Tuesday, January 27, 2015

blizzard "Juno"


Saturday morning we awoke to this... a tiny little snow, that was suppose to begin later in the day.  A pretty snow, but we weren't quite ready. Which is silly, because we live in New England, it's winter... it snows... you need to always be ready. 
And here's the "not ready" part... we asked Rick to dump off a load of wood, to prepare for "what's" coming, and we thought we could have this load all tucked away  before the snow began. Oh well.. it stacks in the snow as well as the sun. 
I had hoped we  had put up enough wood for the winter, but with the extremely cold weather we have had... day after day.. the furnace is eating it like candy!!!! So, I'm hoping this load is a "just in case".. but we'll see....
Heating solely with wood has it's pros and cons. Yes, it's a pain for Ed to have to feed it twice a day.. sometimes I have to feed it in the middle of the day when it's been super cold. And with that kind of commitment, we aren't traveling very far. But, I must say, our house is always warm, we haven't been cold at all and it's really very efficient and cost effective. One day we will need to consider putting a furnace in the house, but for now.. this is working very nicely. 
In the fall, I did all the stacking of wood... but with this load, and Ed being home, I have help. We put it up pretty quickly, but even nicer, was having Ed push the pile up close to the wood shed. That way we never had to walk very far from where it was going. Love that tractor, we couldn't run this farm without it....
I would rather see this filled to the front, but very happy to have this tucked inside....
Two other sections are half full, it seems like a good amount, but we go threw this pretty fast...... one can only hope spring won't take too long getting here....
So, was it me "complaining" on New Year's Day that we had no snow. Well, looks like it's here now.. and what's to come is already making the news.......
Say hello to blizzard "Juno"  (when did they start and why... naming the winter storms like hurricanes).  This is a real blizzard... with winds that sustain 35 mph or better for more than three hours. Snow fall 1-2 inches per hour.. and this is a photo of the doggie's morning let out!!! That's Miss Bella... braving the snow and making paths for the cockers....
This photo taken moments later shows Danny (that black blob) in the snow. It came in waves, sometimes you could see across the yard and the next moment.. nothing but white. The wind howled.. and my fear was losing power. Needless to say, Ed was home from work. But, there's plenty of "work" to do...
Hunter, Trev, Camille, and Tazzy were not impressed. The "puppies" Livy, Danny and Bella thought it was great. More times I caught Livy zooming around the dog yard.. until she ran into some snow drift that brought her up short!!!!
Can't really say if Bella is enjoying the snow or not in this photo..... poor California gal.. this is a real first for her....
The dogs really didn't stay out more than 10 minutes and all of them came in looking like this. Getting them out again will take some doing I fear....
Looking down towards the end of the driveway.......
Sometimes I could see the old mower, but more often.. I couldn't..... course all that snow is filling in the driveway....
Which makes trips to the barn "interesting" to say the very least. Ed and I had to plow our way out to it... and by the time we finished chores and headed back... we had to plow our way back to the house. I remember movies of the "olden days" where they would tie a rope from the house to the barn so they wouldn't get lost on their way. Well.. I can appreciate that now!!!!
On a day like this, the horses will get four meals... it's going to be a continual plowing day for sure. 
This is what a "white out" is.....

Can't even see the trees that are just outside the windows.....
Pretty much the whole day was this... doggies snoozing on the couch, I worked on Ed's quilt most of the day... we watched movies... ate good food.. and went plowing. Not much else to do but hunker down and enjoy. 
The snow went well into the night. I was hoping to get some really neat shots, but my little camera mostly took photos like this. We don't even bother opening the sliders on the barn and just went threw the pass door into the tack room. There's going to be lots of shoveling tomorrow. 
I have to say.. the barn was just as cozy as it cold be. There horses were all locked in, so they helped to keep it "warm"... and by that... it was about 15 degrees warmer in the barn than out. Even with the wind howling around, it was very quiet inside. 
Other than the fact that they were all stuck inside, everyone seemed pretty happy. Silver in his winter blanket....
Duke and Tonka have their own thick winter coats. Notice how much snow has just blown in under the door. It's a very fine "dry" snow because the temps are so cold. Mucking stalls will mean more than just manure the next time....
Mocha and Twinkle happily munch away. Everyone has come threw the day just fine. 
A sleigh for the snow.. this isn't exactly what I had in mind. And actually, if we're going to use the sleigh, Ed will need to plow me a path, because it's already too deep for the horses to try to pull it.
Back to the doggie let outs... this is what I have to deal with first.... just make a path so they can get out into the yard!!!!
I can only dig so far... they'll have to make a trail from here......and besides, it isn't stopping anytime soon, so tomorrow this will probably be filled in again.....

















Everyone goes pretty quick. It's also a week where I have quite a few doggies in the kennel..... so big ones go out first.. and then the smaller ones. After this we're heading for bed, and see what needs to be done in the morning. Blizzard Juno has been an interesting day......