Five Days

We have had an uneventful, but exhausting, five days here. Cold weather is terribly exhausting, and it has been VERY cold since the last blog. Exhaustion, and mailing the last of the “Christmas turned Happy New Year” cards, accounts for the gap leading to a plethora of pictures coming in this post.

On Friday, cold was predicted to come in on high winds, but the day dawned warm and foggy, and Jane and I went for a walk with Eddy.

Just after we returned, winds began to howl and temperatures dropped. I moved the truck under cover, and by mid afternoon the doors had frozen shut! I did manage to open them, but it was a struggle. By evening, we were as ready as possible for the deep freeze. Three cats in the tack room, and three that refused the comforts of baseboard heaters in favor of freedom and cuddling together in the shed bed atop a heating pad.

The forecast had been optimistic. It was colder than predicted when we awoke on Saturday!

I do not like to blanket horses that are not body clipped. There has been some interesting research recently that confirms my choice, but many people think blankets are a benefit. We can’t ask the horses, and we all do the best we can, according to what we have learned and believe.

As for birds, I do not know how they survive. We had a red bellied woodpecker strike the window hard on Sunday morning. I was sure it was a fatal strike from the sound, but the poor thing was still alive. The actual temperature was negative 10 (Fahrenheit) (-23C). I decided to put it in my “bird box” to die in the relative comfort of the basement. Last year, Roscoe had opened the bird box when a goldfinch was in there after a strike. That was one lucky bird! Roscoe did it no harm, and I caught it and released it. For this bird, to be safe, I taped the lid on. When I went downstairs, after about an hour, expecting to have a funeral, there was quite a racket of hammering coming from the box. The bird had pecked a sizable hole already! I took it outside, opened the lid, and away it flew, giving a few squawks of gratitude (I hope – maybe curses!) as it departed.

Prepare for many bird pictures to follow. We rarely see bluebirds at the feeder, but when water freezes we do see them come for a drink. By the way, I am somewhat obsessed with pileated woodpeckers. I consider them my “spark bird”, the bird that piqued my interest in watching birds. The first one we saw, when I was young, we looked up in a bird book and found Ivory Billed Woodpecker, which was feared extinct. We got very excited, thinking we had seen one. Alas, the pileated woodpecker, while very similar and quite shy, is not extinct, and has a dark bill.

Here are two woodpeckers in the same frame, which is fun to show the extreme variety in size. Pileated woodpeckers are the largest woodpecker in Missouri, and downy woodpeckers are the smallest. Strangely, pileated woodpeckers are very shy and like to stay in the woods, while downy woodpeckers are the bravest of them all, and spend much time at feeders around the house. They often stay on the suet while I am putting out bird seed. I could almost reach out and touch them.

Today dawned cold, but gave way to tolerable temperatures with sunshine, for a brief respite. Cold will return tomorrow night, but we are much more fortunate than many this winter. Nancy and Rachael, both in Montana, though at different locations, report extreme cold out west. One day it was too cold for Rachael to ski, which is unimaginable.

Yesterday, Eddy went to dog school, but there were so many accidents on the roads that our instructor couldn’t make it in.

This morning, the sun was a great blessing, and Harry rested in sunbeams with the dogs as the day warmed up.

Light is increasing, and the lemon tree is covered in blossoms. We are hopeful for better days ahead.

Be safe, be well, stay warm. Slava Ukraini! Peace.