Minimor - I've now been away from MT long enough that I don't remember all that we did. We just did it. I DO remember coming down here with a plug for my vehicle and wondering where to plug in at that first winter - all the southerners thought I'd lost my mind!
For us here - this down to 0 is a BIG DEAL. We are thinking we'll clean out the boxes in front of the fireplace and bring in some wood - might be running that tonight instead of so much heat... Hadn't been worried about it (actually I wanted to have it checked before we lay/light a fire)... but this is cold.
I had my daughter water for us last Friday and none of us "back-checked her"... Of course, she's now an adult, been around horses all her life and shouldn't have had to, but... The hose was left hooked up and undrained and by Saturday had frozen solid - not just the 100 ft of hose (at least the other 3 hoses hadn't also been hooked up), but the short bit of hose attached to the water spigot (what horse farm has a spigot instead of a "frost free" water hydrant that drains down to earth?) and appeared to be down into the ground. Saturday got to 40* at the warmest (was just above freezing w/ windchill) - it didn't thaw! YIKES. Sooo... Sunday wasn't any warmer - I hauled water in a trash can and another big water can from the house. Also an outdoor spigot (and not very sturdy, either) - have to be careful not to break it when hooking/un hooking the hose. So far, so good. Ponies healthy, drinking fine and looking ok. So after watering, I left some detailed instructions with both family and our boarder for Monday (I was working)...
Hmmm... Things didn't go so well. Hose now unhooked and partially thawed, but standpipe & spigot w/ short hose damaged. W/ the "snow" (freezing rain/sleet/ICE) that hit Mon nite/Tuesday, I didn't have work - so took over the watering again. Found out that while everyone else had been working on water hose - hose ends left in drive path. Think I flattened two (one a brand new hose -
..). A very frustrating day - sliding around on the ice while hauling water. Couldn't it wait until next week when I get the new tires on the truck tomorrow? Guess not. Wednesday better - have the watering "thing" down pat, in a rhythm with breaking ice and hauling the water.
Today ... OMG This cold can just clear up and go away. The bit of thaw we had - re-froze. The area from the back yard fence into the chicken coop area is a solid sheet of ice - even after I took the shovel and broke it up last nite. BUT I managed to keep feet under me - chix are now watered and fed and hope they are warm enough... My young chickens (6 cuckoo Marans, 4 buff Wyandottes, 10 EEs) - have steadily died in this cold weather since I brought my older hens/rooster home. I combined them into the one big coop - a bad idea now - but didn't (and still don't) have the other big coop/pen ready. I have all of the Wyandottes, only 3 of the Marans left and yesterday the last EE succumbed. Not sure exactly why - the cold didn't bother them before I brought the older ones home, too. Maybe something with the older ones? Had two other chickens die as well - so not just my young ones... Hmmm.... We are wondering if there is something in the ground or the fencing of the coop/pen? "Roo" the little bantam rooster got out of the pen I'd put all the roosters in - he's gone. We do have hawks here - Larry thinks that one got him. I need to process the other 4 barnyard roosters - then put the blue Ameraucana in with the other hens that are old enough once they are laying well... I wanted to get more chickens but for right now - that's on hold. My 3 temporary chicken hoop coops are still over at my friends' place - when they come over here the heavy one will stay out by the other coops here. But the two lighter ones, I want to put out in one section of the pasture. I'd like to get broiler chickens - until this bitter cold clears - that is another animal project that is on hold...
Larry and I are still looking at/thinking about a pair of small dairy goats (Pygmy's, Nigerian Dwarfs or Kinder goats)... Want to have some goat milk for different products, goat manure for mixed type compost and meat... Plus we've both enjoyed when we've visited goats at various farms and at the fairs. Until we decide on what breed well again that's another project on hold. Probably a good thing right now - with this cold, we are both feeling VERY OVERWHELMED... But this too shall pass.
Got the truck serviced last week and REALLY GLAD I did. Running better, starting with ease and getting better gas usage (thank goodness - since it's spent more time idling than going down the road the last 3 days).
With the cold temps tonight - we'll be running water in every sink and will have heater hooked up in kitchen and bathrooms to make sure we don't freeze. Hope nothing happens to the spigot outside - we need it. The sinks and tubs in the house aren't set up with right type of spigots to allow attachment of hoses. I got caught up on laundry today - thankfully.
Spring can come - we'll have lots of projects this summer! Plan on replacing spigot on outside of back of house to make a better/heavier duty one that will allow easier hook up of hose (s). Will need to replace the stand pipe that split the week after we moved in - with a proper frost free, pull up handle water pump. Will also need to replace the one out in the pasture by the "barn". I'm really surprised that these folks used such light weight spigots - I hope that they survive the daily wear/tear of hooking/unhooking hoses by different people until we can get them all upgraded to heavy duty ones...
I was looking at seed today, too! Larry looked at me and we had a good laugh. We DO want to be able to grow our own veggies and some fruit too. It's supposed to be "easy" and doable... I finally admitted - well - " I have to see how many plants I can kill off this year..." ... "Ooooo , that's what you're doing..." I think I spent about $250 on started plants and seeds last year - maybe got 3 green peppers and a handful of tomatoes. A few cucumbers and squash. Didn't know you could kill carrots! Ah well. Won't be using our ponies composted manure yet (haven't even picked any up yet to compost!) - will have to sit for a couple of years before I do that. So will also need to buy soil/growing medium to grow with... NOT putting a garden directly into the ground here - sandy soil and cats/dogs plus eventually the chickens will be loose... Will be doing raised bed square foot gardens and maybe a growing barrel or two (with worms no less - think I'll be able to keep them alive all summer?). They look do-able, anyway! We shall see.
With all the rain we get here - we need to do water catch barrels. Course - another project - none of the buildings here are guttered. Learning curves and more money. Hmmm....
I went thru some boxes today - but didn't really unpack any. Want to start setting up the new craft room - but hard to do when Larry is home and asleep and the dogs go crazy when I go out to shop for a while, then come back in. No danger of someone walking in on us - this crew is barking ferocious. Larry is sleeping in - it's almost 9 pm and I'm winding down...
Some very EXCITING news! While checking with various vets that can make farm calls to this new farm, one of the receptionists (I almost had a heart attack when she said it would be $300-400 to castrate one pony/mini and we are planning on doing 4 - well some aren't mine, but!) let out that State (NCSU Vet program) was doing a "gelding party" - either low cost or no charge. Of course it would be vet students doing the surgeries. After checking around with some other vets - I called back and set an appointment for a farm call to meet the new vet and have him do 3 teeth floats & take a look at our herd. Then I got the phone number contact for State and called - left a message. Was called back - I was able to procure 4 spots on the 1st day (they are doing 2 this spring and 1 in the fall). The downfall - it's a Monday - hard for me to get it off. Wasn't sure how I was going to do that - but I managed! Thank goodness! Ordered spring vaccines, they arrived yesterday and they will be given this weekend so that the ponies are ready to go "get the deed done". In just two weeks! Yep, this cold can clear up - I don't want to deal with freshly castrated ponies in this bitter cold.
Temp is dropping - it's down to 19* with a wind chill of 10*. The indoor temp says 64* and the heat pump hasn't shut off in quite some time. I hate to see what our power bill is going to be. Off to finish the dishes ...
