It is bitter cold and windy this morning but I am hold up in the house with a warm fire and a hot cup of coffee. I love the wood fire heat but one of the disadvantages of wood heat is that you have to bring the wood into the house. On a cold day bringing wood in is not fun. I like to keep at least one day ahead on the indoor wood supply, I feel wood burns better if it is room temperature, so every morning right after feeding the dogs and my first cup of Joe I bring in the wood. This morning right as I stepped out of the house Mellow whinnied really loud at me and then just stared.

Mellow is a nice sized tan mare that belongs to my friend who is letting me stay at her house. My friend also has a mule named Amos. While she is away farmer Tim normally takes care of the horses but it makes no since for him to come down here every day while I’m here so for the next few months I have taken over that job. It seems I am being or have been trained by the horses to feed them on their schedule and Mellow was ready to eat. Dutifully I prepared their food, donned my shoes, heavy coat and gloves and marched my way up to the barn and fed them. I don’t mind feeding the animals and there is something about the feel and smell of a horse that I like but I wish they would be a little more patient in the morning. It would have been nice to have had two cups of coffee before I went into that cold windy barn yard.