I want to try and capture the feeling of cold this weekend, I saw this frost pattern on the bedroom windows at sunrise, you can see the first gleam of sun hitting the lower center of the window.

Our friend the Arctic Polar Vortex has returned, we got to know her well last winter, but this weekend is her first appearance of 2016. The weather people are near hysterical about the “very dangerous” cold wave descending this weekend, we do take this kind of cold seriously, and I feel for all the people and animals of the world who are not warm.

Tonight and tomorrow morning are supposed to be the worst, up to – 45 wind chills and high winds. Another test of our sturdy farmhouse, which has been fending off storms since the early 1800’s.

The good news for the animals is that they aren’t being told how dangerous the cold is, so they aren’t really nervous about it. Donkeys and sheep (and our pony) are desert and mountain animals and they are quite tough and hardy, they have shelter and grain and dry ground to stand on out of the wind.

I suspect we will survive. We’ll open up the stalls in the barn, throw a lot of old hay around, huddle in our freezing bedroom tonight (no heat up there yet). We’ll also do some painting. We are especially grateful for our heated blankets. More to come.  The dogs don’t seem to notice or care.