Two signs of Spring!

Trixie got shampooed and clipped.......

.........and the crocus are blooming!

It's been unusually mild this March, which usually comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion here around the Great Lakes, so I'm hoping this is our reward for enduring such a nasty winter. I've been hearing nightmare stories about astronomical heating bills of $500 to $700 per month. I'll tell you what I did. Last year dad bought one of these:

Cool digital thermometer with a laser...ooo!

In December our bill was $168, about normal for us. But in January our bill was $214, so I went around the house pointing the thermometer at window sills and any other place I thought might be cold. Then I covered the cold spots with plastic. We cut up an old blanket and rolled the two halves into into giant draft stoppers for the doors. We fully expected our February bill to be over $300 because of the prolonged severe cold, but it was nearly identical---$211. So dad says all the time I spent playing around with the thermometer and covering up cold spots probably saved nearly $100.