Falling stars, ice crystals and aluminum trees

Last night I went ahead and put down extra hay for my hens and draft proofed their nesting area. Last year I had a heating lamp on them but the chicken people have told me not to do that. They said poultry does very well in the cold. I am not completely convinced. They would gather under the light to preen themselves and seemed to really appreciate the warmth. Instead of a heating lamp I covered the entry to their boxes with a heavy fabric.  As I walked back into the house I looked up in time to see a star tumble brightly out of the sky and then dim right over my neighbor's house, made a wish then went to bed.

This morning the girls were still cozy in their nests and didn't look like they were interested in coming out for hours. We had a nice, thick sheet of ice on our windshield. Martha Stewart is real big on writing about "the magic of the first snow" of the season. That sort of thing just doesn't happen in Austin or Del Rio. Temperatures of 40 degrees or lower and a quarter inch of ice on the windshield ...the enchantment of the first icy windshield of the season brings me loads of excitement. The crystals were visible and it took awhile to get them off. It was so cold, I got to wear a heavy coat to work. It will be cool enough after work to actually wear it back home too. It's not going to hit 65 today, no sireeeeee, that's what the weatherman said.

In the car, Wm had an idea for the aluminum Christmas tree this year. I thought of the green and blue seven foot, vintage aluminum that would be on display at the vintage store I used to work at. It went from being tagged NFS to $400. I would have loved to have had that one. I then remembered how Martha Stewart supposedly had hundreds of Christmas trees, most of them vintage and quite the collection of rosette tipped aluminum trees. Ten years ago or so I had a subscription to her magazine. What my brain decides to retain amazes me, especially so early in the morning heading east towards the bright and shiny sun.