-2 Degrees.....brrrr!

Yes, we got our snow.  It is pretty but dang it is cold.  -2 this morning when I went out to take the chickens some HOT oatmeal laced with sunflower seeds, scratch, and some regular feed.  I then took the dogs out to do their business and they sure didn't want to stay long enough to get that finished either...hopefully, it will warm up a little bit today and then we will go try it again.  I am quite sure they will let me know when it is time...usually about the time I warm up again. 

So, what will I do today since it is too cold to be outside?  I started off my day in the fiber room skirting some alpaca fiber, 7.8 ounces.  Next, it will get soaked/washed and then I'll set it out to dry and that will also get some needed humidity back in the house.  And while that is drying, I will find a knitting project to work on while sitting with my dogs and one of our house cats, Thomas who hasn't been feeling very well...not exactly sure why.  He loves to lay with his feet under the heater and as close as he can be to it.  One night over the weekend I observed him acting weird but then realized that his claw was stuck in the carpet.  He always comes to bed with me and snuggles as close as he can get to me, with covers on.  He has quit doing that, although one night he struggled to get onto the bed, I am a light sleeper so I could hear the struggle but when he arrived by my side I loved on him and kept him warm.  He is a little furnace.  Anyway, we feel that maybe the dog got a little bit too rambunctious with him and has hurt him somehow...or maybe he plowed into something in his rampage thru the house one time.  So, I will sit with him and help him to feel better.  He is still in the basement in the same spot on the couch as I left him last night.  He has been coming upstairs on his own but not today. 

Morning Frost on the gate.

Poor Thomas.......

Morning sun poking thru the woods...

Today the pond is all white, yesterday the water was not frozen yet.

Smokey, sleeping in the cat basket that I fixed for Thomas yesterday. Smokey and Thomas are siblings and are about 3 1/2 years old.  Smokey was our barn cat but once we sold our alpacas, she was all alone except for the parties she would throw each night when stray cats, skunks, and raccoons came to visit her.  About November, we decided that she needed to come inside and she has adjusted very well to her new warm environment.

This is 7.8 ounces of alpaca, ready for the sink for its wash and soak.  Perhaps tomorrow it will be dry enough to card into something beautiful to spin.