Cat sitting

January. Ug. You just never know what to expect. 52°F Thursday morning; -3°F today. At least we got rid of all the snow for a couple of days. Hilda remarked that she appreciated having no snow and frozen ground as she could go check on the chickens without putting her boots on. We are supposed to get more snow tonight and into tomorrow. The first flakes are swirling on the biting cold wind already.

I don’t hate winter, but it’s not my favorite. So many layers. It seems like I can fill a whole laundry basket with the clothing from a single day. And we have six to eight weeks before we can reasonably expect nice weather.

Not much shaking here this week. I’ve had to declare a moratorium on baking until I 1) eat all the stuff I’ve already made and 2) lose the holiday poundage. I love to bake in the winter. It heats up the kitchen and provides the carb-laden and/or slow roasted comfort foods that cold weather seems to demand. Bread, muffins, oatmeal nut bars, cookies, cakes, pot roast, meatloaf, braised chicken, baked squash….mmm.

Classes begin on Tuesday, and I am loathe to go back to work. I love my job, of course, but somehow not working always seems better than working. Soon I’ll be rushing around every morning to get out the door promptly at 7:15 with my tea in a sippy cup to drink on the road. No more lounging in my jammies with a steaming mug. Sigh. Still, it isn’t as hard to go back for spring semester as it is for the fall, when the garden is still in full swing, and there’s so much harvesting and putting up going on. Now there’s nothing really to do but sit around the house. And bake.

Jane has gone to Florida for a month with Jan. I’m feeling bereft without one of my major pillars of emotional support. I don’t begrudge her. She’s retired and deserves to have a vacation where it’s warmer. We are taking care of Skippy in her absence. I send her pictures every day so she will remember how cute he is and how much we miss her. I am including cute cat pictures in this post because I don’t have anything else photo-worthy.

Skippy stays in his extra-large kennel when no one is at home. When he’s out, he spends most of his time on my lap. He still has not warmed up to Terry, which is too bad because it is hard to type with a cat on your lap, and I would get more done if Terry could take him now and then. 

Skippy not being helpful as I try to type

I’ve had to put him in the kennel now so I can get this post done without being pestered.

Sometimes he likes to lie in the valley between my legs.

Down in the valley, valley so low

Sometimes he curls up next to my arm.

So cute!

Sometimes I am just a bath mat while he washes his face.

Bath time

When Terry lets him out and I’m not home, he tends to sit on the chair under the table where it’s safe.

Hiding under the table

And that’s all for next week. I’ll try to think of something more exciting for next time. Don’t hold your breath. It’s winter.