Arctic Blast 2009 is ending

[Shortpig]

We are now the proud owners of a heated bucket and two floating tank heaters. To get thru this we have removed screens from windows, passed hot buckets of water thru the window to heat the water buckets in the barns. Hose frozen solid. So with 150ft of frozen hose we removed another screen and pulled it into the bathtub to thaw it out. That worked well.

I had to laugh when my daughter asked why we don't buy blankets for our pygmy goats. "Because they will eat them off of each other with great joy". So they stayed in surrounded by bales of hay and faired quite well thru the freeze.

They looked like large puff balls with legs.

My horses enjoyed their nice warm beet pulp mixture to warm their bellies prior to bedtime. Lots of warm water to drink and now I hope they don't expect us to continue to heat their water when it is no longer frozen. This time of year it is normal for us to warm their dinner so that we will continue.

Now we are going to have warmer temps and lots of rain, so their blankets will remain on as they are waterproof. My horses will eat in their barns but will be allowed to come and go at their leisure into or out of the rain. Jimmy being totally made of sugar will melt if hit with a rain drop so when it starts you can see him running for his barn so he won't die. Then he makes sure that Koda stays back behind him in the barn guess he doesn't want to lose his roomie to the acid rain we have in Oregon.

Jerry Lee and Diego have been sleeping with me everynight so Bubba can move into the garage at night. First night was quite awful but thankfully Jerry has decided he doesn't have to lick my head because I made a sound in my sleep

. However, he prefers to stretch out with his back tight against mine. Luckily I have a king size bed so plenty of room for all of us. Still better than the constant head licking.

My rescue kitty Lilo has decided not to fight Jerry licking his whole head with one swipe of the tongue. He just sits there and takes it like a champ. Diego has to make sure Lilo is where he belongs at all times.

So what next, they say we are having an El Nino year so it will be warmer, most cold weather actually happens prior to Christmas so I am hoping this was it and now we can have that [SIZE=18pt]warmer, dryer[/SIZE] winter they keep talking about.

[SIZE=18pt]As a final note I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Prosperous New Year from all of us at Dolittle Farm![/SIZE]

 

[sedeh]

I hear you!! So glad we're finally thawing out!! I know all the "East Coast" people are probably laughing at us but when you don't normally have these kind of long freezes you just aren't prepared for them! And hauling water is just not fun! Yesterday it thawed just enough to make the ground an ice rink. I went out to feed and wondered why the mares were walking so funny and not running in like normal. Then I stepped out on their "dry lot" and almost landed on my bottom. Smart horses!!! My dog was not so smart....He tried to go running out into the pasture and hit a slick spot and down he went....poor old guy!

 

[My2Minis]

I hear you! We have extension cords going to heated buckets so I will have to go unplug and remove them all when the rain starts! Next year I hope we have electric out to the sheds.

I won't miss trying to scoop frozen poop out of the paddocks. It was 11 degrees for a couple of mornings and the poop froze to the ground.

The nice thing was...frozen mud and sunshine! I will miss that when the rains start again.