Winter has officially arrived

The thermometer says 5 degrees F outside. Is it any wonder why I'm procrastinating bundling up to head out for pre-dawn animal feeding and stall mucking? Luckily this was the scene at the woodstove. So nice to have a roaring fire to keep things toasty.

This is the day I need to channel next April when we are breaking our backs, splitting and stacking wood in the basement for next year's heat. We (ok, I admit, Mark does it all) cut all of our wood from trees that are damaged, diseased or need thinning from our 90 acres of woods. Mark drags them up to our house area for seasoning all winter. In the spring, we (this time it includes me) split them and dump them in the basement for stacking. It cures and dries all spring, summer and fall for next winter's heating use. We haven't used our hot-water baseboard heaters in years. That, along with our recent solar installations have reduced our household fossil fuel consumption dramatically. Now all we need are some sunny days and we can have sun-warmed hot water for washing.

When the temperatures get below zero (our thermometer only goes to -22ºF, thank goodness!), we start to bring hot water out to the animals. It's just not fun to fill the waterers and have them freeze immediately.

All of the animals have indoor/outdoor pastures so they can get in out of the weather. It's amazing how many times the sheep have several inches of snow or ice on their backs in the morning. We do have to close their door when it's lambing time, since they prefer to sleep outside!

So I did it: fleece-lined jeans, neoprene boots, Carhartt coat, windproof hat, neck gator, gloves, and headlamp. Honey, the cat was waiting for me on the doorstep - so nice to start the day with some purr/cuddle time. It was gorgeous out: yes, cold, but with a crescent moon and stars galore. On my way back inside, the sky was brightening in the east while the dogs chased eachother through the snow. A good start to a great day.