Feels like spring...

It's the 16th of December and it was about 9 C outside which is about 47 degrees Fahrenheit (roughly). We are knee deep in mud. Last night at 5 PM when I went up to the barn, you didn't even need a sweater it was so warm. The temperature is supposed to drop overnight and be cooler tomorrow, but the long range forecasts are calling for warm weather all through Christmas. I remember other winters without snow, but none this warm.

This afternoon, we had some carrots. Everyone was pretty excited about it. Especially Buckwheat... he thought maybe he could reach it with his tongue.... if it was just a little longer, or the carrot a little closer!

Oh yum... 

Biscuit tried to eat hers all at once, until she figured out maybe she should, chew it...

Yesterday it poured rain and was super windy. It's was pretty miserable. The animals all stayed inside the warm barn and I stayed inside as much as I could in between chores.The Prairie dogs hardly bothered getting out of bed because it was dark and dreary outside. They are also more active on sunny days this time of year.

Wednesday we went shopping all day in New York State. We got home around 10:30 PM and on the time I finished the barn chores and we unloaded the truck and got the perishables put away it was midnight. We were beat. I could haul logs all day and not feel as tired as I do from shopping. I hate it. I absolutely hate shopping. It was made worse by the fact we had to leave the farm the two days before as well. I'm hoping we won't have to leave until at least after Christmas now, although I may have to run out next week to drop off some cookie packages. When we grocery shop, we do it for a couple months, (with everything we can) so it's always a bit of a chore to put it away. You should see the rest of the counter, and uh... the floor. The dogs love it because they look through every single bag to see what's in it. This time, they found new squeaker toys in one of the bags and they didn't even hesitate to start pulling them out!

The important thing is, we stocked up on the essentials for this time of year...

It was quite a chore getting the decorations out and working on the tree. Kevin is allergic - which we didn't know, so he was sick after helping me get the lights hung up. I've still got decorations to be put up or away.

Norman wondering why we are making such a mess

why is this tree in here?

Norman watching the entertainment

and then, relaxing by the fire...

well it works, that's a start!

The little orphan fawn, Buttons is still here. We set the camera up to try and get a picture of him under the porch but the pictures were all blurred when I last looked - someone was standing too close to the camera. I found the two wild turkeys that hang around under the porch today in his straw, so it's hard to say what goes on under there. A couple of nights ago we heard a noise under the porch and couldn't figure out what it was... The next day, Kevin found that "someone" had tripped over the cord going to the tractor from he house... so he moved it so Buttons wouldn't trip again. Buttons seems to be hanging around the bigger bucks, but still keeping his distance. If one of them would accept him (which they sometimes do) he'll be a lot safer this winter. This afternoon I spotted him in one of the fields behind the house by our apple tree, all alone.. I'm not sure why he was over there, but behind that field there is a big marsh and lots of juniper bushes for cover, so maybe he is bedding down there.

Later in the afternoon, he showed up with Deer Norman.

 and so did the two Toms. 

 We do have some odd couples around here and some strange groups of friends.

I love this picture of the doe we call "Big eye" because she has so much white around her eyes, she is very easy to tell apart from the other does. She is the one who had the fawn with the big lump on his chest this fall. She's been a local for several years, five that I know of.

The chickens were happy to be out after hiding inside their house during the rain... 

 We've been making progress on the floor for our sugar shack. We got some of the joists put in place today, we would have had it finished but we ran out of daylight by 4:40 and gave up. We could have used flash lights but it wasn't worth it. We'll finish it up hopefully tomorrow and then next month, we'll put the money into the flooring.

The road to the wood yard, which is where we are putting our sugar shack, is all mud.

It's snowing outside now, but just lightly. The dogs have officially called it a night...

 and us humans are going to try and stay up a little longer and watch a movie with a hot cup of Chai tea.