The Calm Before The Storm

Quite literally, that is exactly what yesterday was - the calm before the storm.

After a week of late evening and early morning trips to the barn determining the amount of sleep we could get, we took yesterday to "sleep in"... arriving at the barn just as the sun rose above the horizon, instead of long before that time.  Moonie has a week off of his chemo ointment, so without that schedule to follow, we felt quite decadent lying in bed for an extra bit of time.

As for calm - it was a silent morning, cold and frosty, but, no wind, no birdsong.  The only sound was the distant braying of our two donkey girls... an every-morning-sound that is triggered by our raising the garage door.  We headed out to do the usual morning chores, but were keenly aware that there were extra things needing to be done in order to be prepared for an impending snowstorm.

We walked the horses up to the upper pasture, where Sid and Shirley were happily grazing in the adjacent pasture.  

Seeing our herd, Sid began running and bucking and rearing up... quite happy to have some company.

  

With the backdrop of a dramatic sunrise, 

our little herd took off galloping and kicking up their heels, 

but soon settled down to enjoy the grass.  Mornings in the upper pasture have been few and far between with Moonie's eye situation.

It was one of those magical, joyful mornings - made even more enchanting by the light of the morning sun.

I love these still, frozen mornings.  There is a certain peace this time of year.  The world around us has slowed, entering its necessary dormant state.  Still, there remains an austere beauty to the colorless landscape.

We tend to all of the routine, daily chores...

then work our way down the mental list of winter storm preparations.

Most likely, as you read this, snow is beginning to fall here on the farm.  We are now predicted to have anywhere between 14 and 20 inches.  All of this is to fall between noon Wednesday and sunrise on Thursday.  It is to be a fluffy snow with wind.  Fluffy is good... wet snows have a tendency to break trees and knock out our power.  However, fluffy, dry snows combined with wind make clearing that snow much more difficult.

So while the thought of being snowed in here on the farm is quite romantic, what you might not consider is just how much of that snow we have to move in order to be able to take care of all of our critters who are scattered all over the acreage.  There are pathways to be dug, so that animals can get to water buckets.  There are lanes to be plowed so that humans can fill those water buckets.   Just trudging through deep snow in order to care for the animals is a job in itself.  None of these tasks are insurmountable, but all are time consuming and quite physical.

We will also have to make a few trips out to our platform tent in the snow.  The weight of a snowstorm can be enough to collapse the roof of the tent, so we try to keep the roof cleared off to prevent that from happening.

Yesterday's tasks included a run to a John Deere dealership about an hour north of us to pick up a set of chains for our tractor tires.  This will give us the ability to move snow with the tractor bucket, without getting stuck in that snow.  Often times, it takes a tractor to be able to reach our manure piles in deep snow.

Hubbs retrieved the four-wheeler from the tractor barn.  It has a plow on the front of it and is quite useful for removing snow from our driveway.  We brought our diesel gator in from the tractor barn and put our electric one away for the time being... as the diesel gator is much better in the snow.

We also picked up an extra heated water bucket and extra heat lamp bulbs, after making sure that all of our critters had equipment that worked properly, with the colder weather ahead.   We placed a snow shovel at each housing area so that we are ready to dig.

Lastly, we filled all of the bird feeders so that our wild friends will have enough food to get them through the storm.

I have two loaves of homemade seeded multigrain bread in the oven and a whole chicken thawing.  A pot of chicken soup and a toasty fire in the fireplace will put the finishing touches on a day that will revolve around snow.

And though the day will be filled with work, we will take time out to just enjoy the beauty of the season.  I'll share the romantic side of the snowstorm with you in the next day or so.  If you are in its path - my hope is that you can just stay indoors and enjoy the scenery.  Stay safe!

⛄🎄We're going to have a white Christmas!!!🎄⛄

(she exclaims, excitedly)