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This picture of Nebis smelling the lilacs is to remind me that there will be warmer days ahed. In the meantime, -14 Degrees this morning. How did you start your day?
Alarm goes off at 6. Press snooze for one last snuggle before putting feet down on cold floor. Immediately get dressed for chores. Husband is up before me, only by a few moments, to start the coffee. Groggily I follow him down stairs to wait for the familiar “beep, beep, beep” of the coffee maker while restarting the wood stove (our only source of winter heat). We spend a few moments cleaning up clutter that accumulated the night before, fold a load of laundry, unload dishwasher, etc. Grab cup of coffee from pot. Sit for a few moments contemplating not stepping outside in the -14 degree weather. Wonder if the alpacas can make it a few more hours without food. Of course not...get off my butt and spend the next ten minutes getting dressed to go outside. The layer list includes the following...Long johns, Pants/jeans, thermal insulated top (inner layer), then another thermal insulated top (outer layer), alpaca socks, polar fleece vest, insulated lined bib coveralls, lined leather gloves, polar tech fez (with wind bloc of course), alpaca fleece gator, down insulated coat with coyote fur lined hood (the best invention ever, have had this coat for 10 years. This is not the kind of coat you can wear out on the town, but it is perfect for farming...), then finally I hobble my way over to my Muck boots. (Oooh, my Muck boots, made by the Muck boot company, feet never had it so good. Warm, insulated, breathable, waterproof, and allegedly buoyant. - Buoyancy, I have not tested this out yet. Uncertain as to whether or not I want to know if my feet are buoyant while in these boots. Seems somewhat dangerous.) Now the picture of me totally decked out, those of you that do not live in a cave must have seen the movie a "Christmas Story", well Ralphies brother in his snowsuit, arms sticking out of his sides, barely able to move...yeah, that’s me...
Okay so now I am completely dressed, yes it takes time to put all that on. Head to the vet room to grab a few items that may be necessary on such a cold morning.
- Thermometer - in case anyone is shivering or shows abnormal behavior that may warrant a need to know their temp.
- Vaseline - we have a young female recovering from an accident that left her with little to no fleece on several spots. That Vaseline will help to insulate her bare flesh from freezing
- Gatorade - we use this as an electrolyte supplement in their water, very sparingly in times of stress, like -14 deg F. may indicate.
- Coat for our Suri Anglo. He seems to be the only one that has EVER shown signs of shivering or being cold...ever.
Then, dress the dogs, off to the barn. Once in the barn it takes about 10 minutes to get basic chores done and spend some time just observing the critters behavior. Just to see if there is anything out of the ordinary. Check the chickens in the hen house. Plenty of food and water, collect two eggs, that have exploded from freezing. Bummer, no fresh eggs for breakfast.
Now its 715 a.m. Because I am fully geared up, I spend about 20 minutes hauling fire wood closer to the front door of the house, so later one of us does not have to get all dressed up. It is now about 745 a.m.
Next stop - errands, I get undressed, into street clothes, change my jacket (see mom, I do not wear it out in public), put on my hat, and off on a road trip. I head west on 202 for an hour round trip to get grain at the feed store, some straw - due to super cold temps want to put more down in the barn, and the human feed store. I will spare the boring details of my shopping excursions, except for the usual tedium...once at feed store, get stuck talking with the older gentleman (I think he is about 150 years old) about how the world ain't what it used to be, not enough farmers etc. etc. Then the typical harassment in the grocery store (hey like your hat, can you help me find...my daughter is...it is a weird thing, people just come up to me to talk about stuff that really is none of my business. My husband finds it funny, he has seen the magic happen.)
Okay, car loaded with hay, two bags of feed, and groceries. I think the ambient temperature has now gone up to -3, with a wind of about 20 miles an hour. So with windchill temperatures, it is super cold. On way home, realize it is now only 1030. I decide to stop by the tractor dealer. Its on the way, and Steve and I have been having a hard time getting there together to investigate tractor implements with the proprietor, so I make this my opportunity. You see, owning a tractor is much like any other gadget, just bigger and more useful. You always need to attach more gadgets to it to make it just a little bit more user friendly. Okay, so I wasted a 1/2 hour tractor parts shopping.
Once we arrive home we unload groceries, and grain and put things away. It is now lunch time. Quick, get lunch ready, we sit for ten minutes. The whole while discussing the barn. Today is siding day. A huge milestone.
Back into the house to make dinner. A full three course meal is spread upon the table. A welcome treat after a long hard day in the cold. Once dinner is over, I put my gear back on, its time to feed critters. I volunteered to accomplish this task while the husband cleaned the kitchen, I believe it to be a great exchange, cause alpaca hugs and kisses are much more sought after than dishpan hands.
Once I return I see a bottle of wine has been opened and a pitcher of home brew has been set out, kitchen is clean, husband is showered, and is ready to settle down for the evening. I follow suit, and finally sit down for the evening as well. We are all in bed fast asleep by 1030. Up the next morning, and every morning, to do it again. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.
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