In which we've lost Waldo, the chickens sink, and Pickles has some good fun

It's like one of those "Where's Waldo" pictures: 
Where's Haiku Farm?
Being stuck at home isn't all bad.  We didn't lose power until late afternoon, so there was plenty of time to write like crazy on the books. 

About an hour before sundown yesterday, the sky cleared up and we got realio-trulio sunshine--which makes for some awesome photos:
I am still absurdly happy to have a barn!

Sunbathing in late-afternoon January

Postcard

lower pasture



Snow on alder trees.  I had to be careful shooting this--
those branches are heavy and inclined to break and fall!


Lisa

Lisa and Will (and Luna) enjoy rolling in sn*w...

Will and Luna


...but chickens don't.  In fact, chickens sink.

Her legs are short and her body is heavy.  She sinks like a rock.

I had to stomp down a scratching area for the hens so they could eat their dinner and not get stuck in nearly a foot of white stuff.


Hen party.
Jim did a little higher-tech sn*w-stompage to clear out the driveway...

Jim and Tootles the Tractor


...but here's the view of our road:

No WAY am I driving on this!

The county plows as often as possible, but they only need to make sure that emergency vehicles can travel safely.  More than an inch of compacted snow and ice is NOT safe for civilian cars and trucks.   So, we stayed home.

Fascinated.


Fiddle was fascinated by all the goings-on.   The dogs can't get enough of playing in the white stuff.  Even Luna, who is normally quite sedentary, romps around like a puppy. 

Luna and Mimsy

but the one who enjoys it most is Pickles:


Picklefish!

Yesterday, the drifts were bigger than Pickles, and she had fun porpoising around the yard.

Pickles the Porpoise


Today, she learned to find the shallower spots near trees and vehicles, but she still enjoys playing in it for as long as I will let the dogs stay outside. 

When they come inside, they flop down beside the woodstove and sleep like a pile of dead things.

I'm not the only one who dislikes the Winter Wonderland:

"I want to go back to little grass shack/ In Kealakekua, Hawai`i;
I want to be with all the kanes and wahines/ That I used to know long ago..."

Today, the blue-sky went away, and the wind blew away a lot of the white stuff. 

Rain is forecast for tomorrow.

Where's the MOUNTAIN???

Me?  I'm ready for rain.  Now would be just fine.

Comments

  1. There's your sunshine! Wasn't it gorgeous? Everyone looks happy to be warm & fed!

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  2. Too much snow!!! I did get out today, as the neighbors needed food as did my cat.I need to download my photos....so pretty out...but so ready for it to go away!

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  3. Wonderful pictures!!! Love them all. Thanks so much for sharing. Hopefully we will NOT have that type of snow this year for me to share

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  4. Gorgeous, gorgeous pictures. It gives me no end of delight to see horse-keeping some place with real-life weather! More please!

    [Don't even want to comment on how warm it was today. Let's just say I was riding at 5:00mp.m. in a t-shirt and a fleece vest and was sweaty ...]

    Karen

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  5. More than an inch of snow isn't safe for civilian cars or trucks? Please don't tell Alaskans this or we might all forget how to drive in snow and ice!

    Your farm looks very beautiful in the snow. Thanks for letting this displaced Alaskan live vicariously for a few minutes this winter.

    -OS

    (Having issues getting blogger to accept my identity today)

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  6. Hey! That road's plowed! Don't see no problem with driving on that! We didn't get as much as you guys (yet), but we also didn't get plowed--just some sand at the intersections and traffic-compaction. Of course you west-siders don't have the brains...er...equipment to deal with the frozen stuff. ;-)

    We scatter seed for our grouse and other wild birds, and their scratching/eating clear a different part of the walk to the barn or parking area each morning. They're probably not as fat as your hens, but they do have short little legs.

    Isn't it GREAT to have a place the horses can get out of the weather to? I love my barn, as I'm sure eyou do yours.

    Love the puppies playing in the snow--especially Pickles Marie!

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  7. Clarifiction: we had more than A FOOT of sn*w, which compacted and melted and re-froze as at least an inch-thick slab of ice on the roads.

    Our roads get *plowed* but are rarely graveled or brined...and nobody gets good traction on sheet-ice except emergency vehicles with chains. As Evensong says, we Swamplanders don't have the right equipment to actually get rid of the stuff--we mostly just complain about it until it melts away.

    Certainly, my little rear-wheel-drive pickup truck isn't qualified to navigate these roads until it all melts. Jim's big 4x4 truck should be able to get out tomorrow without difficulty (knock wood).

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  8. Stunning photos!
    and Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
    Writing? Did you say you were writing on your books? Oh Publishers, please take note....I can't WAIT for these to come out, send the woman an advance!

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  9. P.S. love the photo of your farm with the mountain in the background! Also very cool patterns in the lower pasture!

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  10. So much snow! Makes me cold just looking at it!

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  11. I would take your precip in any form Mother Nature would see fit to bestow it. Enjoy your stay-at-home days!

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  12. Where are you Aarene
    Have we lost you in the snow
    What a bad haiku

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