Warmer Next Week

Won't it be lovely to have a warming trend next week.  The barn was frozen up this morning when I went out to do morning chores.  The water I gave them this morning was frozen when I got home.  I have to carry around warm water and pour it over the ice in the bunny bowls, dog bowls, chicken and sheep buckets.  Cold air makes animals very thirsty.  Eating hay makes them thirsty.  Sheep will eat snow, in fact, they love to eat snow.  Goats will not eat snow.   Speaking of snow, the folks out in Buffalo have six feet of snow and it's still coming down.  No snow here today.  The Tug Hill Plateau, two hours north of here, is getting pounded, too.  We'll get it at some point in time, but not yet, please.  Mia is coming for Thanksgiving and I want her to have a safe trip.  We will make hand creme together and help me clip the last remaining angora goats.  We'll light the big pile of scrap wood and debris outside for a bonfire.  I'll make sure we have a good supply of whiskey and egg nog so we can bundle up, sit under a blanket by the fire at night, and have a drinky-poo.  I just poured a batch of lavender soap and the pot is making the kitchen smell so good.  The wood stove smells divine and wafts into the barnyard when I'm out there.  As I was walking the dogs up the hill after work I saw a big late model tractor coming down the road pulling a trailer with five round bales.  Sure enough, it slowed down and pulled into my lane.  It was Julia's son, Paul, delivering the second cut bales I wanted for my ewes when they lamb.  I asked him to drop a bale over at Chris' barn, my neighbor next door, for his calf.  Merry Christmas.   This is the first winter I'm confident I will be able to make it all the way through without scrambling around for hay in April.  I have 40 more round bales than last year.   Hay is life and life is good.