So this is Winter....

(Artwork: Hugh Thompson)

It is so incredibly C-O-L-D out there!

We're under a Wintry Weather Advisory, which is pretty rare. When I woke up this morning it was 22 degrees, but felt like 10. It's so cold little Abby has to wear her coat whenever she goes outside.

She looks like a classy classic movie star in that thing. Like an Audrey Hepburn of the puppy world. The only pic I have of her in it I had to freeze frame from a grainy video, but you get the idea.



Unlike Maddie and Izzy, the poor gal doesn't have a fluffy coat of fur... (or in Izzy's case, two coats)... so she's been hibernating beneath my bed covers all day.

I have a theory on why the ice decided to return though. It's because we just planted the first flowers in our garden a couple days ago. (I really hope they all survive).

It was incredibly cold yesterday, too. It came as a total surprise.

My poor cows... my poor birds... poor "Hugs" the donkey!



And see how thick the ice was in the fountain today? It didn't melt all day. It stayed frozen solid.



Yes, that's what we do around here. We take photos of the ice whenever it visits. It's exciting! (It's a lot like waking up to find a chunk of gold beneath your pillow, or your favorite celebrity standing in your kitchen offering you a Starbucks coffee along with a $200 Barnes and Noble gift card).

And what's also rare... other than this unusually cold winter we've been having... is that this morning we saw two ducks swimming in the neighbor's pond. That's the first time we've seen them around here.

We even saw a squirrel chomping down on the bird seed. (That was our first squirrel sighting here, too).



Even as I type I'm hearing what the weatherman has been calling "thunder sleet."

Never in my life have I heard those two words strung together like that. Not ever. (Although... I'm not really that a big a fan of this little storm, seeing how it interfered with me watching TWO HOURS of The Voice tonight. I've only been looking forward to this show since last week).

It sort of feels like I'm in a parallel universe. While we do experience winter weather around here, it usually lasts only a day or two at a time. This year it's been so completely the opposite of that. (I only wish we received some snow during all this cold. That would have been a lot of fun).

Okay, I'll stop right there. It's pathetic that I've been rambling to myself about the weather all this time.