Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Sharp shinned hawk*

It is only 20 steps from the back door of the house to the studio door. The pebbles on the walk have frozen together and crunch loudly with each step. The birds and squirrels eat non-stop. The juvenile sharp-shined hawk keeps coming by for lunch. Chris worries about his birds with the hawk around. I do too, but I still don't let him scare it away: it's cold, it too needs nourishment. The hawk doesn't catch anything today and flies off. We haven't seen the rabbit in a while, but there's evidence that it lives under the studio, where it's probably nice and warm with the heater on all night. The fox hasn't been around in a few days, but we've seen the tracks in the snow and there are a lot of mousy treats around here to keep him going.

Keeping the throwing water warm.

It's 22 degrees F on a sunny, frigid day with snow on the ground. I left the oil-filled radiator heater on high last night when the temperature dipped to 8 degrees F. Last year, when the temps also got this low, I neglected to leave the heater on one night and ended up with frozen clay and glazes. Still, though not frozen, the clay and throwing water are cold. In addition to bringing buckets of hot water from the house, I put a bucket on the heater to keep the water warm. Another trick to fend off the cold water is to lather my hands with Bag Balm.

auxiliary heater

It's 52 degrees F in the studio at 1:15pm. It's warm enough, but I still turn on the auxiliary heater aimed at my feet. My feet are always cold in any weather so at these temps it's especially important to keep them warm. I have a pair of too-large green Crocs that can accommodate several pairs of socks: a pair of white cotton socks, a pair of fuzzy purple socks, and a pair of blue wool socks (handmade by Mom).

3 pairs of socks.

That was today in the studio.

* Couldn't get a photo of the hawk so I got this one online.