Snow Plow Fail

After it snowed on Monday it got cold. The snow didn't melt, of course, so on Thursday we called a snow plow to come clear the driveway. Our 4x4 truck wouldn't make it and the 4 wheeler could barely make it, but surely a snow plow wouldn't have a problem. Right?

 The plow made it about 1/4 of the way up the hill and slid backward. It was dark and the driver didn't see the culvert. It has melted a lot now and you can see the cracked corner post. The wire is good so it will wait until spring.

 He backed over the edge and got stuck. I went down with our truck and pulled him out. After he left I couldn't make it back up the hill so I left the truck at the bottom and positioned it so Lisa could walk down to it in the morning and drive to town. We were running low on supplies by then.

 We had put hay out for the sheep on Friday. The tractor was sliding around so I left it in the shed.

  I walked down to put out cattle hay today. The snow had melted enough to get it back up the hill.

 After I parked the tractor I brought the truck down to see if it would make it back up. No problem now. It just didn't like the 3 to 4 foot drifts uphill.

 The sheep and llamas got food.

 The places where we shoveled and where the wind blew the snow has mostly melted clear. The girls use the paths.

 There is mud to replace the snow.

  Snow cat.

 Paige.

Coyote, Snow and Poo Fire

Our second snow of the season turned out to be historic. It snowed all day Monday, we got about 12 inches.

 Before the storm there was a coyote. It looked like it was heading over to the chicken coop. By the time I got out there with the .22-250 it was gone.

 The snow started early this morning.

 The cattle saw me out in the garage and came up for feed.

 I cleared the snow out of the feed bunks while Lisa filled the bucket.

 I went down to shovel out the gate and pull the ice out of the sheep water.

 Everyone has plenty of hay since they can't get to the grass.

 Lisa has been dumping the bunny poop in the garden so we can till it in in the spring. She put the corral panels around it to keep the dogs out. It seemed like a logical place to dump the ash can. I dumped it in there Sunday afternoon. AS it turns out, bunny poo is combustible.

 It was smoldering last night but I was sure the snow would put it out. Lisa went out Sunday night and dumped water on it anyway. Monday morning it was still burning so I shoveled a bunch of snow on it and packed it down.

 It was still burning late this afternoon. It melted a little snow cavern and continued to smolder. I packed more snow on it. It got dark so I don't know if it came back yet.

 It was a cold light snow so it blew around everywhere. It got all over the un-chopped wood pile.

 The snow didn't slow Tinks down.

 Paris got stuck in the drift.

 Paige.

Late First Snow

We had our first measurable snow of the winter today. It was a wet snow with no drifting. It was very pretty to wake up to.

 The girls had fun playing in the snow.

 Tinks raced around in it having a blast.

 The cats didn't seem to mind it much. Leo did get a little perturbed when that snow on his back started melting through his fur.

 All white.

 My attempt at tilt shift in post.

 Satin with a snowy nose.

 Paige.

Lowe's Dog Training

 Allen was here at Christmas. He wasn't taking any chances on Thanksgiving repeat performances.

 Heather training Willow how to be a dog.

  Tinks is learning too.

 Andy went over to Nelson's with me to get some firewood. I put together one of the racks to hold the logs waiting to be split.

 We picked up some locust wood posts the week before. They're well seasoned and some are small enough they won't need splitting.

 The fallen tree was in the back corner of Nelson's property. We took the tractor with the trailer. The truck would have had problems back there, the mud is pretty bad now.

 Stevie's mission is over. He got separated from the ewes. We should have 16 bred ewes now for spring.

 We took Jerry to Flemmingsburg today. He only took about 30 minutes to load so it wasn't too bad. We forgot to latch the cut gate and he ended up getting stuck in the front part of the trailer. He got a little banged up from the close quarters but he was calm when we unloaded him.

  Becky was here in early January. It was great seeing her again. She found the warm spot, it was cold out.

 Paige.

Hay Wood Cat Dog

It's been a while again. We've been getting ready for winter.

 A couple of weeks ago Andy went with me to this hay farm in Owensville to get some hay. They had some spectacular views up on the ridge.

 We made one trip on Saturday.

 The hay had been outside since it was baled but the cattle won't mind much.

 We got 6 bales on the trailer.

 We went back on Sunday and got six more bales. We rolled them off the trailer into the shed.

I split several of these today.

 The third rack is almost full.

 Betty looked like she was in deep thought. She was, the thoughts were about the bird that had landed on the garden bench.

 Dani. She's a mini Aussie rescued from a puppy mill. We're fostering her for a while.

 Paige.

More Wood

We had some strong storms come through here last week. Over the weekend we went to Bath county and picked up some firewood Andy had located for us.

 These are some hailstones that fell on Tuesday.

 The first place we got wood was on Lois' property. This is the area where Andy and Heather go deer hunting. It is a beautiful spot for killing defenseless woodland creatures.

 Andy had the tree cut up and hauled down to the clearing by the time we got there.



The next place we got wood was in the woods off Donahue road. Andy cut it up and brought it out on the four-wheeler.

 We left the truck on the road this time.

 There was still some wood left from the last trip. I need to get the racks assembled so we have somewhere to stack it after splitting.

 It was a pretty good load.

 All stacked. Once Leo gets off the chopping block I can get to work.

 Ready for the chopping block.

 Lisa planted a dogwood next to the fence. She brought compost for the hole.

 Paige.