Zip was sound asleep in his chair on the back porch when the rain turned to ice and then snow.

When I got up this morning, he was gone; I assumed he was in the barn or the woodshed. Then the snow came.  I followed his footprints to the rear of the big barn this morning and almost down to the marsh.

There were signs that he had caught up on a small creature on the ground and under the snow. There was a skirmish; he had caught a mouse or a mole.

This is why he loves to be outside in the snow; he knows where the critters go to find food. My farmer friends said barn cats love to be out in the snow when the rodents start hunting for good. Then I lost track of him.

When the sun came out this afternoon, he suddenly appeared on his wicker chair and slept. He doesn’t sleep much at all, mostly around noon; at the same time, I like to nap sometimes.

Zip is a winter cat who loves the snow. Yesterday, during the worst rain and wind, I found him napping on top of his heated cat house. The wind doesn’t seem to bother him either. We went for a walk together.

Bird at the feeder.

Maria just about finished her new quilt today. It is sold, and she’ll ship it home in a day.