thar she blows

Looks innocent enough doesn't it?- is in fact not quite that.

As soon as the snow is showing signs of becoming a dirty mush, there comes a beautiful new layer to cover it up. Last night we received a thin blanket and today the temperatures were not even that bad- almost balmy hovering around freezing. If not for the wind, it would have been a nice day to be out.

As it was, it was rather blustery, 'raining' branches and making snow drifts. Some very close to home. Thus we stayed in for most of the time. And when the wind died down, temperatures dropped.

Perfect for some knitting and puttering! I am continuing my adventures with bread baking (with my new book), though in fact I am not at the point of baking yet because it takes a long time and lots of discarding the majority of the starter and then 'feeding' it (which I find kind of wasteful and am having some trouble with that part). Meanwhile, I thought I just bake some oldies-but-goodies then.

Tuscan peasant bread with olives

The cats are having a bad case of cabin fever. We see all kinds of cat-behavior that is new to us- cats hanging in the curtains (shower curtain even) and fighting for instance. They are desperate to go out but return within five minutes, complaining loudly to us like we have personally created the cold mess.

not much else to do...

Even deeper arctic temperatures are on their way, so I got out the flannel bedding. Nothing like flannel in winter, is my motto. Well, one of my mottoes. I'm very very thankful for our warm home and enough to eat, drink, and bake, and my love and the cats to keep each other company.

Homer on flannel