It's Sunny in KS

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Hooray for January thaws!

I fed this afternoon without my down vest, wearing one pair of leather gloves and with no long underwear on - just jeans, sweatshirt, scarf & my winter coat. No hat, either. It was actually in the low 30's. A heat wave :)

The mystery of the down fence was solved - G tapped it with the tractor when he was putting a bale out Thursday night. At nearly -20, it didn't take much to have things going "ping" and not in a good way. The ponies just took advantage of the opportunity.

They weathered the sub-zero temps with no apparent ill effects. They're really woolly this year, for which I'm profoundly grateful. But they seemed pleased to have it be warmer, too.

Yesterday we did a better patch job on the fence and broke a trail through the drifts out to the north pasture for them. As of today, none of them had used the path, but the deer have been, so the horses probably will before too long.

The weather forecast for this week is great - 30's and partly cloudy. Can't beat that this time of year, not in this neck of the woods!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Snow

Growing up in Upper Michigan, snow was not a stranger. We had drifts upon drifts. My dad would get up at 0'dark thirty to push snow for several hours before heading off to work, and do the same thing when he got home. We played on snow banks most years from late September until April. But, sheltered by trees and hills, the snow usually came drifting down fairly gently.

Oh sure, we had the usual blizzard and lake effect nastiness you get being near the big lakes. Winds off Superior were bitter, and winds off lake Michigan could chill you to the bone. But there was shelter to be had from the thick forest that covers much of the U.P., and in general stretches below 0' didn't last too very long without breaking.

Winter on the plains is different.

For one thing, the lack of trees makes the wind a LOT more deadly. Fluffy snow turns to ground blizzards or packs into solid, cow-weight bearing drifts, snow creepers wiggle their way out into deceptively deep road blocks to trap cars and block barn/house doors. And the windchill will just plain freeze you.

It's gorgeous, though.

Driving home yesterday - I left early so that I'd be traveling in the "heat" of the day (the temp reached a whopping -11 very briefly after our low of -24) and reached home with the sun still glowing off the wind-polished snow crust. The few minutes more sunshine per day we're accumulating is already making a noticeable difference - one nice thing about the plains: trees don't create an artificially early sunset.

Rather than un-bundle, I collected T and we headed out to do the horses while there was still daylight. Good thing, too. As we bumped down the rutted hill coming up to the farm from the south mile road I could see dark spots against the snow where dark spots had no business being.

Fences that look plenty tall with no snow on the ground appear deceptively low with 3' drifts against them. When the drifts are packed solid, they pretty much are that short. And metal stuff gets brittle when the temps get that low.

Thankfully, a good bale usually keeps the critters where they belong, but not always. Livestock drifts a fair amount every winter, moving away from the wind just like the snow. Sometimes it's the combined weight of the packed herd pushing a weak spot in the fence down. Sometimes they just walk out over it across the snow pack.

Our three escapees had done a combination of the two.

Sunny, Thunder & Pennie were out on a polished spot in the front field pawing through the snow crust to get to frozen pasture grass. They came running when they saw me, demonstrating exactly how and where they'd popped out in the first place, but proceeded to dive right back out again before I could get the hole blocked. Of course, rest of the bunch - the bale had been holding their attention just fine until then - wanted to go with them. Thankfully, with T to block the hole and run interference it was a matter of minutes to get them back in, although I found a few thigh-deep spots to fall into.

At least the effort of staying upright meant I was warm.

We spread hay to keep them busy and then patched the fence and tied some plastic flags to the spot before we lost the light. We'll need to do a better job today, but it will hold them for tonight.

Pictures will have to wait
until it's warm enough
for the camera batteries to function.
It's cold out there.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

May your week...

Be better than mine! 2010 has started out with several entertaining twists. The snow blew in, then the cold, but okay, it's winter - that's normal. But the other fun thing I got for a post-Christmas present was the news that water pipes above my work apartment had frozen and dumped let's-just-call-it-lots of water into my bedroom.

Oh, and in getting things fixed, they turned off the power but not the heat, so everything in the fridge spoiled.

And did I mention I wasn't there at the time? So last week after a trip up to survey the damage and collect the salvagable bedding and clothing items - thank you, thank you, thank you that the hanging clothes closet was spared - which froze completely solid in bags in the back of the truck on the way home - I did lots of laundry. After thawing and many loads later (I'm very thankful that my work wardrobe doesn't run to dry-cleaning mandatory items or require much in the way of ironing) it turned out everything I hauled home will be fine.

The mattress was a total loss, as were a lot of books. Renters insurance is (or had better be) a good thing! And they've gutted the bedroom - new ceiling, new drywall & paint, and probably a new floor, as the once lovely hardwood is now a ripply wreck. But first it all has to dry out thoroughly.

I worked from home last week, which was great for family time, but not so great for the amount of work I actually accomplished. And I also caught T's cold. So this week I'm sniffling in my office trying not to share germs with anyone.

The upside? The boss was understanding, it's relatively slow at work with all the students gone, and no one was hurt - far better a wet apartment than another abscess!

On the home front, the ponies are doing great, touch wood. The weather forecast says more snow and extreme cold is headed our way.

Bleh.
Winter can go away now!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Christmas gifts

We took the tree down yesterday - the living room seemed strangely large and rather dark without its glow. The presents are, for the most part, stored away or taken home, with the exception of a few left to be exchanged.

The first loaf of bread from the new breadmaker
(It survived its picture by not very long)

The giant rat with catnip insert...

After being briefly baffled,

Snowball and Mabel

found it fascinating.

There's the snow, of course - it's a Christmas gift of a sort, right?

I'm 5'10" - the road drift the plows cleared
is at least a foot above my head.
Spring should be very green - after it all finally melts...

Rufus

and company

are cruising through winter, cold as it is.

Last evening while we were checking on Rufus
a train (110 cars) went by

it made a great excuse
for a bit of leaping and bucking.

And Star continues her daily yoga.
I really should join her!

We're on the lightening side of the darkest season of the year, and I can't help but be grateful. I'm ready for brighter evenings, warmer days, and less white stuff, pretty as it is.