Thursday, January 9, 2014

Arctic Vortex.

So, that's what the weather people are calling this last blast of cold weather. An Arctic Vortex. Hmmm, not sure why they feel they need to label the weather. Why can't they just call it what it is? DARNED COLD! So it was a rough few days, but happily all of us made it through. Whew! Yesterday I let everyone back out to the pastures and yards. The goats and sheep went RUNNING out, kicking up their heels. I guess they were getting "barn fever" The chickens were not so excited to get out. They ran to the door, looked at the snow...and stopped dead in their tracks. They were happy to just stand in the doorway looking out for a while. At least I was able to air everything out a bit. Today was even better. I think we hit a high of 42 today. It is still going to be a while before everything thaws, but it sure felt good not to have the wind feeling like it was ripping my skin off. The day ended with a little snow and rain mix but it isn't terrible.... yet. They are talking next week, back into the teens for highs. Not looking forward to that. For now I will take advantage of the "warmer" temperatures and clean out the stalls and coops, get fresh bedding down and prepare for the next round of winter weather. One good thing about these long cold days... I have a reason to be inside, thumbing through seed catalogs, getting ideas on what I want to plant this spring. I just love planning a garden. Oh, but as most everyone knows...even the best laid plans can fail. I usually plan these grandeur gardens.. then last minute... just about the last few planting days.. I am throwing things wherever they land. LOL Every year I say " this year I will plan better" So, this year... I WILL plan better. Adding a few more fruit trees this year, and expanding the hog pen into the woods. 2 fairly big projects, I intend to finish.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Mercy it's cold!!

What a way to bring in the new year.....colder than a well diggers bottom! The weather guy said we were supposed to get a LOT of snow Sunday, however we didn't. We got a LOT of rain. At first I was glad....rain fills the water troughs and rain barrels. Yep... that is a good thing....then...the temps started dropping. FAST! Everything froze solid. The winds picked up, it started to snow on top of all of the ice. Wind chills of -30 to - 45. So, while the temps were "warm" and we were getting rain, I headed to the barn to get everyone settled in before the "big freeze" Locked the goats in their stalls, threw a lot of extra bedding to everyone...a little extra groceries. Yes...I was sure everyone was ready. This morning...wow..it was so cold going out there to do chores. They warned us that any exposed skin would freeze after 30 minutes. So we did chores in increments. First the barn.....warm water for everyone, extra hay, done. I was happy to see the sheep was laying with the pig. Since the pig is older, she needs all the heat she can get. Back inside to thaw a bit and grab more warm water for the pigs and poultry. We added warm water to the pigs feed so they could warm up from the inside. Everyone seemed to be doing alright. I am so glad. I was worried I would go out there to frozen critters. The temps are steadily dropping here. It was 5 degrees at 04:30 this morning. It is now -6. Dangerous temps. By the weeks end...back into the upper 40's. CRAZY! I am going to grab my blanket...some hot tea...and sit here by the fire. Until it is time to take more warm water to these critters. Stay warm....be safe if you MUST get out there.