Cold!

Well, winter is definitely here now.  When I went to feed the chickens this morning, it was -4 with a wind chill of -16.  Mr. M just went to give them their late afternoon/early evening food and water, and the temp is still -4 but the wind chill is now -23.  Other than feeding chickens, we stayed inside the rest of the day.  The actual temperature tonight will be around -17 with possible a wind chill of -30.  I certainly hope that this will be the only really bitter cold days of this winter.  Spring can't come soon enough for me!

We have been seeing more cardinals around the feeder lately.  Normally, there might be one or two there, but the other day, I saw five males and one female all there at the same time.
Here are three of the males in a tree near the feeders.

 
And a female cardinal and chickadee waiting their turns.

On another note, the other day I counted 17 quilt tops (from bed size to wall hanging and table runner size) that I need to sandwich, quilt, and attach binding to.  I prefer to do the piecing of the tops, but have decided that before I start anything new, I need to finish several of these works-in-progress (WIPs).  My friend and I are going to the AQS quilt show in Paducah, Kentucky in late April, and I expect that I will find plenty of fabric and kits that I just can't do without.  So my plan is to finish 8 or 9 of the WIPs before then.  Right now I've got three in progress:  one is at the hand sewing the binding on stage and the other two have been sandwiched and are ready to be quilted.  I'll put up a picture of each as they are finished. 

I've made a little progress on the genealogy, but still have a ways to go on it.

Remember to stay warm and think spring if you're in a cold part of the world, and appreciate the warmth if you're in a warmer area!