Waiting

We got about 6 inches of snow on top of the ice last night and today.  With just snow, the animals can usually paw or push it out of the way and still do some grazing.  But with the thick layer of ice, there is no grazing.  So everyone is just waiting on Joe to bring the hay. 

The goats have taken up with the horses.  I guess the cows are not as suitable as dining partners.  

The replacement heifers are next in line.  

And then the cows.  

 I don't think anyone is having much fun.  It is 7 degrees here now.  Looking forward to 2 degrees in the morning with 20 MPH winds, gusting to 40.  

Back To Ice

Ok, the flower break is over. Back to the real world of ice.  Condition continue to deteriorate. 

As you can see, some of the water troughs are still freezing up.   Joe has been taking a shovel to bust up the ice and scoop it out. 

The shovel also comes in handy to dig out foot holds so we can get back up the hills. 

Pretty much anywhere where the animals haven’t been or the tractor, is as smooth and slick as an ice skating rink.  Only, you don’t want to be skating on that slope.  Joe has already ended up in the electric fence once. 

 And now they are calling for more snow and wind tomorrow, lucky us. 

In Bloom At The 4Rs

I thought I would share something other than snow and cold today, flowers!

I picked up an amaryllis bulb at Walmart’s after Christmas clearance for $3. I am now regretting not getting more. It has been about a month and it is starting to bloom.  

I did have to stake it because the bloom was so big. And the orchid I got after Christmas at food lion for $1 is still blooming beautifully. 

And this tiny orchid Mitchell gave me for my birthday last year is back in bloom. 

 And lastly, a friend gave me some hyacinth bulbs 3 weeks ago. I had the vases from at least 27 years ago. I had almost put them in the donation box but decided they were too pretty and there could still be a chance to use them. Now, 27+ years , I have gotten that chance to use them again.  

Treacherous

Well, with temperatures staying from 0-20 and wind chills in the negative numbers, the 3 inches of packed snow and sleet has turned into solid ice.  

It may look pretty but it is treacherous.  Yesterday, Joe fell 5 times trying to get around to feed and bust water tanks.  Thankfully, he was not hurt.  It took me 3 times as long to feed the dogs last night.  The goats are preferring to hunker down under an old barn 1/2 a mile from the house.  

And when you have to walk with baby steps, everything takes longer.  

 

Aftermath

The precipitation wasn’t as bad as expected. We got about 3 inches of snow followed by some sleet then freezing rain. 

We had some wind gusts from the opposite direction as usual. My winter porch decoration took a tumble. I think the glass table top broke but the pot may be ok. 

The livestock are not too happy.  I think the freezing rain has made everyone miserable. And now the temperatures aren’t supposed to make it out of the teens for at least the next week.  So now we will have 3 inches of frozen packed snow with a layer of ice on top to negotiate.  At least we haven’t lost power yet. 
 

Rainbows and Snow

Virginia brought Sadie and Allie over for a visit before the weather got bad.  They had lunch, play Barbies and then Sadie wanted to do a craft.  She has seen me go to the computer and google kid craft so that is what she wanted to do.  She picked out a rainbow.  

This only required paint (I used Wrangler's old tempera panint), paint brushes, a paper plate. glue and cotton balls.  

Sadie's turned out beautiful.   She was very careful to keep the colors separated.   

Allie's was beautiful too.  She had a totally different technique that involved blotting everything with a paper towel.  We learned when you mix all the colors, you get brown.  

And then the snow started.  

 So far, it looks like the cold will be worse than the snow.  But it still remains to be seen.  

Hit And Miss

This morning I went out with Joe to move the 10 cows out of the horse field. 

Unfortunately, they were at the top of the hill.  But the morning view was a nice bonus.  

We drove them down the hill, 

and into the next field.  That was a hit. 

But Joe had noticed a goat not acting right and wanted to catch her so we could deworm her.   Not acting right did not include not being able to run fast.  That was a miss. 
 

Calm Before The Storm

Snowmageddon 2026 is being predicted for this weekend. 

As you can tell from the map, we don’t know a whole lot yet.  

But we could use a little moisture. The dry weather has been great for Joe to be able to get around the farm with the tractor feeding. But it hasn’t been so good to keep the water troughs full.   This one is in the horse field. The 10 cows from the cattle drive earlier are now here. They will have to be moved tomorrow so hopefully the trough will fill up some before the arctic blast freezes everything solid. 

On my way down the driveway going to work this morning I had to stop and take a picture of the beautiful sunrise. It looks like the calm before the storm  

I also have an update on my shades. I think they look nice from the outside.  But I needed them last month when we had a crew putting a new roof on the house. 

I will have to brag on the double sided tape I got to attach the fabric to the metal rod.   It actually came from Dollar General (I had a $3 off $15 that was good all month not just on Saturday). There were rave reviews. So far it is working great.   I would highly recommend it if you need strong double sided tape. 

 

Moving and Blow Out

Just our yearly cattle drive from the rented farm to our farm at the house and our farm up the road. 

Once again Joe had done all the prep work and I just had to show up.  Ten cows headed down the road to the house farm. 

There was a little bit of roadside grazing. 

And six went a mile up the road to our other farm. 

 Then on a different subject, Mike borrowed the trailer to take his beef to be processed. On the way there one of the trailer tires had a blow out on the interstate. He was able to change it and made it to the processor.  But it looks like we might need four new tires.  Sorry that happened but glad no one was hurt. 

DIY Roller Shades

The last time I pulled down the cheap vinyl roller blinds in my bedroom, they smelled so bad I had to leave the room.  It is hard to tell what sort of toxic fumes they were emitting.  I had a thought about ordering some custom shades but that thought disappeared when I saw the price.

  

Let’s see if this could be a successful DIY.  I had a piece of fabric that was large enough but I didn’t like how bold the pattern was.  Solution, use the back side.  I took the existing shade and threw away the vinyl but kept the rod.  There was a lot of measuring and ironing.  I used stitch witchery to bind the edges.

I also changed the shades from inside mount to outside mount.  Because I had wooden valances that I didn’t want to take down, it required a lot of tools to finally attach the hardware. 

Tada!  With the sun coming through you still see the pattern but it is very muted. 

I need to check from the outside tomorrow and see what it looks like from that direction.  I am not quite finished. I need to get some doubled sided tape to attach the fabric to the pole.  I just used scotch tape to test it out.   And I need to get something to use as the bottom bar.  So far, I have just used stuff I already had.  The same thing on Blinds.com for the three I just made, would  have been over $1000.  I am counting this as a DIY success.

 

Best Day Ever

Sadie and Allie wanted to spend the night. So Virginia and Mike brought them over after school yesterday to leave them with me. Sadie had requested to have the best day ever. She said she remembered the talk we had about pouting and choosing to be happy. This was a good opportunity to see if it had stuck. Saturday morning started with breakfast with Pop Pop. We moved on to an episode of Unicorn Academy followed by several rounds on the memory game.  Then still in the game mode we brought out the Lego game. Allie lasted through almost one round and Sadie played two. Then upstairs for Barbie time. That lasted until lunch. After lunch we built a fort with two tents and several blankets.  And finally, we headed outside. 

Clyde was a little sassy about being caught. Hugo was trying to teach him some bad habits. 

Sadie asked nicely to not have any jingle bells. And I convinced Allie since she got to have them last time that it would be nice for Sadie to not have them this time. 

Sadie even wanted to help Allie with the hoof cleaning. 

Allie still did not want to trot but she said she was having lots of fun riding Clyde. 

Sadie only wanted to trot. 

So it is a lot of me running around with the lunge whip to keep lazy Clyde trotting.  We have a picture of this because Allie asked for my phone to take a picture. 

She took several. I think I deleted around 30. 

But I liked having some proof that I was there. 

 After we finished it was back to the house so I could rest during another episode of Unicorn Academy.  Sadie took some time to search the internet for a craft.  We ended up making colorful butterflies with glitter wings.  On the way home I asked Sadie if it was the best day ever and she said yes! 

Three Times In One Week

You read that right.  I rode three times this week.  The weather is suppose to take a turn for the worse and I wanted to take advantage of another 50 degree day, even if the wind was getting up some. 

I thought about riding Hugo again but changed my mind and picked Otoelene.  With a jog like that how could I resist.  

And this is what her jog is like while riding.  And yes, she really is jogging,  not walking.   I could do this all day.   This is why Allie only wants to trot on Otoelene and not Clyde.  

But today, I wanted to get my nerve up to head outside.  So after walk, trot, and canter inside, 

We went outside.  I will have to admit that I am still not mentally over the accident.  I lead her around the field first before getting on.  She did find, but I didn't really do much,  just a few circles amount the cattle feed troughs.   But at least it was something.  

I think a trail ride would be nice.  Maybe when the weather is nice again I can talk Joe into going on one.  

 

Another nice weather day so I decided it was Hugo's turn for a ride.  

He wasn't too thrilled about getting close enough for a selfie.  He is a little funny that way.  Always a bit iffy on the ground.  

But the more important thing is  not being iffy in the saddle.  But you can also tell that his attention is sometimes elsewhere.  He doesn't always keep an ear on me like Otoelene does.  

But we had a nice ride and that is always what counts in my book.  I am trying to ride enough so when someone asks if I am riding I can honestly answer, YES!