Winter Advisory

I spent Lisa’s last day at work yesterday taking care of chores around the house, including swapping out another heater in the barn, exchanging holiday wishes with friends/family and completing reading/reviewing commitments. The last thing I did before going to pick Lisa up from her job was to lure the mules into the side corral and then lock the side and back gates, so I could keep them there until I got home.

You see, Alexa (we have a thing) kept telling me that there was a winter advisory in affect for my area from yesterday afternoon until Saturday morning.

That meant for the short term we were going to see straight bouts of cold temperatures and snow.

Now I had been really good this year in not babying Claire and Honey by putting on their winter coats too soon. It seems to have worked as they both have nice thick natural coats. But, threats of two days of continuous snow and cold temperatures brought out my helicopter parent instincts and I was determined to get their coats on before the first flake fell. Given that I’m still not fully recovered – on a pure energy level – from COVID, I knew that was going to require two people.

Lisa always provides a calming alternative to my Keystone Cops approach to wrangling the mules.

Luckily, Claire must have felt some sympathy for me yesterday because she just let me halter her and tie her up to the fence which made it easier to chase down Honey and get her situated beside Claire. Lisa then kept them calm while I went back inside and retrieved first one and then the other coats, and got them on the mules. You see the mules will get a bit hinky if they see you approach with anything large in your hands, and their coats are large. So you pre fold the coats so as to minimize their appearance until you can flip them gently over their back haunches and then pull them forward up over their shoulders, where you work front to back quickly to attach all of the clips and belts, etc., that will ensure the coats fit snuggly enough not to catch on things or slip, but loose enough to allow free movement while still providing warmth.

My luck held and I was done in no time. Blue assisted with some last minute alterations.

Honey seemed particularly proud of her bright red and cowled ensemble. Given that she comes from Arizona, I am overly protective of her in winter. Truth is, I’m just overly protective of her, full stop. Claire is more acclimated to the northern weather, so is more comfortable without the extra outerwear. Plus, she would never put up with me fussing too much. As long as her core remains warm, she is comfortable. I have attachable cowls for her coats, but she tends to shake them off.

I will keep their matching heavy duty Tartan coats for when we start staying for stretches in the single digits range. Hopefully not for some time.

But once the mules were all warmly decked out, I was comfortable opening all of the gates and leaving them to their free range life.

But outside duty wasn’t done for the night. I received a call from my favorite extraterrestrials that a pair of beautiful horses had stopped by to visit Everett and Michelle’s property, and hoping that I could recognize them from the area, we could find their owners and assure their safe return.

They were a friendly and beautiful pair, but not part of my regulars, so we snapped a photo and posted it on Nextdoor. We then closed the front gate to keep them safe and waited for social media to work its magic.

By the time I had returned home, Michelle had informed me that their owner had already swung by and retrieved them. All’s well . . . .

So, by the close of the day, I could be truly Thankful that I was safe and warm in my recliner and that my magical mules were all set to remain the same in their respective areas of Casa Claire.

When I went out this morning in the falling snow, the mules had already migrated to the front of property, so, I just left their bowls inside the barn to be gobbled out of the elements at their leisure.

Oh, and the latest book mentioned above that was rescued from the TBR stack was Desire In Dairyland by another BRW writer named Michelle Caffrey. I was thrilled to give it a 5 star review on Amazon.

Michelle’s book caught my eye because of her interesting last name, and it turned out to be a delightful book with fine writing, great characters, authentic dialogue and a story that kept moving with smart and interesting twists that left you feeling completely satisfied when you flipped that last page. I really enjoy a book when I like characters from the outset and find myself routing for outcomes. Plus, I love when quirky characters fill out an ensemble. Given my wife’s professional background, I was also pleased at how authentically Michelle captured it in the book. Well done Michelle.

It’s very difficult to find the time and energy to read other writers’ books when you are working multiple jobs (law and writing and Mule Butler) but I do try to provide support for other writers when I can steal some time and my eyes aren’t blind from constant use, age and wear. I do believe it is important that you do whatever you can to support other writers. Reviews are our lifeblood. And every prior reader’s review counts to the next potential reader.

I just also want to mention that I just watched a brilliant two episode offering on Amazon called Mayflies, starring Scottish actors Martin Compston, Tony Curran and Ashely Jensen. If you, like me, are a BBC fan, I cannot recommend this powerful story and performance enough.

I’ve also been recently Jonesing on Annika and Irving Welsh’s Crime. And if you can enjoy a foreign language series with subtitles, Pagan Peak and Ragnarok are both awesome series worth binging.

Well, today’s Friday is extra magical because it’s wedged tightly between a holiday and a weekend. Lisa and I will spend part of it catching up with and planning future family matters and then hopefully relaxing a bit.

Before I head off to take care of my day – first with a warm cuddle and feeding of my feral kitties – I want to send restorative energy and best wishes to my dear friend Pete “Buck” Sheridan, whose character of the same name energetically propels TCS storyline forward from the first pages of WTLLM. Pete is an old friend, devout BIC, brilliant legal colleague, my catholic soul’s guardian angel and a great supporter of The Claire Saga. His larger than life persona was easy to capture in my latest novel.

Hopefully the rest of you fine, five readers are safely ensconced with family and friends and are happily recovering from a wonderful day of warm memories.

Coast today. Just take a moment and enjoy your life. Put the kettle on.

And whatever else we do, let’s make today a great one.