Flo on the back porch is a sure sign of Spring.

We had a couple of warm days earlier this week, and the barn cats have voted to come out of the basement and back into the sun in the daytime and the woodshed and the barn at night.

During the extreme cold and ice, they are safe, comfortable, and happy in the basement, where the temperature never gets below 50 to 55 degrees. If it’s cold and windy, they’ll ask to come in for the night.

We found remnants of the Spring season’s first dead mouse on the porch, a sure sign Spring is getting closer. Minnie comes out during the day, but she’s getting older and stiffer.

When it’s chilly and cold, Minnie likes to come inside and we let her.

By April, both will just stay outside day and night. Flo is a born contemplative, cats are the true meditators I think.