"They" Say Cats Are Clean

 A quiet weekend at home was exactly what we needed.  After a couple bone-chilling days, the sun rose yesterday morning and returned the unseasonable warmth that we have gotten used to this winter.

Sunday's sunrise held a promise...

a promise that the cold had passed...

and that the once soggy earth, that was presently frozen, would soon again give way to the weight of hooves.

The delicious sunlight soon dissolved into a thick soup of grey clouds, leaving the rest of the day overcast.

For some reason, this weekend gave me an infusion of creativity.  I baked a couple loaves of sourdough bread,

and a loaf of sourdough Brioche (which, sadly, was not as good as I had hoped.)

I re-decorated our downstairs guest room by shopping my own house.  

I brought some cross stitch pictures from my bedroom, a rug from my sewing room,  and bedding from the upstairs guest room to breathe a little spring vibe into the room.  As soon as it's warm enough to open the windows, I am going to paint the wall behind the bed a warm beige (it's presently a dark grey... and I think I've had enough grey!)

I sewed another waxed canvas bag with a leather flap,

and continued with the current knitting project.

Our pond iced over this weekend.  I love how the ducks sit around the edge.

The cold weather brought a lot of visiting mallards to the pond.

Afternoon in the dry lot:

While the equines were busy eating their snack,  I knelt down to visit with the barn cats.  As I was talking to and petting Pete, Daphne came over for a visit.  Truth be told, Daphne would rather stomp Pete than chat with him. Our donkeys have no fondness for cats.  Luckily I was there to intervene.

Daphne went back to eating and no cats were injured.

I have always heard that cats keep themselves very clean.  This has actually been my personal experience. Pete has a great deal of white on his undercarriage and yet still seems to keep himself pristine.

Bea, (Bea #1 - the fun one!) on the other hand, is the filthiest cat I've even known. 

 She loves to roll in the dust and dirt, and then doesn't bother to shake off the debris afterwards.

If I had known this earlier, I might have named her Pigpen.

The warmth has returned.  

Now, all we need are some sunny days so we can generate some solar power!