Wintertime

 I took this picture of Cliff on our walk yesterday.  No jacket.

I took this shot this morning in almost the same spot.  That's Missouri for you.  A lot of people think that when the temperature fluctuates so much, it makes people ill.  I don't agree.  Most anything I've read suggests that germs cause illness, not temperatures of any sort.  I love the occasional unseasonably warm day in January; it makes winter bearable and reminds me what spring is going to feel like.  We're supposed to warm back up in a few days.  
Frigid weather does make certain things difficult.  We got around an inch of rain yesterday, I think, which soaked the chicken's feed.  Then it got below freezing, so now there's a frozen hunk in their feeder that won't come out and that they can't eat, and I have nothing to give them their feed in.  Oh, they've had stuff to eat today:  I took them some nicely clabbered milk for breakfast.  For lunch, I had about a cupful of pinto beans and a piece of corn bread left after Cliff and I ate.  Meanwhile, I brought the feeder full of frozen glop in the house to thaw, so I can empty it tomorrow and start over with dry feed.  

  Looks miserable, doesn't it?  I went out a while ago and enticed the youngsters into the little lot, then put Gracie in the horse stall and closed the door.  George still insists on sucking on her ears, and as cold as it's supposed to be tomorrow, wet ears would probably freeze.  It's always something when you have animals.  They just won't play by the rules.  
We made a run to the city just because I wanted some good apples, and also because I wanted to get out and go somewhere.  We weren't gone even three hours, but it was a change of pace.  
Hang in there, folks.  Spring is just around the corner.