Today’s Weather:  High of 6.   Low of minus 12.  Despite the cold it was a beautiful afternoon — a few degrees above zero and the sun shining brightly on snow can be surprisingly comfortable.  The kids had a great time sledding:

Today On The Ranch:  This morning the kids and I did school while Beau hunkered down with office work.  This afternoon we all tagged along with Beau to, as Muggins puts it, “Cake.  Cows.”  While we were out and about, we spotted two porcupines!  Pretty rare to see one, let alone two in a day.  It must’ve been the sort of weather that makes them want to stretch out on a limb and sun themselves.

The first was in a cottonwood in McConky Coulee:

The second was in a cottonwood on Muggins Creek:

He’s kinda hard to see, there in the center of the photo about two-thirds of the way up.  It’s at times like this, when I’m seeking to zoom in on Mr. Porcupine, that I sure wish I had a really nice camera.  The cell phone, which is what I usually take pictures with these days, is absolutely no good for zooming.  But it sure is handy to carry around.  And it works for 90% of the shots I might possibly take.

Asher has had a bad cold with a persistent cough for a few days, and now Emi and Beau are both coming down with it.  We have a cupboard full of cough and cold medicines… but I have to admit, though I’ve tried them all, nothing is working as well for them as honey with Pendleton whisky mixed in.  Just passing that along… in case anyone else out there has what they have.

© Tami  Blake