This morning…

On February 26, 2009May 29, 2018 By stefrobrtsIn barclay, pets, snow1 Comment

This morning we woke up to a beautiful, sunny, blue-sky day…

And snow on the ground! Again? Really? I’ve never seen so much of the white stuff in a single winter!

Barclay thinks it’s great! We run around, finding the white lumps in the yard that cover his toys. He ran to the far end of the pasture and back to watch someone walking down the street (we don’t get a lot of pedestrians).

One of his very favorite toys is a soccer ball with straps around it so he can pick it up. I kick it for him and while he’s fetching it I get one of the other balls and kick that around, so he brings back the first ball and waits for me to kick the second one. This is a great way to wear him out! Plus he loves to grab the ball by the straps and swing that baby around!

If I do my job right, after our morning playtime we get to enjoy this for the next hour or so!

Chickens in the snow (or not)

On January 25, 2009May 29, 2018 By stefrobrtsIn chickens, snow, video5 Comments

When I checked on the chickens this morning I saw Big Bird out with one of his buff hens.

I was out in the pasture watching Barclay tear up a molehill when I heard a strange crow from Big Bird which I hadn’t heard him make before. I went over to investigate and found him walking around calling for his hens. The other chicken you hear is the one buff hen answering him.

http://i358.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid358.photobucket.com/albums/oo24/stefrobrts/MVI_0729.flv

But the hens aren’t stupid, it’s cold outside! They were all in the coop nice and warm and working on laying eggs!

A good morning for Barclay

On January 25, 2009May 29, 2018 By stefrobrtsIn alki, barclay, pets, snow1 Comment

This must have been Barclay’s idea of a perfect morning. First off there was snow…

And then he chased Alki a bit, which annoys her plenty…

Then he found a fresh molehill to dig up.

Then he snuck into the pen and chased the goats and tried to get Houdini to play. Then he chased the rooster. Then I took him inside and he sat next to me on the couch and laid his head on my chest and fell asleep. It’s that last part that always makes me forgive all the other stuff 🙂

Oh Snow! Not again!

On January 25, 2009May 29, 2018 By stefrobrtsIn farm, snowLeave a comment

I thought we’d had enough snow for the season, but apparently not. Luckily this was just a light dusting. For the past few days the critters have been in the main pasture since it was frozen and I wasn’t worried about them messing it up, but now they are confined to the paddock again so they won’t muddy up the field.

I put the manger under the shelter so the hay wouldn’t get wet, and as they pull it down and leave behind the stemmy bits it ads to the straw they sleep on, so it actually looks pretty cozy in there.

Snowdays!

On December 21, 2008May 29, 2018 By stefrobrtsIn alki, barclay, farm, pets, snow4 Comments

We got an early blast of winter weather. Snow at Christmas is just about unheard of around here! But lucky us, it started snowing a couple days ago. First day we got around fine in the Stealth, because it has front wheel drive. The van is useless in the snow, and it was a bit hairy getting it home the first day. It was snowing hard and I closed the shop early and slowly drove home in the van, and it hasn’t moved since.

The next day we headed out in the Stealth to go to work, and hit a slick spot and put it in the ditch! Luckily it was a shallow ditch, so the only damage was a few scratches from the bushes. Kyle came and pulled us out with his monster truck. Our hero! Once we got safely into town Dave bought cable chains for the car and then he was able to safely drive between town and home.

Yesterday (Saturday) Dave had a matinee play, so he dropped me and Barclay off at work in the morning, and I was there all day, watching the snow come down down down. Only a couple customers came by all day because of the snow, so it was just me and Barclay entertaining ourselves for hours on end! He didn’t make it back to pick me up until after 7, so it was heading for 8 when we got home.

Since Saturday was so bad we decided to close today (Sunday) and just stay home and enjoy the snow. And it snowed all evening and this is what we woke up to.

8 inches of snow with a nice icy crust on top! That’s a LOT of snow for the pacific NW. I can hear it occasionally falling off the trees with a crash!

Alki didn’t like it at all! She just wanted to get back inside! Barclay liked it so much he went way out in the pasture and just sat and watched and listened.

The sheep didn’t seem to mind. Some had snow on their backs, even though there’s a cozy covered stall for them to use. The chickens didn’t want to come out of the coop, so I fed them in there and moved their water nice and close. The llamas also do not seem to care about the weather, though they are staying under the shelter for the most part.

I don’t think there is anything quite as beautiful as fir trees weighted down with snow. Days like this make me feel so lucky to be able to live out here in the country!