Friendly Beasts

I hope you all had a great holiday, or at least a nice relaxed weekend. For me, today is the first day of Christmastide, more commonly known as Boxing Day or St. Stephen's Day. It's called Boxing Day for the tradition of giving small boxes of goods and gifts to the poor and also to public and private servants. This is the day to leave gifts for your mail carrier, garbage man or similar. since today is Sunday though, it will have to wait until tomorrow for me, when these services resume.

Today is also a day reserved for animals since it is associated with St. Stephen. Stephen is considered the first Christian martyr and also the patron saint of horses. Therefore, today is the day for honoring all animals, especially those that serve us in some way. But also the wild animals as well, which actually serve us too.

I spent about an hour in the snow putting out lots of birdseed and small bread loaves. Of course, the little birds that help so much on insect control love this, but I figure a few squirrels are going to get in on it too. I put out some peanuts for them also. The deer got an extra helping of corn and some sliced apples. They gobble those up. And naturally Grendal got extra treats this morning. Santa was really good to her! I hope I did not forget any critters that I could have put something out for. The birds also got suet cakes and some fruit.

It has been much colder today and snowing most of the morning. Such a pretty day. Jack and I went for a walk earlier and then he spent some time splitting wood. After treating the animals we came in and enjoyed some hot soup that I had simmering for a while. Snowy days are just made for hot soup! The roads are fairly icy here so I don't think many people are getting out. I know I'm not. Keep warm!!