Yesterday was almost warm.
I know it doesn’t look terribly warm, and blowing so the snow was washed up into beachy tidal drifts but warm enough so I could spend hours outside preparing the barn and my animals for the deep cold that is forecast.
Though I will believe the weather when I see it. Weather is such Big News that there is a possibility that there is some exaggeration. Last nights radar was telling me an entirely different story.
However last night there was some snow, I am not sure how much yet I will tell you in the comments,more today and soon the temperatures will take a wicked dive pushed under by a strong arctic wind and tonight and tomorrow will be dangerously cold. It is the cold and the wind in tandem that is the worst.
So everyone is eating exceptionally well. The ruminants have a wonderful system of stomachs that enable them to store masses of fermenting grass which I call the stomach compost heap, heating themselves from the inside out. So I am stoking their boilers with extra hay. And making sure they do not run out.
The pigs are also over fed, all diets are on hold, and they have got their beds all sorted out. Sheila spent some time yesterday testing hers out.
i am trying new covers for Sheila. At least when she rips these up they are biodegradable.
The Plonkers were having way too much fun in the snow to come in. The sheep have their North door shut and a belly full of hay and oats. The chickens have their heat lamps, the peahens are perching above the little pigs light and the tracks are all plowed (then the red snow plow truck broke down but there you are.. you can’t have everything!)
The bees will be grateful for the added protection of the insulation (I hope) they still have all their air vents and housekeeping doors.
Hopefully this helps them keep themselves warm when it is so very cold. And I don’t doubt that the cold will come.
The dogs and I had an extra long walk in the afternoon, in a failed attempt to wear out Bad Boo. 
He still had plenty of energy for a little Sweetness. Though Marmalade is growing up. 
Boo tries to entice him into play with his soft toys but Marmalade does not even want to play with the Gorilla. Do you remember when Marmalade Cat was this big?
And now he is a sulky adolescent. Poor Boo Nanny. I know exactly how you feel.
I hope you all have a lovely day. I wonder what today will bring to us?
Your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
64 responses to “The Gift of a Day to Prepare for a Storm.”
It’s hard for me to remember where each of your Felloship Folks lives, so I appreciate it when someone lets us know what country they are writing from. Ecuador! Wow! I think Galapagos, Darwin!
One day we must remember to ask where everyone comes from (State) then you and i can take notes.. c
We’re in wait and see mode here, too. Sadly we uninvited some friends that we’d invited over for lunch today after listening to the weather hysteria. And here’s it’s still warmish and just a little soggy. Love the photo of the clothespins.
Oh, how that clothespin/clothesline photo makes me long for hanging laundry out. Sometimes I do in January. But the temp needs to be around 40 degrees and the sun shining strong. No such weather here now. The extreme cold is arriving and settling in for a several-day visit here in Minnesota.
Just enough warmth yesterday to melt a little of the snow and prepare for today’s event.
Hope everyone on the farmy is staying warm and safe.
Goodness me Marmalade shot up! Sheila is so cute with her ears poking up in her bed. I hope she was cosy. 🙂 Today is much warmer than the past few days. It was brutal. My older dog (who isn’t that old) has not been impressed at all.
The freezing weather is hitting everywhere. I know many people with frostbitten combs on their chickens. Tonight the rabbits and chooks are coming inside the garage for safety as it hits a high of 13 tomorrow around midnight. Then it drops and keeps dropping through Wednesday. Today it is 36 degrees. The snow will turn to treacherous ice very fast. Be careful out there!
I just love Sheila’s ear poking up thru the straw. Just keep feeding the critters so they can stoke their internal fires. You are such a good steward of your farmy. I am rereading “Animals as Guides for the Soul”. Makes me think of you, Celi. Wow….look away for a few days and Marmalade grows up! Poor Boo…..his little baby is no more to cuddle. Now there will really be a rough and tumble relationship. We are still in the deep freeze, too….but no snow on the ground. Drought conditions here. I can’t stand to draw my drapes against the weather in daylight. I need to see out, too. Stay warm if you can
Celi, my husband just wondered out loud where you get your firewood. We just go up the mountain and cut ours, but I don’t see many trees in your area. Do you burn wood or pellets or maybe coal? I see that the sweet ones stay close to the stove…..
You are right there are not many trees around here, but still people cut them down, particularly hedge rows that are left over from the old farms. Big old trees in their yards. So when this happens we take the chainsaw and the trucks and we salvage as much of the wood as we can before the men with huge machines push them up into enormous bonfires and set fire to them. John also has a friend who has an area of woods in the bottom of his property and they go in there and clear out the dead trees and branches every now and then.. Something they are going to have to do soon as I am running out of dry wood. This early winter!.. c
Cutting down beautiful old trees enrages me! I have planted trees all my life and love them. Native Americans call them ‘the standing people’. Here in the West we get wood permits from the Forest Service and are allowed to cut up to 10 cords of dead or downed trees a year for home use, My husband exclaimed “Oh God, what a waste” when he read about the bonfires.
I have not made many friends with my rage either, sadly it is all about extra rows to plant in govt subsidised corn and beans.. but at the very least we have firewood and also wood to make things like the Coupe cupboards. But the trees grow so slowly here, so sad to see the old ones go down.. c
Gov’t subsidized corn…..don’t even get me started on that one.
‘Standing People’ is such a wonderful … thingy
Words fail
Which is why I rely on you people.
We have little tiny Totara growing in odd places… Looking for homes…
Hope the weather reports are exaggerated both for you and me. I think we have enough water without the new allowance forecast for tonight. Stay warm.
I’m not sure if I prefer your cold freeze or the UK’s seemingly endless soggy inundation of wet storms. Hope you guys and all the animals stay warm and safe in this wintry weather. Roll on summer! 🙂
I LOVE the image of Sheila’s ears. She looks rather comfortable.
Have you ever read “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type?” If not, see if your local library has it. It’s a children’s picture book, and it is delightful. Cows demanding electric blankets from Farmer Brown. I think of you when I read it.
Ha ha !! sounds like me alright! Though seriously I have thought of those plant heating pads for lambs in winter, they are water proof and lambs don’t chew on stuff.. so i should not scoff!! c
Marmelade is expanding SO fast!
The thought of preparing for cold in something that looks that cold already fills me with dread! Our cold snaps are when I wear a jacket and long pants and shoes, and cut my daily swim a bit short …
Boo doesn’t have such a playful kitty companion now. Glad you have a good day to prepare for the coming weather.
Coming in late as usual, do so hope the weather has not been quite as bad as predicted: half of our news at the moment is full of your weather: brrr!!! And I had a look at your radar too . . .? Wonderful photos: is that Daisy in the front ~ one can almost see the calf! And Boo ~ how come he has gone from ‘Little Boy Blue’ to ‘Blue’ to ‘Boo’ to ‘Bad’? Hmm: and then Marmalade gets all ‘grownup’ on him!! Pat > Boo [good Boo!] for me . . . Yes, and I love that row of pegs too . . .hope you all are surviving !!!
We need a blog from Eha.
Please.
Marmalade has had such a growth spurt! How old is he now? Great shot of Sheila’s ears. Here’s hoping that the storm and cold isn’t as bad as they say, and that it passes and warms up quickly.
So far it is cas bad as they say and getting worse..
I am so sorry to hear that. Stay warm and safe. I’ll be thinking of you, your family and animals and praying that everyone makes it through okay.
Keeping my fingers crossed also . . . . hope you will be able to get some sleep . . .