Snow Days

We got a few inches of snow almost a week ago, and have had such cold temperatures ever since, it doesn't look like the snow is going to be melting anytime soon. Winter has outworn its welcome around here.

Winter Chilling

The snow is all gone now, but here are a few pictures of the critters taken last week.

The chickens never did learn to like the snow, and would spend nearly all their time in the barn.

 

The rabbits weren't affected by the snow, though I gave them plenty of extra hay to burrow into while we had single digit temperatures.

 

Giant, with his thick coat of fur, loved the snow and cold and had no problems running, playing and rolling in it. He's so funny!

 

The goats, like the chickens, preferred to stay in the barn. They refused to even walk down to their water, so I had to bring some water to them in buckets.

 

The First Snow

The first snow was pretty impressive, leaving our farm blanketed with 5 to 10 inches of snow on top of a pretty thick layer of ice/sleet.

 

The horses love the snow!

 

The chickens hate it! And I don't blame them one bit!

 

  

More Flooding

We've had so much rain last week that there were some major flash floods in the area. Here are some pictures taken just down the road.

Snow in May

Woke during the night and was shocked to see a good couple inches of snow. I believe this is the very first time its ever snowed here in May. Thankfully, its all melted already.

First Snow!

Once again, the weathermen just didn't get it right. Mother Nature totally surprised us today with a nice little snow. There isn't much out there, but it certainly is pretty.

 



Staying Cool: Chicken-Style

Though the temperatures are dropping for the most part, we still occasionally have days that get up into the mid-90s. So, finding chickens cooling themselves in dirt-holes that they've dug is still an ordinary sight around here. This hen found a nice spot at the base of a tree. 

Spring Again?

After the total devastation caused by the grasshoppers this summer, I was shocked to find that our trees that were completely stripped of all their leaves have new growth on them!

 

 

I'm so glad to see life in the trees once again. It was beginning to look like winter, with all the dead, brown grass and bare trees. Thankfully, we've had some good rains in August, and not only are the trees and green grass coming back, but the grasshopper population has decreased significantly.



The View

As Isaac moves into the mainland, the effects for us *should* only be some good amounts of rain. Hopefully nothing severe. Here's the view this evening as the clouds start moving in.

 

And this was about an hour later:

Summertime...

Well it looks like the triple digits MAY be gone. For now at least, the forecast shows upcoming highs in the mid-to-upper 90s. And while that is still hot, it makes me very hopeful that more comfortable weather is right around the corner.

This summer has been a tough one, for the animals especially. It's almost a full-time job keeping everyone cool and with plenty of fresh water. Not to mention the hay that is already having to be fed due to the fact that there is very little grass anymore.

We did have another little shower the night before last, which was very welcome, and I must say that between that and the good rain we had a couple weeks ago, we're actually seeing a bit of green in our pastures now. That is such a welcome sight!

The pool continues to give relief to the kids when they get too hot in the house. We only run our air conditioning at night, so we can sleep, and to keep the electric bill down.



A Few Drops of Relief

Along with most of the nation, we are in a state of drought. I heard the other day our state is 14 inches below normal as far as rainfall goes so far this year. Farmer's Almanac says we should start seeing more wet weather by the end of August, which would be great news if it wasn't a whole month from now!

We had one day of relief last week, sandwiched between sweltering, record breaking, triple digit temperatures. It may have been only an inch and a half of rain, but it was wonderful while it lasted.

Even the chickens enjoyed it! Normally, they would all go to the barn and wait for the rain to end, but not this time!

The dry, hard-packed earth quickly became puddles, and in some places there was still standing water
the entire following day!

What is left of our garden after the grasshoppers had their way with it. And note the black locust tree in the background, has also been stripped of all it's leaves.