Soggy

Although we still have some large drifts and most of the ground is still covered with snow, everything looks distinctly soggy. The road by our house was plowed at 11:00 am yesterday. Once again I was happy that not only did we find a place on a school bus route, but it is a school bus route that seems to be early on the schedule of places to plow.

I did have to dig the Suburu out of the garage. (We have a huge drift that forms right outside our garage door when we have storms with lots of wind.) Every few years we will have a big storm and I resolve to park the cars at the end of the driveway when a big storm is forecast. Then we get a few overhyped storms and I decide it’s not worth doing so, and leave the cars in the garage so they get snowed in.

Google Satellite

Google Map
I had heard about the satellite imagery that had been added to Google Maps but didn’t play with it until this morning, when I found this aerial map of our place, the L-shaped house inside the curve of the road. I called Jack in to look at it, and he said “What does that tell you?” “That there is no privacy?”

We spent some time looking at the map, and decided, based on the available clues, that the photos were taken last fall.

I am amazed that I can identify our round pen, stock trailer and propane tank. I was also amused to see that our driveway is in the wrong place according to their algorithm.

April 2005 Blizzard Aftermath

April 2005 Blizzard - Mudroom Door

This is the mud room door which I used when I was feeding the horses during the storm. Good thing it opens inward. The stockade fence to the side of the photo is five feet high. The dog door is buried beneath the drift beside the door. Lody, our Smooth Collie, always uses the dog door, and it took me a while to convince her that there was no way she was going to be able to burrow her way out and that she had to use the regular door. She is one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever known, but not necessarily the brightest.

I dug around the barn enough to let Lily and Rags out of their stalls. Smoke was already out of the barn, since one of this little eccentricities is that he cannot be shut in a stall. He will batter his way out in what is apparently a panic attack. He doesn’t mind being in a small area like the hay aisle where he spent the storm, as long as he has a way out. Fortunately, the winds were blowing from the north and west, so the hay aisle door which faces east was sheltered.

I had to open Rags’ stall first, and Lily became sufficiently frantic to get out that I decided it would be safest to lead her out through the hay aisle since it took me about thirty minutes to clear the outside gate to her stall. Both horses celebrated by galloping around and then rolling in the fresh snow before settling to eat some hay.

April Blizzard

They said the storm would be over by 6:00 am this morning. They lied. But the horses were okay when I tossed them their breakfast, and not even as peevish as I would have expected.

I thought I would be able take some cool photos of drifts this morning, but the wind chill is about 10 degrees Fahrenheit, and not conducive to fooling around outside with a camera.

Worst Day of the Winter Award

The Worst Day of the Winter award goes to this morning with its blizzard conditions. Lily was visibly shivering and wet when I went out to the barn to feed. I felt more exasperation than pity since she was standing out in the storm, but had to find a wool cooler and blanket for her anyway after I chased Smoke out of her stall and put her in it. (The barn stalls are open except for when I actually feed the horses their concentrate.) She looked much more comfortable once I got her blanket on her, using the cooler as a liner.

The storm is blowing from the north, so Smoke’s stall in the old shed was useless as shelter. I ended by putting him in the hay aisle in the new barn to eat his pellets, but had to spend some time first arranging things so he couldn’t get into too much trouble. I left him with plenty of hay, even though he can’t really eat it, in hopes he will be entertained by the hay instead of getting bored and demolishing the hay aisle once he gets done with his concentrate. I decided not to blanket Smoke because, although he was plastered with snow, he looked comfortable and his coat is a lot denser than Lily’s.

It looks like the storm is due to last until tomorrow, unfortunately.

Three Robins

Three Robins
This morning, three robins sought shelter from blizzard conditions in the tree outside our kitchen window. These spring storms bring much needed moisture, but I feel sorry for the wildlife. I also feel sorry for myself when I think about putting on lots of winter gear to go feed the horses.