He's taken away cauliflower before, so we thought we'd try it again. Jackie and Jillie are absolutely mad about cauliflower, cooked or raw. And since rabbits are known to raid 'cabbage patches', we reasoned why not cauliflower? Certainly more healthy for a rabbit than peanuts? The peanuts we put out are meant for the cardinals, the chickadees, the squirrels. Not that raccoons and skunks don't go for them, and crows. 

 

So we decided to put out more cauliflower florets along with carrots. That was Friday. Saturday saw the carrots gone and the cauliflower neglected. Same for Sunday. An unmistakable message there. When we went up to bed late last night there was the rabbit nibbling on peanuts. This morning the carrots were gone. This morning the cauliflower was also gone. So we can guess he had second thoughts. We still don't know whether it's one rabbit or several.

 

It's turned into another cold day. For us, in this northern nation, winter arrives around the middle of November. By the time February rolls around, we think, hmmm, February and then March and winter's over! As though we're at least two-thirds of the way through winter. By the calendar, we're only halfway through. It would be awfully nice for the weather to begin moderating. As in: getting milder. Not yet, evidently, to think otherwise is delusional.

 

Sometimes we cling to our illusional hopes. We had a call yesterday reminding us for the scheduled appointment for haircut and the works for Jackie and Jillie on Tuesday. They'll no longer be shaggy. That also means that once groomed and slick looking they'll be absent all that hair that has grown in the past two months. Keeping them warm under their winter coats. Sigh.

 

We were out this afternoon under a snowy-white sky at -10C, heading for -23C again tonight. That little rabbit was out on the porch last night when it was -20C; he needs all the peanuts he can nibble with their fat content to help him keep warm in this weather. There's a wind, which means it feels much colder than merely -10, which is cold enough for anyone.

 

While we were out snow was tumbling lazily through the atmosphere. And nothing quite renders a landscape more serene and tranquil than a dusting of snow. So beauty there is aplenty. And as it happened a lot of Jackie and Jillie's friends were out today on the trails when they were, as well. So they had a refreshing and interesting spin through the trails, taking no notice whatever of the cold.

 

 

The few open spots in the creek where the thick layer of snow over ice has receded have closed up again. So no sight of that little flock of robins we've seen lately. Few signs of any birds, including chickadees and nuthatches around, either. Everyone is tucked away shielding themselves from the wind and the cold until more favourable weather enters, whenever that will be.