Mid January, and it's cold!

It was 1 degree F this morning! Cold! Especially for here in CT. It took the furnace an hour to warm up 10 degrees. I thought something was wrong, but doesn't seem to be. Just not used to being this cold here. I woke up at 4AM and started worrying over the pipes, even though this house is not quite 20 yrs old yet. How old does a house have to be to have a valid reason to worry over pipes breaking? I'm thinking turn of the century or older, depending on how well built it is, but I could be wrong.
We were spoiled a bit by some recent winters. Although last winter was colder and snowier, and this one has followed suit, I remember a few years back when people were golfing in February! Not this year, with snow and ice on the ground. I still see the occasional flip flop though when we are out shopping or out for dinner. Ridiculous if you ask me. Are some people in denial??
Not too much happening here. We are still looking at houses, hoping to move sometime this spring. I would really love to be out of here before spring planting time. It would be lovely to have a real nice garden this year. Plus, I want to get all my perennials out of the ground before a lot of growth has started. I have a lot of transplanting to do!
I'm still dreaming of acreage. Ok, an acre would even be nice, but I'm hoping for 2 or more. Very expensive here. But one can hope. If you've read some of my older posts, then you know what my dream is. I'm trying to temper that with my pocketbook! Ha!

Still fighting with the squirrels and blue jays at the feeders. Last year, had no squirrels, and only a couple of jays. This year, a whole family - about 7 or so, and at least 5 squirrels. Until I saw a couple of hawks this past week.The squirrels are now down to 2 at the feeder today - maybe the others are in hiding? I don't mind a squirrel or two, but 5 or more is just too many! They clean the feeders, and the little birds can't get at the food. Same with the jays, only now the jays have discovered my suet. They even chase off the biggest of my wood peckers - the Red Bellieds. I have so many downies now - at least 3 pr. A couple of pair of Hairies too.
Lately, they have been climbing up my patio door screens and leaping onto my feeder. I've moved the screen over, and as you can see above, he is looking for it! He scrambled around, looking into the house, trying to climb the glass, until he finally discovered it next to him. It was comical, and I did get a video or two of him climbing the screen. No damage yet, it appears their claws are tiny enough not to do any harm. However, they are great leapers, and very tenacious. I finally had to remove the feeder altogether.


Max is still braving the garage several times a day. He just has to go out there. It provides variety in his sheltered life, poor thing! Then he sleeps all afternoon. A short runabout during dinner, then on my lap with the afghan for the evening in the recliner. When I have to get up for something, he gets off, waits til I come back, and pops back onto my lap again. He knows the routine. He's a great lap warmer!