Cold this morning.  Why does this always come as a surprise?  

Tried to take Toby to the vet this week,  he wasn't eating or drinking and spent most of his time walking (not running) from stove to stove, getting as close as he could.   "Tried" is the key word there.  I have the scars to prove it.  

So, after traumatizing him I decided, hey, I have this appointment... I thought I'd give Charlie a chance at it.  It was two days before he'd stay in the same room with me.  Now the two of them are eating,  grooming each other,  and watching me very carefully.  Toby seems to have forgiven me, but Charlie is still giving me that side eye.    Charlie is claustrophobic.  He won't even sit in an open carton that has more than two sides.  I suspect he may have spent most of his young life confined, and being a sensitive blossom,  never got over it.  

Amazing how totally different every  cat is from every other. 

and in other news,  this woodpile was the stack left over when we filled the shed.  I've been pulling from this  for about a month,  and easily half is gone.  That means the shed is still full and will be less empty come spring...=)

It appears I'm not the only one who has noticed the disappearance of our New Hampshire birds.  Friend emailed me  to ask if I had seen any ruffed grouse lately, and I realized it  had been years.  most of our game birds are totally gone or diminished,  the nighthawks, vultures,  ravens,  even owls and swallows are scarce...

then I read that over three billion birds have disappeared from the country in general, and they are starting to come back, but very slowly.  That is truly scary.