A Not So Fond Farewell To The Snow

This winter has been long, cold, snowy and difficult. I went out to turn on the barn lights and feed the cows every morning at 6:00:

The house looks inviting when it's slippery and cold outside:

Little Rosella has developed a fascination with the tractor, though I can't imagine why. I have to be careful that she is not too near it when I start to move it:

The snow banks were eight feet hign in places:

But winter seemed to end suddenly one day when the temperature soared into the 40s. I wanted to let the chickens out, but there was snow, as much as four feet deep, piled in front of their door:

So I removed as much snow as I could with the tractor, then shoveled the rest and opened the door for the chickens:

They came to the doorway and stood there, not sure what to do, so I went inside and gave them a push:

The landscape was all snow, so there wasn't much for them to eat. Nevertheless, they were happy to get outdoors and seemed to enjoy the warmer weather and sun:

At first they broke into small groups, but soon I began seeing the flock of all sixteen of them, traveling together:

I went into the barn and cleaned out all the chicken and pigeon poop - enough to fill the tractor bucket. I added the cow manure from the other end of the barn and then dumped everything on the manure pile:

I also opened the pigeons' window, but this is as adventurous as they got. One pigeon sat on the windowsill and looked outside - and then it was over:

No chickens were hit by cars or attacked by predators. Everything went well except that a few of them resisted going back indoors until it was almost dark. One part of winter which I enjoy is being able to put the chickens to bed early so I can go indoors and relax for the night:

The New Old Tractor Gets Delivered

I'd made it a point to arrive at the farm earlier than usual as I had two appointments. One was a man to come look at the farm apartment. He came and left, but didn't rent it. Then the man from whom I'd purchased the tractor arrived with his son. They parked on the dirt road and began to unload it:

The seller was a retired dairy farmer who now fixes up and sells old tractors, both as a hobby and as a business. His son started up the tractor for him:

And backed it down the ramp:

They showed me how to operate the tractor by moving snow away from the barn door. I would, after all, have to park it in there and night was falling fast:

Then I tried it but - well, let's just say I wasn't very handy with it all. So the older man got on the tractor to show me a thing or two. Just after he'd begun, a bolt fell off of a hydraulic pump and got lost in the snow. A scramble for parts and tools ensued as they raced against the darkening sky and the bitter cold:

The tractor was a Ford 660, all refurbished and repainted. From what I've gleaned from the Internet, it might date back to the late 1950s:

Then he gave me a few pointers on moving the snow efficiently and warned me the gas tank was quite low. They said goodbye and headed back to their own farm:

I began moving snow but quite quickly the motor sputtered and I knew it was almost out of gas. I shut it off and ran into the barn for a gas can. But when I was pouring in the gas, the tractor's gas cap fell down through the motor and got lost. I gave up on moving the snow from in front of the barn door and took the tractor around to the other side of the barn where there was no snow piled. I got it indoors and parked for the night. The next morning, I found and replaced the gas cap, filled the tank with gas and started it up to charge the battery. All seemed well. I'll try it again on my next visit: