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| The Day Winter Came |
Autumn brought such beautiful color and a short cold snap that turn the leaves a beautiful burgandy red, orange and yellow gold. After that brief cold snap, it was mild most everyday. The colors on the trees stayed longer and brighter most of the season. One day a strong wind came through and dried the leaves untill they were crisp which made a rustling sound as they moved up and down. The warmer weather was a blessing for the baby llama, Luna. We took her homemade coat off and she was able to enjoy her infant days much more grazing and playing naked in the sunshine.
We had heard of a storm coming but we gave it no mind as the mild autumn had cast her spell of euphoria and complacency. I stepped out onto the back deck. A freezing cold wave of wind and snow flurried around my face I shivered all the way down to my feet and followed the snowflakes out to the coop. I felt my heart race to think of the girls in this cold weather and stepped into the coop to turn on the heat lamps. Click* click...there was no light....nothing... then I tried again...click* and no light came on ... no electricity! * (see note below)
Husband usually takes care of these things but he was at work so I had to put on my big girl pants and investigate the source. Sure enough after testing the main outlet with a hair dryer I found the electricity was off . I tried the reset button but it did not help. Rerouting the extension cords to the house from the barn was a bit dramatic as the snowflakes swirled around me in a white out. I held that "can do" spirit of a farm woman. As I worked, the snow got deeper. I grabbed the cords to the llama trough heater and pulled them out across the pasture, through the backyard gate, across the lawn and plugged it into the socket on the back porch. The chicken coop and llama trough were connected. Success !
The next on my chore list was to sew on some velcro fasteners onto baby Luna's winter coat. That went fast. By now the sun had begun to lower fast and it was dark by the time Paul got home. We went to get that coat on Luna. We turned on the back porch light and could see the snowflakes swirling down and blowing in diagonal sweeping motions like a curtain in the cold winds.
I wore a head lamp and Paul held a flash light. We were ah mazed at the snow heaped on the gates and panels and we shivered as the ice crunched under our feet and gloves. There is this metallic crunch like a crystal glass vibration as we forced opened the gates. being from Southern California this is quite awesome to us. We entered the shelter and gently cornered baby Luna. Momma, Gaia, made no mind of it.
Luna, 3 months old, had bits of frozen ice on all over her and I pulled them off with my heavy gloves. She was dry under the ice. She grunted and hummed like a child who was getting her face washed but she stood quite still for me to get her coat on. The new coat fit so well with some room to grow and Luna was now protected from the wet cold snow. Yay ! Done! That night I slept pretty good knowing all my fur and feather family members were safe and warm.
Within 2 days the winter has brought us minus digits to -7 degrees and then it let up and became warmer. Highs in the 20's and lows in the teens and single digits for the coming days and nights showed on the weather reports.
The water at the spigot outdoors had frozen which means the water buckets must be filled from the sink or bathtub indoors then carried out to my trusty wagon. As I pulled the wagon behind me over the ruts of frozen snow, the water in the buckets sloshed. I made my way to the corral and emptied the buckets into the big water trough.
Really, I do love our little farm. It is quite an adventure for me. Everyday brings another lesson, another joy to experience and another story to share.
As I write this morning, it is 14 degrees. I will stop now as it is time to feed breakfast to my dear animals outdoors. I will fix a nice meal of scrambled eggs, oatmeal, and fresh broccoli for the hens. The llamas are easy. They love their hay of alfalfa and grass.
I wish you all a Happy and Joyous New Year!
Thank you for visiting Little Utah Farm
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| Deborah Moen of Little Utah Farm |
We hope you can come again.
Until next time you may like to try my post
* [Please note: I was new to cold weather, being from mild Southern California, and unaware that chickens can hold their own in the cold. As I got used to the cold I have let the girls use their feathers and warm bodies to keep warm. I do have a great coop heater panel which I use in single digits and minus temperatures. It has a timer and 3 settings. It is safe for coops on the ground or hanging on the wall. I got it at amazon. ]
