The groundhog was right

We are not seeing the end of winter anytime soon. I think we have close to 3 feet of snow on the ground, and it's still coming down. The big pic will give you a good idea of the amount of snow, especially in comparison to the photo up top with the big Lester. That one was from Thanksgiving Day. Now you can barely see the top of the black bench.

And the cold temperatures make it even worse. It's supposed to get up to a high of 0° tomorrow, high of -2° on Sunday. Low on Sunday night is expected to be -20°.

Inside it is nice and warm by the woodstove (75° right this minute) but the poor animals outside are not thrilled with the cold. The ducks somehow make the trek from the duckhouse through the snow all the way to the chicken coop every morning. I'm not sure why they need to go out there other than they enjoy the chicken company. This is maybe 100 feet through the deep snow, only about 20 feet down the cleared driveway.

And I know how difficult that trekking through the snow can be, as Woody likes to take me through it while I am walking him on the leash. He has to leap through it since it is up to his belly, and he pretty much just drags me along behind.

He is definitely still missing Sophie and so are we, but I am going to hold off on getting another dog, even with the temptations from our favorite animal rescue (Burlington County Animal Alliance in NJ). Lorraine has sent some heart-tugging, adorable, perfect pup photos which I am not even going to post here because they will just tug at my heart that much more... Let's just say that one of them looks like a 6MO Woody...

The WoodMan definitely still needs some one-on-one training. I want to be able to trust him off the leash before I get another dog, and winter is not a good time to practice that. Is spring coming anytime soon? Please?

Missing our Sophie!

I didn't want to bump Sophie, so I am reloading one of my favorite pics of her—resting after a prolonged romp with the Libby pup back in 2007 in NJ. She was a great one for putting that belly in the air for a good belly rub, and sometimes just to rub her back on the floor or the grass.

We are all missing her, especially the WoodMan. He keeps looking for her. He looks at the front door if I say her name. He went out to the garage (where he saw me put her in the car to take her away) the first time I took him out for a walk after she was gone. In fact, he did not even want to go for a walk, he stayed on the porch and refused to come with me until I dropped the leash and he ran to the garage door.

I took him into work on Friday thinking this is the most subdued he has ever been. He was mostly well behaved, and I think it was a nice distraction—for him and for me.

First pic is him in the office of The Freeman's Journal (allotsego.com). Second pic is him on the rug in the kitchen by the sink. This is the rug I had up in the bedroom upstairs, the rug that Sophie spent a good bit of time sleeping on. Not his usual hangout spot...maybe it still smells of Sophie Girl...

Good night, my Sophie girl

May you rest in peace.