This morning, I was awakened at 3:00 a.m., courtesy of a pack of coyotes outside my bedroom window. My pack soon joined their pack in a serenade of the wild and the tame.
This photo was taken last year.
I checked the thermometer as I let the dogs out....18 F and cold, cold in the house too. So I quickly went back to bed and snuggled under my wonderful featherbed, a gift from my friends Carol and Chuck. I will be forever grateful! Why I have no central heating is a story for another time, but I have my thick, thick featherbed and my old dog, Angel, to keep me warm, while my husband is away. I sometimes think of all the birds that gave up all the feathers and I feel bad, but when it's this cold....well, I'm grateful. And I dream I'm in the Alps as I snuggle under my featherbed at night with my book and my dog.
Of course, I have heaters placed around the house, a good one in the bathroom ceiling, and I have my fireplace. I also have the sun to keep me warm in the winter. Living so close to nature here, I'm often surprised. That the sun will keep you warm should not be surprising, but the power of it continues to amaze me. There is a huge difference between sunny days (no fire in the fireplace required) and overcast days (a fire is a a MUST). My husband installed a glass-paned door to the east, so the warmth of the sun begins there. By mid-day, it has worked its way to the south and sunshine streams in through the large living room window, where it stays all afternoon.
Fortunately, since it's so hot here in the summer, the sun is too high in the sky then to come through the living room window for very long.
Well, I didn't go back to sleep, so I had my breakfast in bed, then got up and dressed like this and took the dogs for a walk.
