It’s a Dry Cold

The snow was done by late this morning. It was breezy and cold the rest of the day but the humidity was low so the snow stayed powdery. We went out and made our usual rounds. They never got around to clearing the roads so they stayed slippy. This afternoon a guy ran off the road into our fence, the new fence in the bottom pasture. It didn’t break but it has a couple of dents in it so it is un-stretched and needs repairing. I went down and got his insurance information. I was in a hurry to get down there before he drove away, I forgot to grab the camera.

  The girls got to play in the snow.

Satin was rooting around in the snow.

We got a new hay bale yesterday.

The van is in the garage all warm and snow-free.

I went over to check the pond run-off gully for erosion. It looked okay but I need to go back when the snow melts.

It was a nice wintery walk anyway.

The pond is covered in ice. I didn’t walk out on it to check if it was thick.

The minis were happy to have a visitor in their pasture.

They got over it quickly and ran back to the walnut grove.

There is far less wind down there.

I like the neck gaiter. It’s too warm unless you’re going to be out for a while, then it is wonderful.

I was pretending to be Bear Grylls. He does this angle a lot on “Man vs. Wild”. I didn’t bring my rucksack and paracord but I did have a big knife with me. I opted for the peanut butter sandwich for lunch instead of looking for grubs to eat and I drank a Coke Zero instead of my own urine. So basically my imitation of Bear Grylls began and ended with the camera angle.

Ride Along

I attached the camera to the front of the four wheeler so you could see what I typically do after work most days. I did some editing for time. As usual for January it’s cold and windy so the sound is garbled by noise.

The tour begins with the ride down the hill. I was going so slow because I had the camera tied to the front and the buckets of grain on the back. You get a good sense of the front of the property, it’s downhill.

The first stop on our tour has a visit to Larry, Louie, Daffodil and the ewes. As you remember from previous videos, they like feeding time. Larry likes it a little too much.

This portion of the tour is a drive across the lower pasture. I had to check the fence across the creek. The flooding from two days before had receded so I could inspect the barrier under the fence. I had wedged three pallets in the gap and put some rocks down to help hold them. Two were gone.

It’s clear what I’m doing here. I think I got it plugged fairly well. The big rock weighed over 100 lbs, it should stay there no matter how high the water gets.

This leg of the tour is just the ride back over to the gate. The ATV is four wheel drive so every now and then a rider must allow it to prove itself by going through rough terrain. I backed up at 0:35 because I dropped one of the wheels over the edge of the cut and didn’t want to flip.

We continue with a ride out to the front gate to pick up the mail! This is one of the highlights of life in the country. Don’t worry I edited out all the boring stuff. Heather brought the garbage barrel up the next morning. Thanks Heather! She’s good people.

The last part of the tour has a ride across the bottom pasture to inspect the fence in the usual high water wash areas. It looked okay so I headed back to the garage. Just one little trip through the creek to make sure the four wheeler was okay.

Foggy

The cold and snow gave way to the fog and mud. It has been warmer, at least our furnace hasn’t been working so hard. The horses already used up that first large bale of hay. Nelson brought over a second one yesterday. Larry, Louie and the Ladies haven’t finished theirs yet.

Muddy horses.

Foggy in front.

Foggy pond.

The horses like it when Heather shows up.

What do you suppose it is?

She has a quality that horses like.

I got a call at about 5:30 this morning. While I was working Paige came up with her toy. She wasn’t really playing, this is her way of letting us know she wants to go outside.

Hay Manger

It was nice out today so I got a few things done. It was still cold but the snow only flurried a little this morning, then the sun came out. It was up into the 20s by this afternoon. It’s back in the teens now. I moved the mower into the garage in front of the four-wheeler. It wouldn’t start so Heather and Lisa helped push it. Now that we have a close by source for hay we don’t need to stockpile as much and we can start using the garage for garage things. I also built a hay manger for the mini’s square bales. It isn’t a work of art but it should keep more of it off the ground.

  Lisa went out to scrape the snowballs out of the mini hooves.

The garage acting like a garage.

We might be able to fit a car in there.

Louie says, “stop taking pictures and bring me some corn.”

I took the truck down today. The four-wheeler wouldn’t start. I need to hook it up to the battery charger. It is 12V right Andy? The truck made it back up the hill okay, it just slipped a couple of times.

Mini manger with minis.

They are using it.

Today’s video. I know it was bright and the camera was facing the setting sun, but watch Larry at around 1:08. He gets excited and kicks up his hind legs. He missed me, but it was close. I don’t think he was trying to get me, he was just excited about the grain.

Snowfall

It snowed most of the day again. We still didn’t think the truck would make it back up the hill so I fed and watered with the four wheeler again. We finally used all the hay that we had stored from last year so we got some more square bales from Nelson. I went over there on the four wheeler and helped load it and he brought  it up with his 4wd pickup truck. Lisa got the garage straightened up while I worked this morning.

Snowy Weather

It snowed most of yesterday then got cold and windy. There were snow drifts all over this morning. I had to take the four wheeler down to water and feed the animals. It seemed like it needed a good warm up so I ran it around the pasture for a while. Snow drifts are fun.

It was sunny out for a while so I got a few bright pictures. It was quite cold, around 15 degrees or so, but it was a dry cold.

The pond is at the lower left in this picture. It has ice and snow on it.

We got a couple of round bales from Nelson Francis from across the road. They seem to like it okay.

Staying Cold

It was about 17 degrees when we went out to feed this afternoon. The ice is getting thicker on the water tank. The horses have their tank heaters but there isn’t one for the lower pasture. No electricity. There is still liquid water in the creek so they won’t go thirsty. They do seem to like the fresh water in the tank better though.

We haven’t forgotten about the girls! They still like the snow.

Heather was over feeding bunnies and horses.

In case you’re wondering what I have on for the cold: long underwear,flannel pants,t-shirt, lined coverall, neck gaiter,cold weather work gloves and a ski mask. Growing up and living in Florida most of my life I didn’t know a lot of this stuff existed.

Wintery

It went below freezing on Dec 31 and hasn’t got back above freezing since. The weathermen say they don’t know when it will get back in the 30s.

The sheep were in the sheep shed. 

Heather giving grain to the horses.

Lisa dropped off some water in its liquid form for the sheep.

Chilly Day

The Arctic air showed up. We had more snow flurries but no accumulation. There was a dusting this morning but the sun melted it, which was weird since it barely reach 20 all day. It was about 17 out when I took this video. You might be able to see Louie spitting. When he lowers his head and puts his ears back at Larry he’s getting ready to spit. He also likes to bite Larry but since he only has front teeth on the bottom and Larry has thick skin there isn’t any damage. If you’re wondering, I’m breaking the ice in the water tank toward the end of the video.

Happy New Year 2010!

I like watching the videos of feeding time. And before you ask, no, I did not intentionally bounce that bale of hay off of Louie’s head. It’s easier to toss them over the gate than it is to carry them through with all the interested parties. The mud was frozen solid today so I could back in next to the gate. I like frozen mud a lot better than the wet kind.

It was cold, high was around 22, breezy and there were a few flurries. You can see some of the flakes in the video, they look like white flashes. Sorry about the sound in the video. I would have edited out the noise but I liked the sheep sounds.

After feeding I walked the fence to see if there were any gaps that dogs could fit through. There were a couple that looked possible so I pulled a bunch of the loose field stones out of the wash and stacked them in the holes. It should hold. We also need to strengthen the fence that parallels the road. The runs between the posts are about 24 feet and the fence is old and loose. It needs some tightening and I want to add some metal t-posts. The wire is rusty but it looks like it should hold for a few more years.

The sheep get to eat hay eventually. The hay all over the ground is pretty much wasted. There is a lot of trash in this hay so they pick through it. When it falls on the ground and they stomp on it they loose interest in it. We’re hoping the round bales we’re getting will work better.