Tomorrow is Groundhog Day when, as the story goes, a groundhog ventures from his burrow to foretell the end of winter. Today was 60 degrees, so it’s a little hard to believe we’re even in winter. The bees emerged from their hives, searching for every possible food source. They visited the bird feeders and at least 40 bees were in the compost bin checking out our scraps.

The chickens took the day in stride—to them the few days of snow and cold we’ve had so far were an aberration, an annoying interruption in their otherwise happy outdoor existence. Although one of the Anconas might not have been so happy today; this morning she laid an egg that weighed 3.25 ounces, the largest egg yet. It was a day of anomalies.