the best freezefest

Our cold weather continued until just a day or so ago.  The snow was so light and powdery that when the sun was on it, it looked like glitter.

Believe it or not, we are having mole activity!

The snow is still so beautiful, even though it's starting to melt.

front pond

another beautiful sunrise, set off by the white blanket of snow

ditto!  I call these "Lisa Frank sunrises" 

after the colorful junior high school supplies of my childhood

I'm determined not to be stuck inside no matter what the temperature - at least not all the time - so Todd and I went to FreezeFest this week.  It's a festival that our town throws that celebrates all things winter.  We missed the games and the chili cookoff, but we did see the ice sculptures.

It was about 15 degrees so we didn't hang around for too long, but it was really fun to see for a few minutes!

Like I said, we've mostly been staying inside.  Besides work, I finished two puzzles...

...and have gotten quite a bit of reading in.

always better with a friend!

Speaking of cats, they've been enjoying our piles of winter bedding.  It's pointless to make the bed, because there's usually a cat tangled up in it somewhere.  

Our BIG cat (the bobcat) is still showing up regularly on the trail cams, but I've gotten some really good coyote shots this week.  There's a pair and they're definitely denned up down by the back pond!  Here's one trying...and failing...to get some breakfast.  Whomp whomp!  

Maximize windows for better viewing

We had a short but thick snowfall earlier this week...

...but it's finally warmed back up to the 40s and it looks like it's going to stay that way for a while.  I'm hoping that we can start hiking again soon.  It's been almost two months!  

Have a great week!  

the ice-ing on the cake (brrrr!)

 It's 3 degrees outside, down to -4 tonight!  Brrr!  We are having periods of flurries, and still have snow on the ground.  It's so pretty.

back pond

lots of sunny days...

...and beautiful sunrises.

I love them!

The initial snowfall was pretty powdery, and we've had a little bit of melt, so animal tracks have been  hard to identify.  There are four separate lines of tracks below.  At least one rabbit, not sure of the others!

at least this one's easy!

Even in the cold, bright sun makes icicles.

The tree branches are covered in a heavy frost.

The kittens have been glued to the windows, watching the birds.

Animals are still active outside.  Sometimes we see them...

...and other times we catch them on the trail cams (you can expand these videos to make them easier to see!).

bobcat

coyote going out on the back pond ice!  

We've got plenty of food out for the strays and the birds, including a heated water bowl.  We're hoping that it's cold enough to KILL ALL THE TICKS, but not so cold that the animals are injured!

Meanwhile, we're staying inside as much as possible.  We've just celebrated our 2nd "fun" holiday of the month, Nothing Day.  We had to watch a show about nothing (Seinfeld), learn about something that we knew nothing about (competitive dog grooming with dyed fur), and bake with an ingredient that I knew nothing about...in desserts, anyway.  I chose sauerkraut, and make an old Depression-era recipe:  sauerkraut chocolate cake.  Looks normal enough...

...until you look a little closer.  That white shred is a long, disgusting strand of sauerkraut.

The recipe recommended pulverizing the sauerkraut, which I didn't do because my food processor bowl was in the dishwasher.  I will admit that you could not TASTE the sauerkraut, but the long strands threw me off.  If I had pulverized it, I think it would've been an amazing cake.  Todd loved it!  Another successful holiday!

Until the cold breaks, we're staying inside.  Working inside, exercising inside...

I'm on the exercise bike, and Barnabas is waiting impatiently 

to be fed.  I'm getting the long stare...

...and enjoying the OUTSIDE views...from the inside.

Stay warm!!

chillin' with my SNOWmies

 I've gotten to wear THIS shirt a lot recently because we've had some great snow!

(It says 'Chillin' with my snowmies' and yes, I know there's a way to flip the image.  

No, I don't know how to do it!)

I LOVE SNOW!

We got nearly 14 inches and it's stayed cold enough for the snow to hang around.

We had no mail delivery for days and we were under a travel advisory at least twice, so we've been hunkered down at home.  Besides regular work, I finished a 2000 piece puzzle (started mid-December):

...and we celebrated National Bean Day.  Before January 1st, I decided to select two random fun holidays per month to celebrate instead of the usual ones (well, we're probably still celebrate those too!).  National Bean Day was our first and it was so much fun!  So many random bean songs...Mr. Bean video clips...bean facts...and something that truly shocked me, an absolutely delicious black bean brownie recipe.  

I don't like beans, but somehow this recipe that has no eggs, no butter, no oil (I substituted pumpkin puree instead), no flour, and almost no processed sugar (other than the chocolate chips) was so delicious that I've been thinking about it ever since we finished the batch.  I used her healthy chocolate frosting recipe and it was TO DIE FOR.  One frosted brownie is about 225 calories per serving but really nutritious.  I think I'm going to make another batch next week!  :)  

Otherwise, we've been playing games and snuggling with cats.

Hoping that the snow is going to stick around a while.

Have a great week!