Un-Inspired

Well, unfortunately I must say we have had a 'real' winter this year! For the past four-five years we have had pretty mild winters, with just a patch or two here and there of winter stuff. Not this year! It started with a icey/sleety storm in November, which at the time seemed quite severe. In hindsight, it wasn't that bad--not after surviving "The Big Ice Storm of 2007" (as they are now calling it) which hit a few weeks ago. Since then we've had another little snow, very cold single digit temps and again today its snowing like crazy...'flurries' gone wild from what I've heard. (I refuse to look out the window). Keeping the livestock....well, alive, well fed, watered and bedded for these temps and conditions is really wearing me down and I hate seeing the animals so cold. Yes, I might even be just a tad....bitter..... :-)

This morning I was a little late getting to work, because when I got in my truck, the door wouldn't shut! I've been having a bit of trouble with it on cold days (it was around 9 degrees this morning), but usually a little WD40 does the trick. So I tried that. Didn't work. My fingers were freezing...I decided to drive a little ways holding the door shut (yes I know, very stupid). I got about a mile or so down the road and pulled into the church driveway, got out and attacked the open/shut gizmo with a spoon and more WD40---didn't work, and I was getting tired of people driving by and staring at me, so I pulled up by the church. I then tried to think of something that would work, and ended up getting into my 'survival kit' and getting out the matches. The question was...would WD40 burn wildly? No it didn't, and trying to warm up the metal parts with matches didn't work either. Finally I got the little lock button to move up and down a some and that seemed to break it all loose and I was able to shut my door and get to work. At one point I was trying to think how to tie my neck scarf to the door and something else to hold it closed.... I think I was experiencing some kind of cold weather dementia.....

On a more positive note, my sick sheep June seems to have recovered well. I wasn't sure she was going to make it, as she totally quit eating for about two days. Now June is the biggest sheep I have, after the big Merino ram, Blue, and she is mostly Dorset with large dramatic eyes and a lovely fleece. She is also one of the bigger, uhmmm..pigs.. in the bunch and never misses a meal...ever. She is technically 'head sheep' although little Rain, the shetland burns to be in that spot. June eats everything. She had pnuemonia as a lamb and I think some lung damage. She is big, stout and healthy but moves at a slower pace than the others and we have to be careful on the shearing table as one year she nearly died (tongue, lips etc turned blue). I'm not sure what happened this time. She seemed to have some labored breathing, but nothing terribly overt. Slight temperature, a little watery around the nose. Mostly just a general sick look and refusing to eat. I gave it the shotgun approach as I typically do, since vet care for sheep around here is very minimal. By the third or fourth day, when she started resisting the shots, I knew she was doing better. Shortly thereafter she started wolfing down everything in sight and the final evidence of recovery was when she hopped out of her pen and joined the other ewes. I was very happy. I'm not sure what the problem was. The weather has been extreme, there was a change in watering and some water rationing (this was during the electricity outing), they had been nibbling bark and buds off numereous downed limbs and I had fed some rather awful looking alfalfa to try and make the big bale go further. I just hope she continues to improve and stay well. As a side note, its very difficult to hold a flashlight and give a shot!

Last night I made an appointment with the shearer and worked on tracking down some more hay. The hay picture is very bleak around here, but I'm hoping to get a few more round bales at least. I've enough for the moment, but I'm pretty sure I won't have enough to last until the grass comes on.

I am so ready for Spring!

Pictures from top to bottom: Redbird in snowstorm, Very hungry birds, Boone in the snow---he was very happy and excited when it snowed....

Sheep, Snow, Hay....

Just a few pictures taken last weekend, when we had another storm system that came through and dumped about 3 inches of snow over the ice. Thankfully we had about two days during the previous week that were above freezing and most of the ice slipped off the trees, so there was no further tree damage. Here are the girls (with the big Merino ram in the background in another pasture), chewing on some downed limbs, killing time....they were so bored for the week they had to be penned in the small paddock by the barn.
Needless to say there weren't many people who were thrilled with the prospect of more snow, since many were still without electricity and the linemen were struggling to get power restored to the area. The snow actually turned to rain for about an hour at one point, and I know there were lots of people whose guts probably clenched in dread! I know mine did. Then it turned to a sleety snow that really didn't amount to much trouble at all.

You can just see the round bales peeking out between snow and limbs in this shot........











Here is the bale buggy---loaded with the next bale, 'just in case' the weather turns crazy again, its ready to go--just add tractor. You can see some of the downed limbs behind it (the ones covering the hay bales) and that is the Shetland Rams in the background.

I know I'm posting alot of 'catch-up'...but I feel quite giddy with relief that the electricity is on and hopefully things will settle down a bit! :-)

Cats Weathering the Hardship of No Electricity......

Its rough but somebody has to do it!














Meshach snuggled in the blanket I was getting ready to cover up with......














....and Sage commandeering the recliner with the wool blanket spread over it......that I was getting ready to sit in... with the the blanket over me....

It's a cat's life......

Back in Business!

Yipee! The power is back on after twelve days! My Mom called me around 3:00 p.m. yesterday and said theirs was on, which meant mine probably was too, since they only live a short distance away. I took off work early, rushed home and immediately went to the well house and turned the breaker on. Then I went in the house, and started refilling all the water buckets and containers....just in case....then a load of laundry in the washer, a load of dishes in the sink to soak and outside to carry buckets of nice unchlorinated well water to the sheep.

Later back in the house, I cleaned out all the remaining 'suspect' things out of the refrig (all the spoilables had been fed to the chickens a little at a time), then I used warm water and bleach and cleaned it all out better than it has been since I got it! Its so shiny and white (and empty) that it hurts my eyes with its brightness when I open the door. ;-)

As night closed in, I turned on all the lights in the house just because I could, flushed the toilet quite a few times whether it needed it or not, and even turned the t.v. on (although that was a colossal waste of time, as it just had its typical garbage on it...only in reruns). I ended up reading the first couple of chapters of 'The Thorn Birds' (my sister says the book is much better than the movie).

Sage was delirously excited about it all, picking up on my excitment, I think. He was rocketing here and there, leaping and twirling and sending things flying. Meshach sat around squinting his eyes at the bright lights and later was thrilled to pieces to discover meanie me had finally turned on the water!

Where we live we are one of the last houses on our power provider. The houses to the west and north are all on a different power provider. Last night I could still hear several of their generators running, and felt quite sorry for them. I hope they get power today. I can now see the 'normal' lights to the east and south, and of course all our various lights on our properties. Things are starting to get back to normal....hmmmm...normal.....

Pictures are at my mailbox, looking along the road and my front boundary fence. Second one is the driveway, and front outside yard area. Third is looking towards front outside yard area and the Catalpa tree limbs.

Still Powerless

Day 12....
Here are a few more pictures--taken after the first storm moved through and before the second and worst one came the next day. Sometime I hope to share some of my impressions, thoughts and experiences of this unique (and exhausting) time. I kept a daily notebook to jot things down as they impressed me.

In the meantime things are going okay. Very tired, often incoherent, but hanging in there. :-) I have a very sick sheep (one of my old Dorset girls) and I'm not sure she is going to make it. This is always hard.

Everyone else is doing okay--the sheepie girls were happy to go and sample all the newly fallen limbs in the upper pasture, once the fences were checked to make sure it was still secure. I think the cats and dogs wonder why I keep things so dark anymore, but as long as they can curl up by the fire they don't seem to think its a problem. Not having water dripping out of the sink has been a big adjustment for the two house cats. They just cannot understand why I'm being such a meanie and not turning the water on! ;-)

I can finally see lights on the far ridge to the south, so I have hope we will soon be on too!

Iced

Hi all, just a very quick post. We have experienced a devastating ice storm in this area, and from what I hear all across the midwest. The damage is unbelievable, and there are still trees, branches and power lines coming down. I am at work now, where thankfully the power has stayed on through this whole mess. The lights are flickering at the moment though. At home I have been without power since Friday evening. I am doing okay, although getting a bit weary. :-) My heat source is a wood stove, so I haven't had to modify anything in that area (just at one point my Dad had to use his chainsaw to cut out a path to the woodpile). I don't have any water because I have a well, but before the storm came I got out as much as I had containers for, and once I went back to work, I've been filling up all my buckets and hauling water everyday. The sheep don't think much of the chlorinated city water, but hopefully they will get over that! Everything in the refrig/freezer is either being eaten or thrown to the chickens as its now past keeping.

All my family seem to be coping okay, in our various homes. All of us without power at the moment in this area.

The sheep, cats, dogs and chickens, survived the falling limbs and later the bitter temps. The fences are mostly intact with some very quick repair jobs in some areas. Alot of chain saw and brush dragging work ahead once everything melts. Right now its still cold enough that there is very little melting of the ice, and what little it does, seems to cause more problems.

I have plenty of flashlights, kerosine lamps, etc, and a transistor radio. We don't expect power before next week, the destruction is that widespread. The weather is also calling for more snow this weekend. The town I work in is mostly up and running but the town I live closest to, only has a very few stores open. Its been a hard road for all of us, but I've been fortunate to be able to stay at home, whereas many have had to go to shelters in the area. Thankfully too, the roads have been passable at all times and that has saved many people more hardship.

The first picture is my side yard, woodpile to the right and whats left of my mulberry and maple trees. The second pix just gives you an idea of some of the ice buildup.

Take care all. Will keep you posted as I can.

Cookie Recipes

For those who asked, here are the recipes for the cookies featured in the former post.

No Roll Sugar Cookies

1 c sugar
1 c margarine (melted)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp soda

Cream sugar, marg., egg and vanilla together. Sift flour, cream of tartar & Soda together. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture gradually, mixing well after each addition. Pinch off dough and form into walnut sized balls. Roll balls in additional sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet. Flatten with bottom of greased or sugared glass. (I actually roll the dough on this 'no roll recipe' and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. I don't roll them in sugar since I will ice them after baking). Bake in preheated oven at 350 degree for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly brown around edges.
In my version after baking and cooling the cookies I ice them with the following:
1 stick margarine melted
powdered sugar added to form a crumbly mixture
liquid (warm water or milk) added to form a thick creamy icing
food color if desired
Spread the icing on cookies nice and thick! :-)

I use this recipe out of a cookbook called "Life-saver Cookbook" that I got years ago. I use quite a few recipes out of this book.

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies

1/2 c butter or margarine
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c baking cocoa
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
48 maraschino cherries, blotted dry

Frosting:
1 c (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c condensed milk
1 to 3 tsp maraschino cherry juice

Cream together butter and sugar, beat in egg and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and gradually add to creamed mixture (batter will be very firm). Shape into 48 balls (you will have to experiment to what size cookie you want and shape the balls to size accordingly), place on ungreased cookie sheet. Push one cherry halfway into each ball (if batter is too firm or cherries 'too soft' you can make and indentation in each cookie ball with your finger to hold the cherry). For frosting melt chocolate chips in milk in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; add cherry juice and stir until smooth. Spoon 1 teaspoon of frosting over each cherry (the frosting will spread slightly over cookie when baking). If the chocolate topping starts to firm up too quickly before you get all the cookies iced, add more cherry juice to make it creamy. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake.

I think this is an old Taste of Home recipe but am not sure.

Enjoy!