No longer bitterly cold.

The ground's still frozen but it's sunny and above freezing. Time then to start on a new compost heap.

Emptying the ash barrel was simple enough.

As was turfing the laying hen from the wheelbarrow.

And the end result was a pretty good pile, last year's on the left, today's on the right.

Inbetween though was a long day's toil. That's just the result of cleaning out the chicken room; a pile of compacted shavings, hay and chicken droppings. On the floor it was about 8" thick and had rats living in tunnels within it. There's plenty more stuff to shovel, tomorrow, or whenever my legs recover. And then there's chicken room expansion, and the last of the deck to finish. Maybe winter isn't entirely without merit.