Family Effort..Cleanup

This was a great day to be outside cleaning up! +7C  (45F) and sunny. I got to supervise due to a wrenched back while trimming Alpine. That's why I have no shovel in my hand. Instead, I took pictures of other folks working. After all, age must have some benefits.

 Myself and son Mike. Mike is the one working. :-}

 Elaine, AJ and Mike. Me, behind camera.

 We had Mad max checking up on things.

 Ah, yes, work! I could watch it all day!

 Noah (5) decided it's more fun to roll down the drifts.

Brooklyn found a sunny spot in the hay loft. " I don't do work!"

Ha, ha, there is lots more where that came from!

A Week of Great Weather!

With temperatures ranging from +1 to +10 C in the daytime, the snow pack has dropped a lot! Brooklyn can now navigate almost anywhere without sinking or plowing.

 This pile of wood was missed in the big burn, clean-up. It was buried.

 Overall the view looks much the same, but there is only about a foot of hard snow left.

 The sitting rock and climbing -on-horse- rock is starting to make an appearance again.

 The neighbour's horses are out grazing. This is a south facing hillside, so gets a lot more sunlight.

Spring! It's getting closer!

High Noon At The Wildwestfarm

Welcome to the first day of winter! It seems as if it's been winter for a month already. It's too cold to be fiddling with a camera outside so here are a couple of views from the window on this the shortest day. The sun will start getting higher every day until it is way over on the other side of the house. Yeah.

 We shut down the hot tub for the winter due to the high electrical cost of running it. It appears that I will have to shovel it off pretty soon.

 The horses are really hungry in the morning at -22C or -8C. Other than getting very woolly  they have adapted well.

It's all downhill now. Spring is just around the corner, I hope!

+When It's Really Cold

Shovel off the burn pile and light it up. At our temperatures, a quart of gasoline really helps.

 Let get good and hot.

 Invite the neighbour's dog, Copper, over to play. Actually, forget the invite. He just seems to appear once I start doing anything outside.

 Pull up a log, sit down and enjoy the warmth. Be prepared to progressively back up as the heat rises.

 Watch out that your backside doesn't overheat.

Two more piles to go, and the winter burning is done!

Wordless Wednesday

The Sun Came Out...Finally

Unfortunately, it turned cold again! -26C (-15F). It was good to see the Blue Ridge range again.

 The goils took it in stride and warmed up their sides. It's amazing how much the sun will warm up horse hair, even at these temperatures.

Happiness is a Big Fire

Brooklyn enjoyed the heat, but soon moved away. This is early this year for the Pyromaniac to be active. With lots, and I mean lots, of snow, I was able to get an early start on my 6 brush piles.

 Once it burns down, I will go around and kick in the ends and all that will be left is ashes.

 Biz was my steady companion and moved forward and back as the heat built and diminished. She is used to fires from the previous years on the Acreage. As you can see, it is snowing very heavily.

 Once the snow melted off one side, she would turn around and do the other side.

 Tucker came over, but stayed back a bit farther than Biz. i think she remembered the smouldering horse hair from last year.

Prepared to get bored with fire pictures because there are still 5 more piles to go. This was a small one!

It Was a Great Day!

It was sunny and warm with a slight dusting of new snow. How can it get any better than this for putting a few miles on a horse? 'Nuff said!

Enough, Already!

It's been snowing for a week! It's also hard to get motivated to get out and do things when it's also damp and cold. Cold being -12C or +10F. Later in the year these temperatures will seem good after we have acclimatized to them.

 One of the 5 burn piles is going to need a turbo boost ( shot of gasoline) to get it lit.

 All in all, things are kind of bleak with no sun to brighten it up.

 The driveway has been plowed 4 times with the quad and blade. Without that, it is very difficult to climb up to the garage area.

Biz has grown her woolly winter coat. It is thick enough that snow does not melt on her. Still, she is not impressed. I can see it in her eyes.

 It's pretty tough foraging. They seem to have forgotten that they ate everything right down to the ground. Still, they keep trying.

 All three get very vocal around feeding time, or anytime that I go near the hay shelter. Maybe it's just as well i don't speak horse!

 Brooklyn just takes it in stride. She has almost finished shedding for the year. That's why she looks so thin. She is quite content to be an indoor dog, and really enjoys her comfort.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, so I am planning on going out to search for another deer.

'Nuff said!

Just Two More

I say just two more because the sun came out and I wasn't fast enough to catch any more before they melted.

 However, I am sure that we will get more opportunities before the winter is over.

High Humidity and Low Temperature

The combination yields a good crop of hoar frost!

On the cow parsley.

On the wire fence

On the fence post

Multi-variety

On the bushes

On the chicken wire

Over all it was a very damp and gloomy day.

If it gets above freezing tomorrow like it's supposed to, the bush and areas under the trees will be like being in a rain storm. In the mean time, it is sure pretty!

Winter thoughts

Old Man Winter has arrived! It is very unlikely, but still possible, that this snowfall will melt. We are a little far north to catch the odd Chinook, but then again, anything is possible.

 The horses are still trying to find something edible under the snow. I caught Biz this morning happily munching away on burdock, something that all three horses avoided all summer. They are now on warm winter rations of a bale a day split three ways and two feedings. Quite a change when they are used to eating steadily.

 Brooklyn kind of likes the snow. she can see things better and nothing will sneak up on her.

 The gals are getting a very thick coat! Is it only thick coated caterpillars that foretell a cold winter?

The time changes on November 4th which says that the days will be getting longer. That is really good news!I am starting to get used to the cold again. It was -12 C this morning ( +10 F for all you southerners). Two days from now, this area opens up for big game hunting and tomorrow, the horses get locked out of the lower field ( away from the road). There are still a few folks out there that like to drive highways in search of deer and moose. This is not my idea of fair chase. Such folks also tend to ignore fences indicating private property . It's better to move the horses and err on the side of caution.
Think warm!