(civil) war-torn but on the mend

 The snow lasted until...today!  Beautiful glittery snow...

...criss-crossed with the telltale signs of heavy travel.

I love seeing everything snow-covered...

...and I love seeing the birds come out.

pileated woodpecker

male cardinal

Still, it was a rough week.  The temperatures dropped to single digits, and both Todd and I got sick with bad colds.  We had to miss an eat-along viewing of 1971's Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at the local theatre - a major disappointment.  At least we both felt well enough on Sunday to watch a Civil War reenactment at Spring Mill State Park.  Guns were blazing!

There were deserters...

...and plenty of casualties.

Ready...aim...

Bayonet charge!

You'll notice that for the sake of historical accuracy, several of the soldiers were barefoot (in the snow!).  They all had to laboriously re-load their muskets after a single shot, too.  It was agonizingly slow.  I couldn't imagine that inefficiency in a real-life battle!

Other than that little outing, life around our house has been very...very...slow this week.

Sleepy cats, sleepy us.  But now we're both better, and the weather is warming up a bit.  Hopefully we can get back outside again soon.  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!!

fox stalks (a semi rhyme?)

 We've moved smoothly into colder weather.  We've had some snow flurries...

Ominously, bird and cat tracks crossing!

a rabbit on the sidewalk

tracks on the frozen pond

Birds are rapidly emptying the feeders...

...and generally trying to stay warm.

Both kittens have an observation perch.

(More concerned citizens...)

After the melt, Todd had to check a potential roof leak in the barn (it was only condensation from the HVAC with sudden increased usage).

Claudia has had a few moments of fresh air...

...but she's mostly been in the warm barn.  It's too cold outside for elderly ladies!

My birthday weather didn't top 26 degrees, but we still managed to be out and about for a few hours.  As usual, I made my own birthday cake...a healthy chocolate pumpkin brownie with cream cheese frosting.  I saved the calories for the tortilla chips with my tex-mex lunch!

We've had beautiful sunrises...

...and so much activity on the trail cams.

Bobcat!

Fox!

A coyote pair!

And so many rabbits, deer, and raccoons.  I'm glad to see them all looking pretty fat and active!

Meanwhile, when not working, I've been knitting, or frantically trying to get Christmas decorating/cards/gifts coordinated, or finishing puzzles in quiet moments.

I just started a 2,000 piece jungle scene that I absolutely love.  I'm looking forward to more of those quiet moments in the next couple of weeks...hopefully!

Have a great week!