January, usually our coldest and snowiest month,
proved warmer and drier than usual, with 9 days in the 30s.
Snow melted during the day, turning to mist that froze at night
and sugared everything in gorgeous rime
making for a magical landscape.
More typical January weather settled in toward the end of the month,
(if still not as wet as usual; we’re about 10.5" below normal for the past year)
with daytime highs in the teens, sub-zero nights, and brutal wind chills
and, of course, Bernie hanging out in the front yard.
Barb has been crafting a plethora of new soaps
restocking the shelves that were depleted over the holidays.
Check out what's available on her website,
The ladies are getting ready for that most exciting (and slightly harrowing) time of year:
kidding season.
Cheeky is due on Feb 18. We're hoping that she cottons to her babies this year, so we don't have to move them to the bathtub.
She's a traditional gal, craving the expected pickles and ice cream
but also the occasional anchovy and hot sauce on peanut butter cookie.
Kuiper is due a week later, on Feb 25. She has developed Minnesota tastes
hankering for pickled herring on a stick slathered in ketchup, and for dessert:
Planet Nine isn't due until April 13. Her favorites are
cheese pizza topped with peanut butter cups or just a plain old
hearty bowl of grubs.
With the neighborhood bears safely snoozing away in their dens, Barb has resumed stocking the birdfeeder.
It attracts a colorful array of visitors
with pileated woodpeckers taking serious bites out of the suet
while squirrels hoover most of the sunflower seeds.
They're sure EVERY day is Squirrel Appreciation Day.
Dustin visited Washington D.C. earlier in the month to help control the yahoos who trashed the Capitol
and then stayed on to witness the inauguration.
We celebrate his birthday on Jan 28, the day we brought him home from the shelter in 2014. The staff had no idea of his actual birthday, or even how old he was; they guessed 5-6 years.
He’s probably 12 or 13 years old now, which makes him a geezer-cat (“senior”)
– and right at home in the superannuated MeadowWild household.
He's still very active --
shifting positions in his comfy bed every few hours. When awakened and asked if he had any birthday wishes, he responded:
