog bowl, fill it with water and plug it in. The birds need the water as much as they need the food we've been putting out.

Male cardinal

There's a huge hole in the snow! We figure perhaps a squirrel came to rest last night. He's gone. 

For your enjoyment, one of my favorite birds: the cardinal. And a nuthatch on the bird bell. And frozen doves... 

I was trying to catch the male and female cardinals, but they're not buying my photography bug... 

The doves? They normally roost around the gutters. Today, they figured the sunny spot next to the snow drift was probably a place they could warm up. They're very puffed up - frozen birds, to say the least. Right now, they're back around the seed on the snow, stoking the tummy. 

The bird bell was an impulse buy for Christmas. The finches loved it. It's obviously all gone now, but I was happy to get this little fellow. 

Doves thawing out

I haven't gotten any cute video or shots of the squirrels. They've been rather sparse today. 

I'm done now; I'm off to knit. What are you doing with this day? 

Nuthatch on bird bell