When I was young I remember there being a lot of snow before Christmas. I only remember one "green" Christmas in my childhood...and being a kid, not having snow was such a disappointment! Lately though, it is seemed that December is just as likely to have grass still showing as not...and as an adult it is such a pain in the butt to have so much snow while doing Christmas running around! Amazing how a few decades of age can change perception so much. I guess the skiers and snowmobilers are likely happy though...and kids under the age of 12!

Natalie and I decorated the barn yesterday; Flair was not impressed by the little Christmas tree. Not sure if her silliness was due to her knowledge that trees do NOT belong in the barn, or if she was making a commentary about our decorating skills...everybody is a critic. Milo on the other hand seemed oddly disinterested in the garland and Christmas balls. What sort of cat isn't fascinated by shiny objects?

Speaking of cats, our stray has a name now; Rolo. You may have seen Rolo without knowing it; he is a tabby so can be mistaken for Milo at first glance, but he is a little fluffier, and a lighter coloured tabby with more white on his chin and chest. Rolo is also likely to be the fattest stray cat you will ever see. We feed our stray cats well.

I am hoping that if the weather stays cold he will move on to our covered deck as Milo did a couple years ago, and we can catch him that way and get him looked after at the vets. I think Rolo is a true feral cat though, and not an abandoned pet who was pretending to be wild like Milo.

I know the roads have kept many of you safe at home, but fear not, the horses are doing well and seem to be enjoying playing in the snow...well except Lily who cannot comprehend what she did to deserve this, and Brie who didn't want to leave her shelter all day yesterday despite being fully covered in a fluffy blanket.

I like the idea of the full neck blankets on windy and snow days like yesterday, so I am slowly trying to outfit the lesson horses with new neck covering blankets. So far Zander and Rocket have been the lucky recipients of new blankets. Zander was less than thrilled as he ended up being allergic to the blanket I got for him....fortunately he is not allergic to his new blanket, and the one I bought for him has been passed to Rocket. Of course a side effect of the full neck blankets is that the horse's name will be pressed flat...is Rocket still Rocket if his mane is not standing straight up? I hope his super powers are not contained in his spikes....

karen