When we got up this morning we were relieved to see water was still dripping from the faucet in the kitchen. The pipes in the unheated crawlspace under the house hadn't frozen overnight.

It's been nearly two weeks since the temperatures have hit freezing. There'a foot of snow on the ground. We're already snowed in and working on our winter supplies. I keep thinking we've at least made it through the first part of January then have to remind myself we're not even to the middle of December. Winter only starts next week.

Seems only yesterday we were setting a record with 30 ninety degree days during the summer. Now the space heater's on continuously and we've got record cold of 5 below zero. On average I guess we're perfectly comfortable.

A squirrel's taken up residence in the pines beside the house. He's constantly digging around the tree trunks, getting at his winter stores. You can see his tracks winding and criss-crossing through the snow. Yesterday he saw off an intruder. There was much tail shaking and racing about. I can't blame the squirrel for wanting to protect his supplies. It looks like he'll need them all.