Wishful Thinking

 

               A few days ago I was hopeful.

It was sunny and warm, temperatures into the upper 70’s. My peach blossoms seemed to be recovering well from last week’s hail and ice storm.

      

       Even buzzing bees stopped by to pay them a visit.

I had been enjoying the fresh air and cheerful bird songs by keeping my window open, even at night. The nights were still cool with temperatures down into the 40’s and 50’s, but I was cozy tucked underneath my down comforter. I sleep better that way even though some people would say it’s too cold and want to close the window and turn on the heat.

Yesterday a huge storm raged all day and night with sustained winds of 40-50 mph and gusts up to 67 mph. Wind like that can be very unsettling. Quite a few times I felt my bed vibrating and realized the wind was slamming so hard into our house that it was making our walls shake.

The skies steadily got darker and when I woke up this morning, I was greeted with this.

 

Last night when I went in to gather eggs from my chickens I found their plexiglass window had been blown out and broken into too many pieces to salvage. So I found an old poster frame, removed the plexiglass, and cut a piece to replace inside the chicken house window. I decided to use some duck tape to keep it from being blown out again, because the winds were still raging. This morning when I went to check on and feed my flock, I found that the window survived the night.

 

 

 

That flowering tree inside their coop is a Red Delicious Apple Tree. It had just started blooming in the last two days. Ironically, I was thinking of taking some macro photos of some of the blooms yesterday, but figured I’d wait until today after the winds died down.

Too bad because now the poor blooms have probably went into shock.

I wonder if some of the buds might not bloom at all. But at least I got my macro shots. sigh.

When I was feeding the chickens (inside their house, of course) I noticed that my broody hen, Mrs. Cotton had decided to sit on the fake wooden egg, inside the other nest, instead of the three Polish and Silky eggs I gave her two weeks ago.

    The eggs were cold. So much for Springtime chicks.

Ranchman John is in Philadelphia starting a new job and will be there for several months. So, I’m on my own again in taking care of things around the ranch and with my kidlets. I guess it was wishful thinking that our weather would be better, so that I wouldn’t have to hike up to the barn over icy, muddy, snowy and slippery ground.

I learned my lesson the last time I slipped and fell and hurt my knee when it snowed last month. This time I wore my knee brace and used my trekking poles as support and leverage. I probably looked silly with my heavy coat, gloves, tuque, and snow boots pulling myself up the hill with what appeared to be ski poles. Oh well, if it keeps me from falling again, that’s fine with me.

          The trek up to the barn looked long and cold.

  

I didn’t lock Apache up in her stall last night because I prefer to let my horse decide where she wants to spend her time. I like giving my horse the freedom to move around and be where she's most comfortable. The two paddocks and pasture that Apache has access to both have evergreen tree wind blocks and shade, as well as access to the barn 24/7. But she seems to prefer the outside over being in the barn. Apache mostly just eats in her stall and sometimes goes in to escape the wind. She doesn’t like to be penned up and becomes fidgety and antsy inside. She did look happy to see me this morning, though, and trotted right up to me, nickering. So sweet.

 

 

Apache wasn’t so sure what to think of my trekking poles at first.

 

 

 

                                  But I had carrots.

                                                                                 

                                                                                   “Feed Me”

Frustratingly, because of the crazy gusting wind, a lot of snow still made it into the barn. With their thick fleece, the llamas aren’t bothered by the snow at all.

Cataleya says, “Got cookies?” (She looks like a frosted mini-wheat, don’t you think?)

I suppose it was wishful thinking hoping that the arrival of our Barn Swallows meant Spring was finally here. The pair that is building this mud nest, on our ceiling outlet, might be thinking of moving to a warmer climate soon.

(I think it’s neat to see our chicken’s feathers up there along with llama fiber and Apache’s tail and mane hair)

Most folks who don’t have horses or other livestock can’t understand the appeal of just hanging out in a barn listening to the animals munch their hay. It’s almost zen-like listening to their rhythmic chewing. I was particularly satisfied watching and listening to Apache this morning sloppily, slurping her grain mash with gusto.

But I still don’t think she appreciated me locking her up in her stall and pen.

And I know she can’t be too happy with our never-ending winter.

I suppose it was just wishful thinking, believing that winter was finally over.