ice on the bird feeder

It's been cold here.  Like ice-on-the-bird-feeder cold.  We almost never see ice in Charlotte. 

Birds, however, are another story.  This morning, I realized that after a really fun weekend full of friends and meals and games and mandolin-playing, we had taken exactly zero pictures of any of that.  What we do have, as usual, are plenty of bird pictures.

Maybe we were too busy having fun?  Is that a thing?  I've never really thought it was a thing, but I'm willing to change my mind. 

In other news, did you know that postal rates have increased as of today?  For some reason, I didn't think this was a big deal to me, until I remembered that I ship lots and lots of things.  So I spent two hours this morning frantically researching the new rates and applying them to all the items in my shop.  After checking all the options, my guess is that I will never have an international order again, as it now costs about $40 to mail an envelope to Europe.  Yikes. 

We've heard a lot of great music lately, some of it from Steve's mandolin, some from the CD player.  Do you know The Lumineers?   We heard them on SNL last week and immediately bought their debut album from Amazon (only $3.99 for the mp3 version!).  We have basically had it on repeat for the past four days.  The music is mellow and folksy and just the thing to have in the background as you work or cook or chat with friends.  We've listened to it so much already that it's quickly becoming the soundtrack of our winter and I wonder if I'll ever be able to hear it without feeling a little cold. 

Today I am making soup and preparing for sewing class tomorrow.  It's our second week and I'm already loving it, just like I knew I would.