A wintry cold front set in over the past two days. Yesterday, Paul fired up the outdoor wood boiler for the first time this season – a week later than last year. The wood boiler is not something you crank on to warm things up. Once it’s running, it goes ’till spring, pumping 525 gallons of water through the radiant heat tubes in the floor to keep us warm.

The cold snap has brought other changes to the farm.

The ducks had quite a surprise when they launched into the pond this morning.

A frozen pond hampered their normal splash and swim. The ducks floundered, frantically trying to make sense of this new state of affairs.

They circled in the frozen pond, nibbling at the ice cubes.

Hannah came to the rescue and worked her way around the pond, breaking the ice to allow the ducks full access to the pond.

I suspect the ducks are hoping for a warming trend. Since tomorrow’s forecast calls for 1-3 inches of snow, they’ll have to wait a few days.