Sunday night looked like this:
Monday morning 3:30AM looked like this:
Heading out for morning chores on Monday...
...with my pocket loaded with carrot pennies.
A tarp "veranda," one of the extra shelters - there are always extras so scuffles won't lead to a goat being pushed out into bad weather - had collapsed under the weight of Sunday's snow, so I moved Violet and Sambucus up to join
the smaller group in the big barn paddock.
Here they are in the roundtop, happily tucking into the hay:
Here is the view from that roundtop.
All these images are a bit dark - the sun was never visible yesterday.
As usual, you can click to embiggen if you wish.
Put your boots on first.
After feeding and watering, I walked through all the paddocks,
dragging my feet to make a bit of a trail between all the shelters.
I save that chore for last because it's rather tiring and I am soaked with sweat by the time I'm done, and ready to head back to the house.
The goats don't really mind snow, but they do like it when I break trail for them.
Although I think Hazel, experiencing her first Real Snow, was looking for a place to attach a zipline in the barn so she could get to me and my pocket full of carrot pennies without wading through snow deeper than her belly.
(Don't worry, she got her carrots without any wading.)
By Monday afternoon the birdfeeders - which I had cleaned off first thing in the morning - were the scene of constant activity. The first flock of juncoes appeared, in a group of at least twenty. I always think of them as a sign that Winter is here.
This time, though, I really didn't need any extra signs.
I cleaned the feeders off again after evening chores.
~~~
At 4 AM this morning:
And out I go!
~~~~~
I bet Hazel was looking where to attach a zip line.
ReplyDeleteDon't they like being warm together, the more the merrier?
No, the goats don't all snuggle together - although mamas and their kids will often sleep next to each other, sometimes right into adulthood. Or until the next kids are born, at which point the mamas deny all knowledge of the previous year's kids.
DeleteIsn't it pretty! Carrot pennies! You're a popular gal, I'm sure. :-) And those are happy looking goats! The sun came out today, and we got a chance to briefly snowshoe a bit (trying to figure out where our property lines are).
ReplyDeleteI'll be on snowshoes again today. It is really the only way to get around the place right now.
DeleteI enjoy seeing your pictures and hearing your stories of winter from the safety of Central Texas. We get just enough cold weather here to make wearing the wool socks I knit useful but not absolutely necessary. I'm on Hazel's side about wading through snow!
ReplyDeleteI am leaning toward Hazel's opinion as well ;)
DeleteSnow is great, and very pretty, as long as you don't have to actually DO anything in it!
Yep - looking out at the snow is most definitely the way to go if it's at all possible. We've had to forego our bird feeder because it was "attracting too many squirrels" who, in their wisdom, have decided that chomping on all sorts of necessary hoses in the underbelly of residents cars is 'the thing to do'....leading to all sorts of costly repair bills. Dumb squirrels - can't see what's so tasty about car hoses!! So....we've resorted to a chunk of a tree, holes drilled, and filled with suet which seems to frustrate the squirrels and lets the birds eat in peace...AND keeps the peace with the neighbours.
ReplyDeleteOh I'm glad you figured out a way to keep feeding the birds! Here, my one suet feeder is very popular with squirrels, as are the seed feeders - even the "squirrel-proof" ones - but I haven't been seeing as many squirrels this year. At least, not yet. Which is nice. I don't mind giving the squirrels SOME food, but they never learned sharing.
DeleteSo far the squirrels have by-passed our chunk of wood, drilled holes, suet feeder....guess it's too much work for them or perhaps they can't get a toe-hold in the wood. If we put a suet block out they (and the starlings) will decimate it in less than a day.
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