The outside thermometer read minus fourteen degrees this morning.This did not keep us from offering the donkeys their morning carrot. Their whispers and eyebrows were frosted over, they were hungry and edgy, as were we. Our hardy wood stove is keeping half of the house warm but I have put my Dickens gloves on – the ones with open fingertips so I can write. Our house is tight and snug, but the frost-free froze again and the cold is seeping in through some of the old doors. Maria is trying to keep warm in her studio, insulated for normal winter cold, not really for this much cold.

The oil company came and filled up the burner. $521. Not too bad. The good news is the sun is out, it will warm up a bit for the animals, maybe for us.