We’ve had another weather pattern of warm winter days, then rain, then a sudden drop to very cold temps, with another very warm day predicted for Wednesday this week. Last night it dropped into the teens, with windy conditions and a gorgeous moon, and today we’ll barely break freezing. One more frigid night and then we start the warm up.
I was here on my own for the weekend and enjoyed a couple of days of warm sunshine before that rain hit on Saturday. Thankfully I had a helper to do the mucking (stalls, paddocks, a good dent in the back pasture) and to stuff 10 hay pillows. What a luxury to go out Sunday morning and simply serve the pillows to waiting horses and donkeys!
The wind was so brisk yesterday I kept the horses near the barn with their hay while I worked on getting the two paddock water troughs cleaned, refilled, and ready to plug in for the cold night. They enjoyed having their hay in the sun while the wind blasted. Roofers were next door wrapping up the roof job and I worried about them up on a very high roof during the gusting wind. Thankfully they managed well.
On Saturday the dogs and I took a romp before the rain came. Even so, it was still damp and they got muddy and needed half-baths when they came in! But when we first headed to Poplar Folly, Baloo took off like a rocket and was barking his head off, to the degree I thought someone was down there. I saw nothing until I saw Baloo looking up and when I too looked up I saw a huge raccoon in the tree, hiding its face. I calmed Baloo down and told the raccoon we had no ill intentions and he or she gradually turned and looked at me. We finished our time in the way back and left the raccoon to get back to its shelter.
I’ll be happy to get to more steady high/low weather. The up and down is wearing on all of us. We have it easy compared to those getting feet of snow right now, and I send good thoughts their way. My son reported at least 18 inches for he and his wife. I’m glad for them they don’t have barn chores to do!
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
2 comments:
So much crazy weather lately. We had -2 last night but it did get up to 3 today! It did snow but not much, mostly icy rain. The horses couldn't wait to get out but then they couldn't wait to get in at the end of the day. They also went through 3 bales of hay. I'm waiting for Wednesday when it goes back up to 40 and rains. I just wish it would level out.
It's nice to have some help around the barn it certainly makes things go smoother and leaves time for other adventures. Sounds like Baloo and the racoon had an adventure discovering each other.
Oh, you are close in temp to my son and his wife. I think their high today was 0 degrees. They had about 18 inches of snow the past day or two and I was so grateful we don’t have anything remotely like that here.
I know it has to be rough on the horses who want to be out but also want to get back in! Last night and tonight my herd have access to their stalls. I noticed today when mucking that most of the manure was outside so it seems they spent more time out than in.
My farm helper is here one day a week and he mostly does the bigger stuff there is to do - managing trimming/mowing/leaf blowing/repairs/maintenance of all kinds around the farm. He’s a treasure but I feel having him muck is a waste of his time since I can do it but can’t do all the things he does. The new helper is someone we know who would like to earn some extra $ and loves being around the horses, so I’m hoping at least a few days a month if not every single week I’ll have him here to pitch in with mucking and grooming. It was so nice having the help while I was here alone over the weekend!
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