Another snow shot

As the thaw begins (we hope), here's another shot of our little hamlet in the snow. I can't tell you how unusual it is for us to have the kind of cold we've been having, or for snow to last two weeks on the ground here where we live. This will certainly be a winter to remember, if for nothing else than the contrast between the very mild start and this cold spell.

The snow will be nearly all gone within the next 24 hours. And, I hope, so will the extreme cold.

Bertie has become accustomed to coming into the house in the mornings and the afternoons since the cold spell began two weeks ago. He will spend the warmest part of the day outside and we make him spend the night in the garage (only because the dog will try to eat him if he's in the house overnight). For the time he spends in the house, we block Callie up in the loft. She's content to snooze while Ken watches tv up there. Bertie hangs out by a radiator or the wood stove when he's inside.

When it's not so cold, Bertie is free to go outside during the night. But since the Siberian air arrived, we've been closing him inside to keep his sleeping area as warm as possible. So his outside time is limited to the sunny middle of the day. It will be interesting to see how his behavior evolves as it warms up again.