The Snow won’t Go….and I’m SO Over Winter!

 

It’s been a week since our first snow storm, and 5 days since the last snow storm dumped almost 2 feet of snow on us. And the snow just continues to stick around.

(The snow has formed a very hard, crunchy crust and is challenging to walk on with chunks of snow feeling more like rocks and small boulders. Makes for painfully twisted ankles and knees. Dobbie is light enough that she can walk on top of the snow without breaking through)

 

This is something we’re just not used to here in New Mexico. We tend to go some snow and a day or two later it has completely melted away.

(I took this photo today. This is the only road into and out of our neighborhood. Since it’s a rural private road, the county doesn’t clear it. Hey. You can see my house in the rear view mirror!)

Our temps have stayed in the 20’sF during the day and even though we have sunshine, it’s just too cold for any major meltage (my new word). The next few days we’re supposed to get into the upper 30sF, but then by Monday another snow storm (or 2 or 3) will be blowing in.

(The chickens are happy that I shoveled a wide lane between our back door and the chicken coop, right after the snow storm. The small area I shoveled inside their coop is not enough space for them to move about without feeling all cooped up.)

Actually, I’ve always liked snow. It’s beautiful. What I don’t like is the snow that overstays it’s welcome and makes my twice daily treks up the hill to the barn, carrying heavy 5 gallon buckets of hot water to help melt frozen water tanks, so terribly difficult.

(Why anyone would build a barn at the top of a hill in a place that is known to get up to 2 feet of snow at a time during the winter, is beyond me! I have already decided that my future home will have a barn built right beside it.)

 

I really wish we had electric in our barn, but the darn gophers chewed our electric wires last year and the costs to have the 350-400 ft lines rewired and retrenched up to the barn is out of our budget for now. So, instead I hammer away at the 3-4” thick ice in the water tanks every day, so my horse, llamas and goats will have fresh water.

(Apache seems grateful for the bucket of warm grain mash I make for her each morning)

And to rub it in, Ranchman John shared a photo on Facebook, that he took today of himself on the ramp working in Phoenix, wearing a short sleeve shirt, and bragging about how it’s a balmy 70F degrees.

Ugh. I’m already sick of winter and it’s only December.

(Apache and I are both dreaming of warm sunny, summer days)