Spotlight On...

This photo needs no words; Bessie Anne's face says it all.  While Deb and Craig gave her the outfit as a Halloween costume, Bess recognized it as her Suit of Shame.  That was the year Bessie got skunked seven times!  She just couldn't stop chasing every "black-and-white kitty" she saw, and it was a rather prolific year for skunks here.  That's the reason I never let her out at night unless we go together and she's on a leash.  It's been quite awhile since she's come in drenched in that awful perfume, but I keep a supply of the magic deodorizing formula under the bathroom sink...just in case.  ("Now get this thing off me, Mom!")

Another day starting with below-freezing temperature.  I'm going to have a flock of chickens with bent beaks if this keeps up.  They've had to learn to peck through ice to get to water like woodpeckers going after grubs.  And that's only after the sun warms the waterers a bit.  It's very difficult for me to even get into the big pen; ground heave from the frozen earth is stopping the gate from opening more than just enough for me to squeeze through.  I tried to shovel the dirt away in the afternoon, but could only scrape a thin layer before hitting the rock-hard soil just below the surface.  I'm depleting the woodpile at an alarming rate, trying to keep the living room (and only the living room) at a semi-comfortable level of warmth.  A good portion of yesterday was spent in the recliner with a lap robe and lap dog and cats.  Getting up is a real production; I may need to, but the furballs tell me they do not.  Excuse me, I've got to go put a log on the fire.