Thursday Walkabout: Fog

Most of these pictures over the last few days have a common thread ~ fog.

Icy pond, Mr W’s Old Sawmill trademark, Old Wagon, Bottle tree with Cardinal, Fog across the Hay field, Barn through the fog (parts 1 & 2), Cog from the old sawmill, Crunchy dry Goldenrod. And at center ~ something we all never seem to have enough of: Thyme/Time.

Here’s an update to the mini-journal of random happenings here of 2010:

Weather: Many days of fog and clouds. But the temps have been decent at mid-30’s for the most part. The water buckets for the animals have never completely frozen for the past week, making a.m. and p.m. chores much easier. Thank goodness for small blessings!

Thursday – Late afternoon while loading up the outside wood stove, I found the headless body of a flying squirrel in the yard (I have no idea what happened). Poor little critter...

Friday –A major re-stock of groceries and supplies.

Saturday – Sat evening, Mr W received a cell phone call from a neighbor/friend who had taken his nephews coon hunting. They were lost in the fog. Mr W proceeded slowly down the blacktop in his pickup, honking the horn constantly so the guys could find their way out of the woods. (Only on a Saturday night in Podunk, USA!)  All arrived safely to the road, and made it to their truck. While Mr W rescued the wayward hunters, I made a jewelry gift for a friend. And made a jewelry gift for me. p.s. Mr W and I refuse to allow said neighbor to ever forget about the “lost in the fog” episode. :)

Sunday – Among other miscellaneous tasks, I wormed the donkeys. (BTW, wormer sandwiched between two graham crackers is an easy peasy way to handle this task.)

Monday – We worked with cattle in the a.m. Oh, the mud! In the afternoon and evening, I did some cleaning and a little bit of organizing (it’s a start!).

Wednesday – Mr. W and I took a little trip to my hometown for haircut, visits with our dear former neighbor lady and my 96 year old dear Grandma, lunch with my parents, and a quick visit to the local antique shop. This was day 7 (at least) of fog.

Today we have fog again, and some rain.

How is the weather in your neck of the woods?

Thursday Walkabout: January Thaw

These photos are a combination of our earlier colder weather this week, and the sunshiny balmy 40’s temps mid-late week (woo hoo!).

Melting snow in hayfield, Promise of Spring in Buds on tree, Hazel in tree, Snow in corn stubble rows, Diamonds in the snow, Icicles, Snow dunes.

 

More tree buds (I’m searching out proof that Spring is coming), Snowy Scene at Cattle Gate, 
Snowy sunlit Grass, Li’l Austrian Pine, Wisteria Vines,
Sunset with Bottle Tree

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This week’s update for my mini-journal  to document random happenings throughout the year ~

1-7-10 Thursday night – Snow/bitter cold day ~ the first of two snow days. Made a bazillion trips outside to provide fresh water for animals, put wood in the outside stove, insulate donkey barn & goose pen even more for the next three bitter cold nights. Also left more blankets for barn kitties. We watched The Soloist with Robert Downey, Jr and Jamie Foxx tonight. Cello… loved that! And the story (based on true) was a good one.

Friday & Weekend – Drifting blowing snow, bitter cold temps which lasted through the weekend. Every two hours the drill was: stir outside stove & put more wood in, check the animals & give fresh water. Some nights, the wind chill dipped to 25 below and possibly beyond. It was all about survival, baby!

Ahhh, Monday & Tuesday – temps back into the twenties during the day. Much better! Back to work and routine.

Wednesday – Temps into the 40’s and sunshine! Mr. W had a morning road trip before work. I began to clean out storage shed #1 of 2, boxed up several dozen quart jars I was given before Christmas, and tackled the previously frozen, now thawed, manure pile in the donkey stall. All fresh and clean now with a new batch of Equine Fresh :)

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It’s almost the weekend.. yay for that! I plan to do more cleaning and organizing, possibly some painting on the Barn/Cottage interior trim too. Winter doldrums are trying to get me, but I’m going to fight back and take action on some things that need to be done. Yes, I am!!

What are your plans for the weekend? Are you fighting cabin fever & winter blahs too?

One last note – thanks so much for the prayers and comments regarding the recent tragedy in our Amish community here. Also, as many mentioned, we pray for those suffering from the devastation of earthquakes in Haiti.

Winter Fun & Chills

This afternoon it began to snow.

I took a little while and just enjoyed watching the snow and the animals. For, it seemed almost warm today at 25 degrees. Tonight it will dip back down to Antarctic-like temperatures.

I stayed in the donkey barn for awhile. The barn cats seem to like hanging out here at the smaller barn during the extra cold weather. I personally believe that at least a couple of them snuggle up with Ruby and Gracie at night.

We kept two of Harley’s kittens (the other three previously went to another country home).  Monkey is totally buddies with Ruby & Gracie (see below). Isn’t she a fancy barn kitty? Maynard is just a little sweetheart – I mean, look at that face!  Henry is the younger kittens’ self-imposed guardian. And Hazel, well.. she is just crazy and fun Hazel.

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I’m going to try to document our lives a little better for 2010. Since this is my first post of 2010, I’ll try to keep this up and do a weekly mini-journal of random happenings for the week past. We’ll see how this goes. Prepare to be bored :) But I thought it would be nice to look back on at the end of this year.

New Year’s Eve – we stayed in and watched Virginia’s Run, a wonderful movie! (Thanks, Cheryl! Virginia’s Run was filmed in the beautiful Nova Scotia town where she lives).

Weekend – was spent just staying warm and making several trips out to check on & water animals, as well as load the outdoor woodstove. Short outings and visits with family.

Tuesday – I had out of town doctor visits. I also had a close encounter with a Bald Eagle who swooped really close to my car when I was nearly home. Beautiful!

Wednesday – Mr. W fed five large round bales of hay to get the cattle through the snow and bitter cold for a few days.

Weather – the temps have stayed brutally cold, with the exception of today. Tonight it is snowing, with near record-breaking cold temps & wind chills expected for the next few days (wind chills up to –30).

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I do hope it’s warmer where you are. If it’s not, please snuggle in and stay warm!

Till next time…