Warm weather, snowmelt and fog

Starting last Saturday, it got warm here. It stayed warm. We had high 30's and 40's and even had 51 degrees one day. During this time it only got below freezing one night and then only down to 29.

So the snow has been melting. We've lost feet of snow. The snow here was up to my knees.

The manure pile and some of my machinery reappeared.

Thursday morning we had fog. Couldn't see the road until late in the afternoon. Gramma decided not to drive to the cities to work. I went into Mora in the afternoon and in some places visibility was only about 50 yards or less. This morning it was only 17 degrees and as I write this it's only 18, a 31 degree drop from yesterday so back to winter for awhile. Supposed to snow Sunday and Monday.

I'm throwing this pic in here cause they're just so darn cute. Aren't they? Now if you look real close at Aksel you can see he's wondering why I am taking his picture when I could feeding him. Sugar time is coming soon. Yeah!

Random farm stuff

Next time you say someone has a pig nose, pull up this pic of Pinky and see if they really do.

The Boys.

 Here Pinky is getting a drink and Perky is still wearing part of his bed.

This is what I see every morning and every night as they watch the house and wonder why I'm not feeding them when clearly I can see that they are starving and emaciated.

I let the chickens out today.  It was supposed to get to 32 degrees and it got to 52. Wow! Stuff melted. Antoine attacked me. I guess after being cooped up for so long he had to do something. I fixed it. He's still alive and I suppose will need more lessons.

You saw the giant egg, now here is the torpedo egg. Pretty sure it's the same hen. At least I think this one slipped out much easier.

Cold (again) & Hay Thief

Cold again. The computer said 30 degrees in Baton Rouge, 28 degrees in Canton and our thermometer said 28 below zero. BRRRRR! Temps like this are tough on everything. When I walk down to the barn on mornings like this the snow doesn't crunch, it squeaks. Warmup starts tomorrow. They say we might see 40 by next Wednesday and no more deepfreeze for the foreseeable future. Maybe the grundhog was right. This was the coldest and snowiest winter on the farm so far. Sugar time comes next.

Here's a couple of Norwegians soaking sunshine.

 Sparkle Kitty doing the same.

This is Brother Kitty's favorite sunning place. He falls asleep sitting here.

GOTCHA! One of the suspected hay thieves caught on camera. I plan to circulate this photo to get a positive ID on the culprit and then ask the State for compensation for crop loss. That should work right? I mean they're always compensating farmers for stuff, so why not me. In other news we visited with the Bayou Family the other night via Skype. Way cool. It was a lot of fun, especially PB cause he just kept staring at us like we were a two-headed calf or something. Everyone looked good, Mommy is looking like she might pop anytime and the kids just keep getting bigger. We will do this again. Stay warm, seeya.

Cold weather, giant eggs and sleeping dogs

This morning the computer said it was 28 degrees in Baton Rouge and 25 in Canton GA where my sister lives, I feel for you. We had 18 below zero this morning. Mustache icicles. For some reason when ever I need to fill the water tanks in the barn it's always when it's real cold. I need to rethink this and fill them when it's warm out, whether they need it or not. When it's this cold I can only drag the hoses up, force them in the garage and wait for them to thaw out and then roll them up. Sure am glad the garage is heated.

Yesterday afternoon I went to look for eggs and found this. Now you know I don't have small hands. I have big hands. (And a giant Berg head)

Normal dark Maran egg, store bought grade AA large egg, Welsummer egg, Jumbo Maran, my cell phone.

We sometimes have trouble closing the egg cartons cause we get a lot of big eggs, but this is ridiculous. Can't wait to crack it open, two eggs in one shell.

Fire dogs.

Finally got a pic of Heidi with her nose under the stove. Yes that is the top of my head. I took the pic "Annie Oakley Style" using a mirror. Clever huh? You betcha.

Misc. boring stuff from the farm

Because of all the snow we've had it's been harder for the deer and other critters to eat. I told Gramma that I wished I had put a bale out on the West side for them. I needn't have worried.

I have been seeing deer run from behind the shed when I go out to the barn in the morning and wondered if they have been digging through the snow back there looking for something to eat. Nope. They have been helping themselves to the hay in the shed. They're very messy. Hopefully this will help them through the winter.

We bought some wood in Dec. and I wasn't too pleased with it. Found a guy just three miles away and fifteen bucks cheaper per cord, so we thought we would try his wood.

 It's all Ash wood and it's terrific. Lasts twice as long as the first cord we bought, so called him back and got three more cords. This should get us through next winter too. Maybe longer. Never used ash before so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's really nice wood.

 I mentioned that the dogs really like the stove and Heidi will lay with her head under it. So creeping quietly like a tiny mouse I attemted to take a picture of her. I don't know what I did, but this was as close as I got. Maybe next time.

This is how she sleeps on the couch sometimes and is doing so as I write this. Eventually she slides towards the floor until her feet and nose touch the carpet and then she wakes up and looks at you with that "Whaaa happen?" look.

 Here she is checking out my new fish house heater. The other one died after 16 years of faithful service and continuous abuse. Another reason I wasn't happy on my last fishing excursion. I'll have to go again so I can test it out.

Another dozen eggs. We are happy. :-)

Warm weather and fishing

Warm is a relative term, right? It depends on where you are and where you're from. It got warm here yesterday. In the 30's. In some parts of the country, temps in the 30's causes panic and weather warnings. Here in the North, temps in the 30's causes widespread joy and elation, people take off their coats, snow starts to slide off barn roofs and guys go fishing.

Just some interesting fish house pics. Notice the tv antenna.

This guy has a scuba symbol on the door and three antennas.

Antenna.

Sattelite dish.

This is a "Wheelhouse". You pull it out on the ice and then crank up the wheels and go fishing. It also has a sattelite dish. How do you concentrate on fishing when the tv's on?

This is a pressure ridge. The ice expands and pushes against itself and breaks open and forms these things. Sometimes it contracts and then a large crack opens up. Scary.

 This is the average size of the fish I caught yesterday. I admit defeat. I surrender. I'm gonna find a new place to fish.

 You remember this pic of Antoine's comb.

Here's what it looks like now. Poor chicken.

Winter stuff

Well, we have had measurable snowfall 50 of the last 64 days. I'm out of places to push it.

If we keep getting more I will probably have to rent a skidloader to move around the piles. I had a skidloader that was broken down and has been sitting in the shed for almost 2years. Part of the drive system broke and because it was built in the late 60's parts are not available. I had finally decided I was going to cut it up for scrap and sell the engine on Craigslist. Well, Tuesday afternoon the brother of the guy that the FD gets her wood from called and asked if I wanted to sell it. I said sure. He said how much? I said I would have to think about it and could I call him tomorrow? He then said he had been looking online for a week for a repairable machine and what would I absolutely have to get for it. I told him 500 bucks and he said I'll take it, can I come and get now? He called three different times trying to get someone to haul it for him. It was some kind of skidloader emergency I guess. Anyway these three guys show up at 6:30 in the dark with a trailer behind an early 80's Chrysler mini-van. ???? I have to say I was surprised that they got the thing on the trailer with two 4x5 beams and a come along hand winch. If anyone remembers the Bob Newhart show where he owned an inn you will remember the three brothers. Hi I'm Larry and this is my brother Darryl and my other brother Darryl. That is the only way to describe them. The FD calls them Minnesota Hillbillies. Anyway I had to pull them up the driveway from the shed cause the mini-van could only get part way. It was quite an experience and I won't soon forget it.

Here's Sparkle soaking sunshine.

The only varmints that I have seen on my critter pile so far are crows. Still hoping for a coyote. Fishing tomorrow, wish me luck.