Highs and Lows

Woke up yesterday to still more ice, I was sort of hoping that I would get out of bed and it was all a bad dream. Warmer temperatures would have been here, and the ice would be nothing but a foggy memory. Didn't happen, lol  But, it was beautiful! All sparkly and bright!

Today brought snow, lol On top of the ice! More beauty! Although,the snow can lull you into thinking the ice is gone, which is not true! Pud'nin figured that our when he tried to walk down the hill by the barn. He flailed for 5 minutes trying to get up he said, but unfortunately I was in the barn and missed the whole thing, grrr! I meant to take a picture of the aftermath, but I forgot, darn!! I did get a few pictures of the snow though, which always makes things look so neat. You can't see all the poop/mud or tons of stuff that needs putting away. It all looks all fluffy and white.

Ciskgo even had to get a nose full of the fluffiness!

The birdies were also very busy. I LOVE the way their tracks look in snow. :)

 Flossie and Eleanor are still doing great, but I know that are ready to get outside! I cannot wait for better weather, this is kinda getting old. Eleanor is about to start halter training, but don't tell her! She is not a happy girl when she cannot fun freely and jump on your feet!

Not to mention I am so sick of stall cleaning, this is the not so pleasant part of farmy stuff!

ICK!!! Poo Straw!!

Last night we celebrated Daisy's 2nd birthday at Mr. Gattis. It is hard to believe she is already two! She had a blast opening her gifts and all the grandbabies played games until we adults were ready to drag them away, lol Well, except for Jamie and Lee, those two would play games forever! It was like a flashback to when WE were the parents trying to get the kiddos to leave the games.

Yesterday also brought sad news to the farm. We checked on Charlotte, our new piggie, and she had lost her babies. I am not sure what happened, but it probably had something to do with the brutal weather. I always hate when we have a loss on the farm, but such is the life. I knew she was acting like it was soon, but also knew it was too early. She had blood on her booty when I fed last night and when I looked in her shelter there was a half eaten baby. This morning we found 3 more in a similar condition. As icky as it sounds, that is how animals dispose of things like this, and it also serves as nourishment for Charlotte after birth. Nature takes no prisoners, and does not give a hoot about political correctness, lol It makes me sad, but like I say, farm life is not all fuzzy bunnies and fluffy chicks. Reality will find you quickly, and rub your nose in the real facts of life. But we all know that where there is livestock, there is deadstock. Harsh, but just part of the circle of life. Hopefully we can find her a mate and start over. If not...Well, I am going to think about that later, not today.

Let There Be Ice!

What happened?! This has been the craziest winter! One day it is like 55, the next day it is in the negatives and the wind will blow you away! I personally think winter can be cool. I like snow, like the last huge one, where we all played outside and had a blast. But I like it to be here a day, then when I wake up I need it to be gone...totally. Snow-Play-Gone. Done! It seems that Mother Nature is not on the same page, not only have I NOT gotten my Minute Snow, I have gotten instead a thick coating of ICE! I do NOT like ice. Older, shall we say fluffier people do not like ice. It makes us pull muscles we had forgotten we had, and flail around like we are trying to signal a rescue plane just walking to the mailbox. It hurts me to walk on ice...I am so tense, I even clench my teeth. Falling also hurts more when you are old and crickly! How do I know this...Just ask the frozen waterhose...Also known as the deadliest thing in the barnlot..

Just look at it! Laying there all innocent! Well let me tell you, step on that puppy and you will side down it like a teenager on a half pipe. Only way less gracefully, and you will not look nearly as cool...Plus, will not land as smoothly either. It took about a nanosecond for me to be laying on the ground, looking up at the sky, wondering what happened. Of course my Pud'nin, who witnessed my swanlike fall to the icy ground, was quick to point out that he was sure that hose would never be the same, it was crushed beyond repair. Gee honey, thanks alot! LOL!
The ice always makes me think of a story my MeMaw used to tell about winter. Seems she was going outside with a bucket, in the snow, and as always, in a dress. She falls, sits IN the bucket, and slides all the way down the hill riding a very cold, and by now snow coated bucket. She lands at the bottom of the hill, picks herself up, and looks back to see her kids laughing at her from the safety of the house I am sure! I am almost positive that her mood was probably as icy as her hiney for the rest of the day!! This is the first story that made me realize that I indeed had MeMaws gift of grace. Or lack of, lol
Even though I really do not like ice, it can be pretty. In a totally freezy, look out for falling branches, "Whoa that's slicker than snot!!" kinda way. The ice kinda adds a shimmer on everything making the whole world sparkle. It looks clean and fresh. Which is a little deceptive. One step outside and then getting nailed with a icicle falling at warp speed, quickly skews your view from clean and fresh, to a world filled with icy daggers just waiting to fall on you at every step! So yea, do not like ice, no matter how pretty!

So, I will be counting the days until Spring, hoping that somewhere there is a light at the end of this icy tunnel!