Greetings from the Arctic Tundra!

The phone rang and I answered, "Thank you for calling the Arctic Tundra! How may I direct your call?" Our neighbor on the line chuckled and we made small talk about the frigid temperatures before I handed the phone over to Jeff, the Abominable Snowman.

With most of the country experiencing record cold temperatures over the weekend, northern Montana was no exception.  On Friday night the overnight low recorded on the weather station at our house was -40. Our neighbor, who lives in a low spot, had -44. Jeff couldn't remember a time when it had been colder.  Jeff and Tom were still out each day tending to the animals, however.  By the time they got to chores on Saturday it was up to about -20.  Yes, I said UP TO -20.  Ridiculously cold. Just absolutely nuts.

I maintain that I had no appreciation for cold before moving where I live now.  It's not actually the North Pole, but you can see it from here. Or at least that's how it's felt this weekend. I am so thankful I used my Eddie Bauer discount to stock up on warm things before moving up here, especially now. My super-warm down jacket has truly come in handy and has kept me toasty warm. Between down jackets and Carhartts, we have all stayed as toasty as possible when we've needed to venture outdoors. A person can be ready for anything with the right outfit.

Spending about 90% of my time in the house this weekend, I got a lot done. It was so good to get caught up on a little housework, and get some good cooking and baking done. Homemade ham and bean soup, beer bread from scratch, cranberry chocolate chip cookies, just to name a sampling.  I also finished a quilt this weekend, which I will post about later on.

Although I have been longing for a weekend at home for quite some time, Harvey did get a little cabin fever. He wanted to go outside so badly but as soon as he'd get out there, he'd turn around and want right back in, high-stepping his paws off the ground as if to keep them off the frozen earth a little longer.

We did sneak in a very brief walk yesterday afternoon. At the warmest part of the day, it was around -15.  We were barely out ten minutes. Today, Harvey and I fared a little better. I strapped on my snowshoes for a hike through the drifted-in tree rows and lasted about 25 minutes. This afternoon's temperature hovered right around 0 at the time of our hike. I can tell you that 0 feels much, much warmer than -25.  Harvey was ecstatic to be outdoors. He ran and leaped and plowed through the snow and even chased a few jackrabbits, donning their seasonal uniform of winter whites. It was so great to be outside playing in the snow and soaking up sunshine, even if only for a short while.  Here's some of the photos I snapped yesterday and today while outside...

We didn't get a ton of snow, but it was enough to drift awkwardly in the yard.
So thankful for Jeff and his snow-plowing abilities!!

Harvey was happy to be outdoors, even if he was terribly cold!

The snow revealed a superhighway of animal activity in our yard!
So cool to see all the different footprints!

This Sharptail Grouse is one of our yard-mates! So pretty!  I think she posed for the camera, don't you?

More grouse digging for seeds and pebbles.  Cool to capture some on film!

Can you spot Harvey in his Big R hoodie?

Snow effect... lame/cheesy or cool? You decide.

Harvey's attempt to shake off the cold! We headed in not long after this photo was taken.