When the sun shines the trees look like they're covered in sparking crystals,very pretty ,if you like that sort of thing...
The
last few days have really been cold and miserable.We’ve had a little snow, which is fine because that’s just the way it goes in January.The part I don’t like is the wind and the ice storm that we were graced
with a few days ago and the below zero temperatures.
Yesterday
we thought it would be nice for the horses to go out a little later than usual
because it was -5 and windy.Did they
appreciate the thought? Apparently not, getting to the barn at 8 instead of
6:30 they were slightly annoyed to say the least. Blue and Grady had grabbed
everything on their doors, halters, lead ropes etc. and threw them in the aisle
to show their displeasure.The service
from their humans left a much to be desired. They were fed and let out.By the end of the day they had consumed three
bales of hay and practically rushed the gate to be brought in.Sometimes the humans do know best!
It
seems to be warming up a little though.This morning when I brought the dogs to the groomers it was way up to 9
degrees.Honestly, I can’t wait for the
rain and warmer temps tomorrow.
Quote for Today
You never get the pleasure of owning
a horse; you only have the pleasure of being its slave.
'Calm Before The Storm' (Taken from the ferry while crossing L.I. Sound last week)
I’m
sure the entire country has heard by now that the East Coast is in for a major
hurricane.Seems to me its`deja vu all over again!Just last year at the same exact time we were
in for some odd weather that was dubbed “Snowtober” and we had a massive
snowstorm.A snowstorm at this time of
year was very unusual for us but that didn’t stop it from blasting us with
winds, ice and lots of snow.
This
week of Halloween Mother Nature is treating us to a “Frankenstorm”.I feel sorry for all the little Trick or
Treater’s who are so excited with their costumes and the idea of getting free
candy door to door.School has been
cancelled and we are under a state of emergency.
Last
year at this time I’m also reminded that the day of the snowstorm I decided to
take a quick ride on Blue before it hit and wound up in the hospital.Nothing major but a huge pain in the butt
(literally)!The worst part was the ride
home in the snowstorm and checking all the cars in the ditches for stranded people.Anyway, I opted not to ride this weekend
because, yes, I’m that superstitious.
We’ve
battened down the hatches, filled gas cans for the generators, stored any
objects that might become flying torpedoes, filled the troughs and generally
should be prepared.As my daughter was
sliding the windows on the indoor shut a nest of wolf spiders fell into her
hair.She’s terrified of spiders so to
say it was an unwelcome experience would be an understatement.To illustrate my point: she once jumped out
of her car on Main Street because there was a man-eating spider baring its
fangs at her from the dashboard!Another
incident occurred while shutting the windows when a bat fell onto the
windowsill slightly dazed and looking at her as if to say, “ I was just taking
a nap, what the hell happened here!”“Give me a minute to compose myself and I’ll be out of your way.”
It’s
not our first time at the Hurricane Dance and from experience we know how to
deal with nature’s fury. I wish all my
blogger friends in the path of Hurricane Sandy safety during the next few days.
Until
next time
Quote for Today
Spooky
wild and gusty; swirling dervishes of rattling leaves race by, fleeing the wind
flung deadwood that cracks and thumps behind. ~Dave Beard
It’s official; this winter goes down as the worst on record, in my book anyway. Sunday we were treated to an ice storm with howling winds. The frosting on the cake wasn’t the inch of accompanying snow but the fact that we lost all power at the farm at 11:30 p.m. No problem, we were sure it would be back on in a few hours.
In the morning after a call to the power company a few hours was apparently a fantasy. We were told maybe Friday or Saturday would be more like it. Two entire counties were hit by this storm. There were numerous wires, trees, and telephone poles down as well as flooding. It would take days to fix this mess.
Shelters were opened for people with no heat or power in another town not hit as badly. We told them we had seven horses with no water, they told us to make alternate plans. Like what? Should I bring them to the shelter?
Luckily, we have a small generator that will provide enough power to heat the house and allow us to run water. No lights, stoves, hair dryers etc. We have automatic waterers inside the barn and out in the paddocks that work on electricity. So it was down to the garage to search for the troughs and water buckets.
The horses seemed to be in a panic to get out because they had no water all night and then discovered there was no water outside either. Dusty was mauling the waterer and the rest of them were galloping around spooking. I should mention their hay nets were coated with ice and when they tried to take a bite it would crack and set them off again. Their smaller nets were found, filled and hung on the fences. There were also frozen limbs breaking off trees and hitting the ground on the property tree line.
Since there is no window to light the bathroom closest to the side door we put candles around the rim of the tub and sink. How romantic, filling buckets by candlelight. Meanwhile, outside the herd decided to play with the empty trough or beat it into submission, I don’t know which, but it was wallowing on its side in the middle of the paddock when the rescue troops arrived with water. After being retrieved it took 22 buckets to fill it. Then we filled 8 more to put in the barn: seven for the stalls and one to top them off.
The next day was a repeat of the water brigade except we enlisted the help of the Kawasaki mule to transport water buckets and left the wheelbarrow in the shed to recuperate. As we loaded the 30th bucket onto the mule the garage lights came on. So without further ado we had power again. We hung the water buckets in the stalls just in case the finicky power gods shut us down again. The trough was filled to the brim and we scrubbed the automatic waterers. The crowd cheered, but quietly, you never let on to the power gods how much you really depend on them.
Here are some pictures of the ice coating the trees. The photos don’t do justice to how beautiful it looked when the sun hit the crystals and turned them into rainbow prisms. If I wasn’t so exasperated I might enjoy the beauty of this landscape nestled in front of a roaring fire with a glass of wine.
" I thought you said winter was over "
Until next time
Quote for Today
You never get the pleasure of owning a horse; you only have the pleasure of being its slave.
I hope the ice crystals show up in the pictures, they are sparkling like millions of diamonds. Which would all be so lovely, if we were not prisoners in the house, the driveway is treacherous and impassable. The lights are flickering on and off, branches are cracking and falling to the snowy ground, it should be an interesting day.
Until next time
Quote for Today
O, for a morning in May... filled with the beauty of horses, soft with light of heaven.
