Friday, January 24, 2014

Still very cold here in central VA--our high today was 25 degrees, and my weather app said 0 degrees for Greenwood at 8 AM.  The cold water lines into the bathroom of the farmhouse were frozen this morning, but Stephen had them working again within about an hour.  Sherry was here this morning, and she checked all the plumbing in the main house and the cottage, finding nothing frozen.

This afternoon, the person whose family has reserved the cottage for the weekend of UVa graduation came to look at it.  Stephen met her and showed her around the cottage, and she was very pleased with the accommodations--they are looking forward to being here in May.

Stephen cleared ice off the fish pool again today, and is feeding the animals extra hay now because so much of their pasture has been covered in snow.

Here is a picture Stephen took yesterday showing the parterre garden with its blanket of snow, taken from the east end of the main house.

Despite the cold temperatures, we notice the grass starting to show through the snow in places that receive direct sun.  While walking over the past several days, we have also noted tracks in the snow of wildlife we don't normally see.  We are guessing that the small, dog-like tracks at the west end of the farm lane are those of a fox, and that many of the paths made around the main house are those of a raccoon.  There is also a white cat who visits Ramsay occasionally as well as neighboring farms, so some of the small tracks could be hers/his.

Recently, we heard an owl calling, starting at about 10 PM, from the big tree in front of the farmhouse.  My guess is that seed that has spilled from our bird feeders may be attracting mice in the night, and I wonder if we have inadvertently created a good hunting site for the owl.  By checking the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's site (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_horned_owl/sounds), I found that the owl is a great horned owl.  I have seen a hawk swooping over our yard during the day, probably for the same reason, but the local songbirds and woodpeckers don't seem deterred at all!