Snowmageddon December 2009

I stole the term  "Snowmageddon"  from a friend.  I like it.  We easily have a foot of snow.  This morning at 6:30 am it was beautiful out .

No wind, 30 degrees, silent and the wet heavy snow weighing everything down.  I heard some cracks from tree branches.  I just hoped branches wouldn't break over powerlines or fencing.  The beauty wouldn't last long.

The wind started picking up and the temp has been dropping.  The weather impacts everyone, but since we've moved to the farm its been a central part of my life.  No electricity doesn't mean no heat for us, we have a woodstove, but it does mean no water.  Fortunately with all this snow the animals would get by for a little while, and we could melt snow on the stove.  I simply cannot store enough gallons of water for all of us.  How much straw do the animals need to stay warm?  Is the coop warm enough for the chicks?  Do the calves have enough shelter?  Trying to get us through the storm is one thing, making sure we have provided the animals with everything they need is another.


Here are some pictures I took while checking on the critters.  All is well so far.

Snow storm on the way

First snowstorm for the season is on its way.  In my 6 years in the area the more a storm is pumped up the less it delivers.  So we'll get about an inch with all this drama.  The snow is supposed to start at noon and continue for 36 hours and bring with it a foot of snow.   Then lows of near 0.  That's the part that bugs me.  I hate it being that cold.  I bought some de-icers last night so we should be good on that for the animals.  I'll throw some extra straw in for all of them.  They'll be fine.  We'll load some wood in the house and we'll be fine.  Kids will love the snow day.  Watch movies and eat popcorn in front of the TV.  Unfortunately  we still have work to do around here, "AW MOM!"  but as long as I don't tell them to work until 30 minutes before dinner, it will get done quick. 

The biggest problem with the cold is my baby chicks.  They really need to move to the coop.  But I just don't know I can keep them warm enough in there with 0 degree weather coming.  So they will be staying in the house until this weekend.  They really need to move.

Well I need to do some around teh farm before Calli has band and then until teh snow flys.  Be safe & warm!

16 for a high!

The predicted high for Thursday is 16.  No that is not the low.  SIXTEEN!  UGH.  I do not mind working in the 30's.  My issue is the freezing water.  Hoses that freeze, even when you thought you have drained them. Water tanks that fill with ice.  And disorganized me  - I went around this Spring and collected our tank de-icers and now I cannot find where I put them. UGH.   I will be searching again today. 

We had a busy weekend.  Saturday Chris cleaned out the little kids hideout.  We have a space in our living room under our stairs that the kids love.  Over the year various things have been shoved in there.  Chris cleaned it out.  The young boys are sooo happy. They are in there all the time, even though its really cold.  I just worked outside on the coop and searching for the tank de-icers and giving the animals water. On Saturday night The 3 eldest and Chris went to a Winter Ren Faire where the kids performed excerpts from the Tempest.  then they went to see "Reduced Shakespeare".  They LOVED it.  Jealous I couldn't go.  Here is Calli with members from "Reduced Shakespeare".  She giggled so much (appropriately) they talked about her in the show.

But we had fun too.  I took Spencer & Tin for a ride on our new horse, Shakespeare.  Then we came inside, popped some popcorn and strung it.  Spencer has been asking for a week to string popcorn.  He enjoyed it, but I think his conclusion is it looked more fun than it was.  He hung the popcorn on the poinsettia.

On Sunday we picked up some more steers.  Chris, now bit with the cleaning bug, has started on our basement.  He is really good at throwing stuff out, sometimes too good.  For the most part I have to stay away.  And I did.  I finished up the coop.  I think we have one chicken pen that is cat proof.  At least I hope so.  We have chicks in the house in a "Snail" brand car topper.  Its a luggage rack, and it keeps the dust from the chicks pretty well contained, but it is time for them to move on to bigger digs.  But with it going down to 16 on Thursday it might have to wait until this weekend.  The chicks are not fully feathered until they are  6 weeks old, even with heat lamps I think it will be too cold.  Then I got to go to a sleepover.  Except I didn't spend the night.  Kierstyn is still all stuffed up and I wanted to be home to deal with it.  Still had a great time.  Spent some time with people I already knew were really cool, and got to meet some new cool women.  Thrilled that I am considered interesting enough to be included in this group.  I really had a lot of fun, but definitely stayed up too late.  A week of poor sleep is catching up with me.  I feel the cold coming on.  I do not have time for this.  Tell you what Cold- I'll pencil you in for late January, the week Chris comes back, not the 24th though, that is Kelsy's birthday.  I can give you a week then, but now just does not work.

There was a beautiful little 8 month old baby girl at the sleepover last night.  It was fun seeing her and thinking "oh yes this is what Kit will be doing in 3 months".  How fortunate heating season will be mostly done by the time she is really moving.  She'll be a little more mature next winter.  She'll at least understand "No" and "hot".

Today is my last day to work until Friday.  It snowed last night. And its supposed to be blizzard like Wednesday.   I need to do another search for the deicers, and then I suppose I'll have to buy some.  I need to make sure the yard is picked up so we don't trip on things buried in the snow.  Then I'll stock all the animals up on straw so they can keep warm this week.  The huge change in temp hurt them more than the cold temps.

I guess winter is here.  I'm not sure that I'm up for.  Definitely don't think I am ready for it, but here it comes anyway.  That is life.

Sleep always helps.

What a difference a good night's sleep makes.  Or even a crappy one.  Kit is getting a stuffy nose so I had to sleep with her sitting up again.  In any case I was very not happy with the justice system when I went to bed.  Now I'm just glad something important wasn't being decided.  In a nutshell, everyone agreed that I should not have been on the suit and that case was dismissed.  It was decided that the plaintiff had no responsibility to keep his belongings safe, it does not matter what he did or did not tell Chris or anyone else, it does not matter who the canopy belonged to, it does not matter that the plaintiff signed a waiver with Monroe Main Street, it does not matter who set up the canopy, it does not matter that we were put in that spot by fair organizers, it does not matter that Chris was only there 15 minutes prior to the accident, it does not matter that the plaintiff could have moved his car, it does not matter that no other canopies were tied down and they were not blowing away.  All that matters is the plaintiff's car was damaged and because the plaintiff started yelling at Chris (because he was the male present) , Chris offered up his insurance info and he was deemed the one in charge.  So if Chris, (read our insurance company), believes others are also liable it is our responsibility to recoup costs from them.  I'm so glad this wasn't important.  Our lawyer cannot even explain to us what happened.  The other lawyer thought they had lost it.  She summed up with (paraphrasing)  "how were we supposed to know who to sue and even if he (the plaintiff) didn't tell Chris to tie down the canopy he told someone."  I guess that is why there is a judge.  I have no idea what steps our insurance company is going to take.

The frustrating part is the people who won are not good people.  They were not decent people before the accident (so I am told) , they were not decent afterwards, and they have not been decent since.  I would expect better behavior from my children.  At the time of the accident I was not there.  When I showed up I asked what happened and they layed into me.  Yelling at me that they told me I needed to tie down the canopy and I should have known.  Even when I told him I wasn't there they told me I was lying. Its hard to want to work with people who are so rude.  In court they sat behind  Chris & I.  When he (the plaintiff) testified he lied on a few points. His wife even sat back there muttering "no, don't say that" whether he was telling the truth or lying.  Chris & I remained silent.  When Chris testified he told the truth as I know it, and they are sitting behind me saying "liar, liar".  Chris tells me when I testified they said the same thing.  There was very little that I testified to that could even be in dispute.  From the witness stand I could see they were quite animated and very distracting.  I do not know why the judge did not put a stop to it.  I wish I had said something to the judge to make them stop because it was so distracting.  I haven't been in court much at all,  actually not at all, but I just assumed there was certain behavior expected in court, and their behavior, in my opinion, was very poor.  Oh well.  We'll see what happens next.

Now that I have a day to work, I have to work!  And the weather has finally become normal for December - ACK.  Of course I should have seen this coming, but I was just enjoying our highs of 50 degrees.  I need to pull out the water heaters so all the animals can at least drink this winter.  Tomorrow the 3 oldest are participating at a indoor Ren Faire.  I'll probably stay home with the 3 youngest.  Which means I will not get much done.  Happy Friday!

Court Day

It was 32 degrees out when I got up.  I built our 4th fire of the season.  But who knows, I might keep this one going.  So far I've just built one fire in the morning, let it burn, and that was it.  It took the chill out of the air.  We are usually hovering around 62 in the house.  The mornings are cooler and the kitchen gets warmer with bread baking.  We are all pretty comfortable. Tintin will still wear shorts. Its harder for us when we go to a building that is at 70 or more.  Too much of a shock for us.

We get to see the new Green County court house today.  Oh boy!!  This should be great fun.  We were at a street fair in Monroe in June of 2008.  We were running a booth for Shakespeare on the Edge. We were in one location.  The director & I went to research some things and left.  When we came back our booth had been moved by the street fair organizers next to the car show and the canopy SOTE had been using blew into a car being shown.  No, I don't know what kind of car, other than it was a new car.  All of a sudden this guy starts yelling at me.   I wasn't even there.  People are crazy!  At this point his insurance has paid it, our insurance did an investigation and said that it was an act of God and no one is liable, and will not pay anything.  Both companies have put in more than the $900 we are being sued for.  Now it goes to the judge.  It will be nice to have this over with.  If we are found at fault our insurance will pay.  Its all pretty stupid.  And Chris needs to stop being a stand up guy!

Last night Chris got his Christmas present from work.  A Poinsettia that is as big as our kitchen table.  Ok, its beautiful, but what am I supposed to do with this thing.  Its a good thing we don't have a tree up.  Maybe it could be our tree.  Use mini ornaments on it.  Chris comes home and puts the plant on the table which obstructs Calli's view of Mythbusters on the TV.  So she goes and sits on Colin's lap. They watched most of the show that way.   These two are frequently at each others throats (figuratively).  It was nice to see them bonding - over TV. 

Nasty topic on that show last night.  One part was "Could you jump into a dumpster from a roof and live?" (yes if it was padded enough.)  The other topic was about the old time deep sea diving breathing suits.  The question was if the air stopped being pumped in, and the emergency valve was not functioning (which happened frequently)  would the pressure of the water around you cause you to implode?  The answer was yes, and it was GROSS.  Education at its best.

Nobody Strikes Again and a Correction

First a correction. The day I wrote about the calf castrating, Chris did not flop.  That was me being lazy in the retelling of the story.  And the calf did not take me down.  And as far as that goes, these animals are weaned, and at the time not castrated, so they were bulls.  What really happened is I wrestled this bull to the ground using all the strength and skill that God has blessed upon me to subdue this raging creature. Chris quickly assessed the situation, wanting to protect the love of his life but also not wanting to come to my aid too quickly, knowing that I am a strong and capable woman, realized he indeed needed to act in this situation.  So he gracefully and deftly leaped  on to the bull to subdue him while I released myself from the bull's clutches.  At least I think that is what happened, as I was under the bull, I couldn't really see what was happening.  It was more of a feeling experience.  So that is what happened.  To sum it up, Chris did not flop, he leaped and saved my life.  Are we clear - no flopping, only leaping and life saving.  Is that better honey? 

Now that that is clear....onward.  I've been surprised and thrilled by all the feedback I have gotten for my blog.  I don't have a counter and hardly anyone leaves comments, and I only have 1 follower, I had no idea so many people were reading it.  And the comments, verbal and written, have been so positive.  Thank you.  I always wanted to be a writer, even before I wanted to be a vet.  I've written through the years.  Not too much, and really no time now.  With Facebook I would periodically be told "you should blog".  So I finally decided to do it.  Its been over a week  and it feels really good.  But its sort of like a diary or a letter.  I imagine I am writing it to my grandmother or sometimes my dead grandfather who meant everything to me.  I actually plan to print these up and send them to my grandmother.  Anyway, when I realized how many people were reading I was first flattered and then I felt pressure. Oh no, I have an audience. I'll need to write something profound, or controversial, or at least interesting.  We haven't even had a major catastrophe to write about all week.  Then I realized  I have yet to write anything profound or controversial or more than mildly interesting, and I guess people are enjoying it.  So I decided to continue writing as I have been.  If it brings enjoyment and diversion to others, great.  If at some point a person asks themselves why am I wasting my time with this, that's ok too. I am enjoying this and its good for me.  Thanks again to everyone for their encouragement.

Nobody was at our house yesterday.  Apparently Nobody went upstairs and opened up Colin's bedroom window.  At bedtime it was quite cold upstairs.  We did ask everyone if they did it, but Nobody did.  So we issued the blanket reminder that we don't open windows in December.  So Colin, Kelsy, Calli & Spencer slept down in the living room last night.  It was a sea of blankets.


We are planning on picking up the horse today.  Here is Kit practicing holding onto the reins, courtesy of Calli.

The first day of the last month of 2009

Happy Dec 1 .  It is Miss Kierstyn's 5 month anniversary of her birth.  It wasn't much warmer 5 months ago.  She has matured so much in the past day.  Like a switch.  She is fighting sleep. She is sitting by herself. Not using her hands to prop herself up. I wouldn't leave her yet because she topples over pretty easily and frequently.  She reaches for her toys, puts them in her mouth and sits back up.  Last night she rolled from her back to her belly for the first time.  She only did it once, couldn't do it again.  That darn arm kept getting in the way.  Tintin was glad to help her though. For the first time when Kit woke up at night she looked around.  In the past its always been nurse and go back to sleep.  Last night she realized there is the "look around and stay awake" option. We've started signing with her.  She stares intently at our hand and you can see her little hand moving.  Its so fascinating to see these connections she is making.

Tintin loves his little sister.  Always kissing & hugging her.  Dancing with her.  Playing with her.  Helping her roll over.  Teaching her how to walk. Everyone loves Kit, but for Tin its extra special because she is the only one in the house that looks up to him.  Last week he was on a "I want to be the baby" kick.  He wasn't going to brush his teeth because he wanted them all to fall out, like a baby.  He wanted to wear diapers, like a baby.  He wanted to drink milk, like a baby ( but not nurse).  This week he's happier being the big brother. I like that better too.

Calli is in the Monroe Theatre Guild's production of The Christmas Carol. She plays a pickpocket and want.  She is having a lot of fun.  Yesterday we received an e-mail telling us t-shirt orders needed to be in.  I asked Calli if she wanted a t-shirt.  She told me it wasn't important and it cost money.  I told her I knew it cost, and asked her if she knew how much.  She said I don't know mom but it really isn't important to me and I don't want you to spend your money on it.  I'm proud of her for prioritizing.  It makes it easier for me to know what she is asking for is important to her.

Unlike Calli, Spencer & Tin want EVERYTHING.  When Colin & Kiki were younger I made the rule that I assumed they wanted everything, so what they needed to do was tell me when they saw something they did not want.  I had to implement that rule with Spencer and Tin.  To Tin's credit when I asked him what does he REALLY want for Christmas he said all of his "old grandmas and grandpas to come to our house."  (Grandmas & Grandpas, remember he's 4, Colin & Kiki are old to him.)  I'm glad he knows what is important too.

Christmas 2005