Can Winter Be Over?

We are still over a month away from the start of winter, and I’m pretty sure I’m ready for it to be over.  Maybe it would have helped if we hadn’t had a full week of real winter cold and snow.  I had to feed full hay to the animals.  The last two years, I haven’t started feeding hay until the end of December.  Luckily, we’ve warmed back up and the goats are going back out to pasture.  Chores should get easier again for a while (hopefully till the end of December).

It seems like everything decided to break this week too.  Just when we hit our really cold spell, my heater in the well house died.  Luckily, I always have a backup, so it wasn’t out for very long.  And I’ve already bought a new backup.

LilyAnn and Clover in front of the well house

Same thing with the cattle tank.  The same day the heater in the well house went out, the heater in the cattle tank died.

Cupid, Coral and LilyAnn

Honestly, I have so much iron in my well water, it’s not a surprise that they die frequently.  Again, I always keep an extra, so it has also been changed and and new backup purchased.

This weekend my dad came and helped me with finishing the new back porch door.  It fastens now without me using baling twine!

accidental selfie

Sky has appreciated his dog door this past week, but he hasn’t needed it this weekend.

Sky

I’m also unable to use my bulk bin.  It must have a leak somewhere because the corn that was left in it over the summer is once again rotten.  That means, I’m back to frequent trips to the feed store to buy bags of feed.  But at least I’m making frequent trips so I can make sure I have plenty of backup heaters and stuff.

At least I can feed them.  And most of the snow has melted, and it’s supposed to stay more seasonal for at least the next week.

I might actually be starting to get ready for winter after this last week.

Our Snowy Week

This week ended up being rather snowy.  The first round of snow came Monday evening.

Luckily the ground was fairly warm, and it really didn’t last.

Sky

Thursday morning surprised me with snow that stuck to the roads.  It was a bit of a precarious drive to work, but I made it safely. I think Mama was happy to be inside the house where she was cozy and warm.

Mama Phoenix

Especially since her house had doubled in size.

By the time evening came, you could hardly see any snow left.

Maybeline and the goats

It was a beautiful Samhain sunset.  I’m really not ready for winter

Fall on the Farm

It’s really looking like fall now.  Can you see all the big round bales in my building?

The colors are turning yellow.

I did see one late monarch, but it was not very active on that cool morning.  I’m afraid it’s not going to make the flight south.

I’m still checking my girls because they technically have a couple more weeks they could have a cria, but I’m not holding my breath.

Aurora and Odie on the bottom

I have about one tree on the farm that turns beautiful colors.

Odie and the goats

We are also getting lots of beautiful sunsets!

Aurora

It’s definitely getting close to time for me to hibernate for the winter.

I’m ready for a long winter’s rest.