Last week was full of weather craziness (wind, rain, mud, slush, snow, freezing temperatures, more snow, snow, and freezing temperatures!), lots of animal care, dogs, dogs and more dogs, treat delivery, celebrating Christmas at home with just us, and did I mention snow and freezing temperatures? There’ll be more of that in next week’s (er, this week?) photos, too.
Sir Chesney Wallace Stevens (aka Maria – don’t ask why, I’m not sure!)… isn’t he the cutest? Chesney (aka Maria) and Mary Clare (aka Mare) are the best of friendsTaleggio and Phoenix are not amused about the freezing temps… or the snow. But they sure are handsome in the frosty sunrise!Moose, Chesney and MareBeautiful sunriseMore beautiful sunriseThis week, I taught my kids how to play Yahtzee… I’m not a game lover (I know, it’s a character flaw), but I do love Yahtzee… and so do the kids. Cotter, Buster the Kitty, and Moose being really helpful parked in the middle of the kitchen – good thing they’re cute!Views from evening farm chores. I love this walnut tree and cool clouds and the eagle who is nearly always perched at the top of the tall tree on the right. This was one of the warmer days of the week.. no snow, no frost. This is the view from the sheeps’ “front yard” – our house, the trees, the apples we didn’t get cleaned up this Fall, and the road, which gives them entertainment, too… they love to watch Carson run the dogs through here… lots of excitement!This was a soggy day… but not frosty or snowy yet. The view from part of the alpaca pasture. The “alpaca chickens” have an enclosed and bird netting protected chicken run to the left behind the chain link fence, but we let them out when the eagle is not perched in the tree so they can free range a bit. The alpacas love it, and often follow them around trying to check them out… the chickens are freaked out by the alpacas and run and fly to get away from their curious sniffs. Also… the walnut tree! 🙂Evening farm chores… view from the barn. The house, the trees, the cool clouds! Love them all!Have I mentioned that I love the walnut tree? No? Well, I do! 🙂Shameless (and backward) marketing, and cute cute puppy paws and belly!We went north to deliver holiday treats to family and friends and we got treated to a beautiful full rainbow… and a huge rain squall that cleared by the time we got to our destination. More rainbow… it got clearer and more full then was completely gone… all in about 2 minutes.Moosey snuggled up in my spot on the couch with my blanket. I’ll allow it!I love this view no matter the weather!Cutest snuggle buddy in her new sweatshirt from Santa! Just in time for the snow and freezing temperatures (have I told you about those yet?!)Merry Christmas! The magic happened here!More merry magic!The start of the snow! Dog and man (and little man) convention in the yard!Shaleigh prefers to watch from the window (me too, if I’m not taking care of animals!)Speaking of animals. These poor girls. They have a shelter but choose to sit out in the rain and slush… so they were soaking sopping wet, and then the real snow and freezing temperatures arrived and they were so so cold. I added as much straw as I had to their shelter, and got some local hay from our amazing hay lady to pad it up… they were just miserable, and it made me so sad. Poor girls! (don’t worry… they’re better. When the sun came out, and their fleece dried, they better able to acclimate. They don’t love it still, but they’re much less miserable – and dirty!!))The chickens (behind the alpacas) were thinking that they might want to come out of their run, but they weren’t quite sure of all of this freezing cold white stuff. See how gross the ground is? It’s so wet and nasty!! I’ve added straw and local hay to the ground now plus it’s frozen so not so muddy, and it’s better… but still… gross. When this freezing clears, we’ll be adding gravel and more wood chips to help dry it up some… it’s pointless to do that now though.Chesney in the blurry snow!!Getting braver… maybe the cold white stuff is better than mud? I don’t know. 🙁These are the other chickens (not the alpaca chickens… they used to be the Sparkle chickens because Sparkle the rooster was over here, but he died, so now we call them the other chickens. They have a covered section, but they are even more freaked out about the snow than the alpaca chickens.Big snow arrived!!! So pretty!Taleggio and Phoenix would rather not… thank you. Milkshake the chicken would like to just stay inside, if that’s okay with everyone. She has some company!It’s only about three inches… but it’s cooooold. Also… we are the rain people, not the snow people. Alpaca chickens! Some of them wanted to brave the snow… others said, no thank you!The alpacas came out of their shelter to eat, but they preferred the shelter. Look at all that snow on their backs!Handsome boys… and cold.Mare has had some time in the snow but she’s so little and she gets so cold and it’s hard to get her warm again… even with her cute as a button sweatshirt! The kids and and me all bundled up!!! They “helped with farm chores” by playing while I worked!The girls in their shelter… That’s when you know it’s bad, when they decide to go inside. They’re so cute and snuggly looking!!“Make it stop…please!” I found Nolan the Rooster all by his onesies in the mini house we have in their run… with his back turned. He’s a very old boy… at least six years old, we think, and I really worry about him in the cold. The four hens he is in charge of were in the coop, and I’m pretty sure he just needed a break. I made him come out of the mini house and got a look at him… even the alpacas were worried. He’s okay so far, but he seems even older with all this stress… So do I! 🙂They ventured out in the pasture for a walk with me… but they were not happy about it.The alpacas ventured a little ways out of their shelter and hay feeder. The sun was shining a little bit in the lower pasture and it really made a difference in melting the snow off of their backs… which I think makes it a little more bearable!Sunshine in the snow!!!! Shaleigh… carrying on my family tradition of using a garbage bag as a sled (it didn’t work!!!). We are not snow people… we don’t have the gear. But this (snow and cold) seems to be a trend for the past few years, so I think we will be investing in proper gear and equipment. Braden made snow angels in the fresh (dog poop and pee free) snow in the front yard!!!The “other chickens” had me worried this night because they were camped in the snow free ground under their coop and would not go inside their coop at their usual bedtime… I was worried they would just hunker down underneath. You can see the treats (seeds and mealworms and corn) that I spread on the ramp up to the inside and all through the inside of the coop… they wouldn’t budge. When it got dark, I told Carson that I wasn’t sure what the Farm Girl Up thing to do was – should I just assume they’ll figure it out, or should I go out in the cold dark and check to make sure they got in? I still don’t know what the Farm Girl Up thing to do was, but I went out with the big flashlight and made sure they got in… and, for those following along, THEY DID!!! 🙂
Check back next week for more snow and freezing photos… I’ve taken some really good ones this week, so you won’t want to miss it!
