Snow

Well we had snow for half of January and the first three weeks (or more) of February. I've never seen that much snow on the ground, nor snow for that long. My snow experience is a 1" accumulation that melts within 24 hours, or an ice storm that takes out power lines and makes evergreen trees explode like a rifle shot, leaving trunks splintered into toothpicks.

This photo was taken off our front porch. Icicles hang all along the porch roof, because the downspouts are full of ice. Frozen solid. Knocking on the downspout is like knocking on a concrete pillar.

The ladder and 2x4 boards lie there, evidence of home repair interrupted by the weather. Again.

Feeding the animals in cold snowy weather is interesting. I go out at least twice a day (morning and evening) to break ice out of the water dishes and fill them with fresh water. I use plastic dishes so I can kick them, stomp on the bottoms, and flex them to get the ice out.

Each morning I can see what various animals have visited the farm overnight. I've seen prints left by deer, raccoons, rabbits, little birds, the neighbor's cat, and our dogs. Although we have coyotes, foxes, and bobcats I haven't seen any tracks down around the house or animal areas.

The chickens don't mind the snow - they left a little highway of chicken prints between their chicken house and the equipment shed where they like to roost and poop on the ATVs. They also leave insane meandering paths around the yard. They are allowed to run around during the day as long as the temperatures don't get too much below 20F and there is some ground visible. When the ground is completely covered in snow, or the temps are down in the single digits, I leave them locked up in their little house. They'd like to go outside but I figure they'd not really find much to eat and they'd be easy targets for predators (dark against white snow). Their combs did get frostbite but they don't seem to notice it at all.

The rabbits weren't bothered by the cold at all. The young ones stayed underground a lot, but the senior buck and three does were outside even in below zero temps. They don't seem to care even when there is ice on their fur and whiskers. Their area will be a delight when it thaws this spring. They create a nice layer of poop just in time for it to be covered by new snowfall. When that all melts and thaws it's going to be YUCKY to clean out. The garden will appreciate it, though.

We have been forced to sit indoors drinking coffee by the soapstone stove, browsing garden catalogs and listening to NPR. Life truly sucks here in the country.