Death to Ticks and Bad Bugs!

It's really, really cold . . . as it should be this time of year in northern Minnesota.  Our high yesterday was -11F.  With nary a smidgeon of sunshine.  But with a bit of wind.  Don't know what the windchill factor was.  Who cares when you know it's just too darn cold to be outside for any length of time with unprotected skin exposed!

Schools in the area are closed today for the second day in a row.  Kids are delighted, no doubt.  Parents not so much.  Even a few businesses have shut their doors.

We're warm and cozy inside although putting wood in our two wood stoves (well, three . . . I forgot the one in the garage) is like dropping the logs down a bottomless pit.  They disappear about that fast.  (There will be no shortage of ashes for the garden or field this year at this rate.)

I didn't go outside at all yesterday other than to help hubby unload wood he had brought to the house via wheelbarrow from the wood shed.  He did all the necessary outside chores which, of course, included changing frozen waterers several times during the day and collecting eggs often so they didn't freeze and crack.  The crazy man even went for a hike up around the loop at the back of our property.  (I politely -- and with no deliberation at all -- declined the invitation to join him.)  He returned a half hour or so later with a frost-encrusted face mask but still comfortable because he had dressed in the proper gear.

Today we have bright sunshine which is the case more often than not when it's this cold.  Now at noon time the temperature has hit a balmy -4 degrees.  I just turned on the oven to bake a batch of Walnut Coconut Cookies.  Having the oven perking away sounded like a good thing to do and we always seem to be short on cookies around here.

Personally, I'm rejoicing over this frigid weather, because it should be killing off the multitudinous hordes of ticks and evil garden insects that have been rapidly making their way northward into our region (and thriving!) because of our past way-too-warm winter seasons.

So take this deep freezing weather, you blood-sucking ticks and crop destroying garden pests.  I hope you're frozen stiff and dead as door knobs.  Or at least hurriedly packing your bags and catching the first logging truck going south.  Way, way south.  Good-bye and good riddance!

Now I'm off to put on warmer socks.  Sitting here at my desk, my tootsies have gotten a little chilly.