NOT PRETTY
When snow first falls it is pretty. Then when you are out in it it is pretty cold but soon it is just as used and worn out and unpretty as the rest of us. Though not without a certain formidable charm.
Yesterday we woke to three or four inches of snow – right now (as I write) it is 1F/-17C and windy. The wind is the killer.
Yesterday I showed you all the cracks in the barn doors. This is the result. (below) The snow has been blown straight through those cracks and into the barn. When I went to see Wai yesterday morning he had built an entire straw wall across his door to keep himself warm in there.
For some reason, Molly and Sheila have decided to live in the tin shed, since they were shifted due to Molly’s vandalism. I took another bale of straw out there for them. These two are remarkably healthy for all this awful weather. Lovely big healthy animals.
You can just see Sheila’s ears.
Boo watches as one of the lost flock churns through the snow to get to her feed. I intend to catch all of these getaway chickens today and return them to the chook-house. Their combs and feet are all damaged. Though they have chosen to sleep in the rat-house it is not a good choice, they need to be back in the shelter of the chook-house. There are enough chickens in the chook-house to change it’s temperature. Not so many cracks in the walls – only the damaged front door from Molly which I will cover in plastic today. Along with a few heat lamps when it is really cold the chickens are much better off in there. No eggs yet though. They are still on a rest. And it is so damned cold. Catching these lost chooks is easier said than done – I will give it a crack.
Lucky for us the gas man arrived only an hour after I called the office yesterday. He filled the tank – out of interest, for those of you who care about these things: 400 gallons of propane is a little over 800 US dollars at the moment. We have the fire going all the time and I keep our thermostat at 62F/16C. The thermostat is in the big room close to the fireplace, so if it is not too cold outside, the heater does not come on very often. The gas fires up the stove and the hot water. Which means that this gas should last us a while. But it is still a big expense in the middle of winter when our earnings are scarce.
There is relief in sight though – we rise above freezing by Thursday and for a good week after that the daytimes will not be as frigid. That will be a relief for many.
Have a lovely day.
WEATHER: Very Cold. Blowing. Ice and Snow on the ground. I wish this wind would drop.
Tuesday 01/16 10% / 0 in
Cloudy. High 22F/5C. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph.
Tuesday Night 01/16 10% / 0 in
A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 6F-14C. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Sun
7:15 am 4:50 pm
Moon
Waning Crescent, 0% visible 6:48 am 4:43 pm
c
53 Comments on “NOT PRETTY”
Leave a Reply
JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER:
DO A LITTLE SHOPPING:
Thank You So Much For Your Kind Help with Maintaining This Blog
Glad you now have the backup systems in place for heat and cooking and showers! Boo is giving that chicken such a disdainful look… “Get out of the snow you silly bird…”
exactly!
Well there’s something you don’t see often…a chicken in the snow. I’d done with this kind of weather – t
But the winter has just begun – we have months of it yet – too soon to be done with it Miss T.. lots of sepia shots in your future
Awwww Miss C …I can hope for a quick spring can’t I? But for the next two weeks the posts will be brighter.
Are you getting a warm up too?
By this weekend we are supposed to. Right now trying to layer through the deep freeze.
Love the shot of your porch! It looks very much like mine right now! I’m looking forward to the warmup coming on Thursday too, even though it will be muddy and messy. The ground will slurp the moisture right up! 🙂
The porch is in such a state! c
My lack of experience with snow still allows me to think it is pretty, but listed temperatures and wind are pretty awful. Laura
I don’t mind it when it first falls and it is a good workout slogging through it – my biggest grievance is that it hides the ice underneath – so I tred very carefully trying to remember what the snow is covering up.
I think when I am old and used up and worn out I’d like to have a certain formidable charm, like your snow. Or maybe I’ll be content with a cosy straw bed and someone to bring me a pile of vegetables and break the ice on my water bucket. Which is to say, I want to be Sheila when I grow up/old.
Sheila is in a very good mood this morning – how she can be after such a cold night I have no idea..
You’d think the chicken would know better, though I suppose there could be some territorial issues between them. Perhaps they were hoping to find pigs in the rat-house…
CHickens know nothing. And you are right about territories. This rooster has stolen these 6 good layers and is hanging out with them in the rat house – if he took them anywhere near the barn there would be a terrible fight with the flock over there. I could not catch them at all this morning – those leghorns are so wily.
Hilarious, but a bit of a nightmare at the same time.
The worst price per gallon that I’ve ever paid for propane was $3.40 back in January of 2014. I just had it filled in mid-December (they only fill to 80% capacity here) at $1.70 per gallon. Our tank is only a 250 gallon and I usually fill it twice a year.
I can’t imagine the temps up north right now. It’s pretty bad for Oklahoma – people in these parts are not used to below freezing temps much, and I’ve been hearing lots of people are dealing with busted water pipes. I’ve cranked up the heat a bit in the well house. Can you believe they’re saying here we can expect 60 degrees this coming weekend? Crazy!
3.40 is terrible – we would not be able to afford to fill it at that price – mercy – 2014 was a terrible winter too
Hi Cecilia, I totally know your situation, we used to live in New Mexico with waiting for the gas truck and living mostly with our great wood fireplace. Hope you will have it warmer soon! Greetings!
I would lve to have one of those woodstoves made just for cooking – like an aga – that would be great – don’t you think?
Oh YES!
Okay I’m done with winter. Sun is bright here, but we are at 27F with a windchill of 7F! Luckily it is dry as a bone and a wind at 30mph if wet stuff fell – it would be blown dry quickly.
Your snow is pretty – but poor Boo looks like he is with me DONE. Good luck with the chicken….
I ignore windchills – in fact i refuse to even read them – they are like the news: all excitable and hyped up. Just the facts will do for me. There is a lot of winter to come yet so we cannot let ourselves get frustrated with it. From now to mid march it is head down and work on it.
wow- so cold….chickens are not the brightest bulb in the bird box!
Not cognitive at all – they are literally roosting in the rafters though – so i cannot reach them to bring them in
Maybe they have gone up high to the rafters to avoid something they’ve seen creeping. (I dare not mention the b.w.)
The bastard mink? Mostly I think
They just naturally roost high. Very sensible
“The wind is the killer.” Yes, ma’am. Even when it’s above freezing here, when the wind shifts to the east and comes across the bay, it’s bone-chilling. And this: “it is still a big expense in the middle of winter when our earnings are scarce.” I’ve lost more days to weather this year than I have in several. Today, it’s sleet, freezing rain, and snow. It’s the way winter used to be here, and it’s back with a vengeance. Even if I was willing to brave the weather, there’s no varnishing in this!
I hate freezing rain – anything that results in ice on the ground gives me the fear..
Celi, I share your dread! Can you get a pair of those ice cleats that that stretch to go over your boot soles? Quite the range of prices (and viciousness; )
https://www.amazon.com/ice-and-snow-traction-cleats/b?ie=UTF8&node=5160160011
I have boots with sprigs. Not to worry
Yes indeed; this year Winter is definitely make up for lost time… ):
Goodness that’s cold…so glad you’ve got the gas now. Brave Boo, sitting in the snow, mine barely want to poke their noses outside when there’s even just a little rain. Spanish pups…they like the heat!
Ton and Boo are on the mat in front of the fire right this minute – more happy there
Minute by minute that sun stays with us a bit longer every day! Dark by 5 is downright cruel. Guess it lets us truly appreciate those days in the summer when it’s light out at 9. Round and round we go!
Round and Round.
Good heavens, $800 for one fuel drop! Making me wonder how people afford to live! Your snow is pretty though. Hope you’re able to keep warm now. It’s just minus 4 here now and, like your forecast, we’ll warm up to above freezing on Thursday. With any luck the worst is over. Winter lasts too long, yes, but if it doesn’t get too cold then it’s tolerable. If it makes you feel any better, my sister is up in northern Quebec and their temps have dipped to minus 47 c. !!! We’ve had a little sun here in Toronto this morning, which always lifts the spirits. — Mame 🙃
Minus 47 is very very cold- I don’t know how they survive. If how they survived 100 years ago. Boggles the mind
Oh poor chooks..its not nice when you get frozen combs and frozen feet… To cover up the cracks in the wall for Wai cant you use plastic? Poor fella..one minute he is burnt and now he is frozen….sort of…relatively speaking..kind of
Keep warm and stoke up the fire
Wai has the best bed in the place – sleeping in his upturned fish tank. I think he is doing very well. Weirdly his skin is repairing fast in this cold.
OK, I give. Chickens roosting in the rafters, afraid of the “b.w.” What is that? Terrible things come to mind! Hub is out re-roofing our henny penny’s house as I write. Bear tore a hole through the roof, raccoons got to the eggs – all in one night!. Our snow season is just starting – that, and the rain. Cold here – stew and biscuits tonight!
I Love snow for about a day, then when it changes to slush then ice, I hate it. Thankfully we don’t have snow that often.
Love Sheila’s ears poking out! 😀
She is a treasure
So relieved to hear you found gas. – jumped ahead without comment on the last one, out of concern. I do know how it is to wake up to winter coming in-between cracks in the wood board walls, icicles in the inside and thanking goodness for a wood stove and lots of wood stacked close to the house. We take so much for granted.
Animals understand hay for winter survival.
They say 70’sF. here on Sat. once we get past the 12-19F tonight on the other side of town. Winter. What can I say except we always have very good sleeping bags in case the wind gets the power lines.
Stay warm and alert!
Good luck catching those crazy birds!
We’re fortunate up here this year – only -30 C for short periods of time. In 2005 we hit -45, and we overwintered a litter of 14 piglets! Packing water our to them in the drifting snow and wind was a gong show. It’s unfortunate you had to get a propane fill at that price, I’m thankful we heat and cook only with wood. The biggest issue up here with cold temps – people trying to thaw frozen pipes and setting their houses ablaze.
I hope you gets some warmer temps soon – for you and the livestock!
I had no idea that pigs could get so shaggy!
They grow nice winter coats.
I have seen Large Blacks with long hair, but I always picture pigs as pink and bald.
Not so pretty! You could not have put it better!! I really should not complain when the next three days’ forecast is over 44C . . . [well, 38C is 1ooF, isn’t it?]. Or when I think I am ‘hard’done’by’ when I turn my inside winter temps down to 20C!!! If the snow blows into the barn to such and extent guess who are remembering how summer feels . . . and Nanny-Boo is still ‘on watch’ even if knee-deep in the white stuff . . . best . . . .
If nothing else works, and you haven’t tried this… our chooks, inc the rooster come to the rattle of a dry cat food box.
I caught all but one – and she is a wily one.
Good news on that gas supply! As for those chooks, you would think they would want to stay warm .. Sorry to hear that it is so cold.