The Blizzard Of March 2017

Note: Four new photos added to this post today (at the bottom)

I wasn't worried about the predicted blizzard yesterday because we were north of the heavy snowfall areas. It began snowing here at 5:00 AM but I still wasn't worried. The cows were covered with snow when they came in for morning grain, but I still wasn't worried:

With the morning chores done, I came inside to spend the day. The dogs got out every couple of hours to play in the snow. Seamus is particularly fond of the snow:

Daphne and Clover weren't fond of the snow, but they were brave:

But most of their time was spent in the farm house kitchen, safe and warm:

Clover and Daphne curled up on a floor pillow with Rocky and Bugsy:

Just before noon, however, the blizzard began. This was the view to the northwest, with almost whiteout conditions:

And the view to southwest. Not much was visible:

Toward evening, I put Remy and Blue into their stall for the night. They seemed happy to go there:

The cows, all covered with snow, were standing outside the barn door and begging to come inside:

They looked so pathetic that I quickly let them into the barn:

I'd already thrown down hay and placed piles of it in each stall. They wasted no time, diving right into it:

And speaking of snowstorms, my sister sent me this photo, forwarded to her by a friend, of our childhood street on December 17, 1950. The houses were newly built and I was two years old. My sister was only four months old. Our house was the darker colored one about midway on the left. I guess we should be used to heavy snowfalls by now, shouldn't we?:

Added this morning:

I did the morning chores, but they were difficult because the snow is so deep. In most places, it is over my knees, which means that we got more than two feet so far. It's still snowing heavily, but it's no longer a blizzard. The winds are now from the west instead of the north. The wild birds were unable to get to the snow covered seed, so I had to clean off the feeders:

I kept seeing birds trying to get seed, but I took a couple of photos before I cleaned off the feeders:

The cows spent Tuesday night in the barn but were outside, trying to find hay beneath the snow when I got out there. I called them back into the barn for grain, then sent them back out, where they too found the snow up over their knees:

Blue and Remy spent the night in their stall, but were anxious to get outside and play in the snow. They seemed to think it was fun. I'll have a day of snow shoveling and plowing ahead of me:

The Red Poll Girls Make The Winter Adjustment

It is often said that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, but the opposite could be said for November. It came in like a lamb, or maybe I should say like sweet Jasmine, lounging in the grass and chewing her cud:

 There was lots of hay to eat and a bit of grass for those adventurous souls willing to work for it:

 Little Tabitha had never seen any cold weather, but she grew a thick winter's coat:

 There was a feeling of expectancy, as if the animals and I all knew things were about to change:

 But life continued as normal:

 The girls were on a diet as several of them had become obese. They weren't happy about that but in all other respects, everything was quiet and peaceful:

 One Saturday our temperature went up to 70 F and the skies were clear and sunny:

 The following day, Sunday, saw plunging temperatures, heavy snow and continuous high velocity west winds. The cows sheltered on the east side of the barn to protect themselves from the cold wind:

 When it stopped snowing and blowing two days later, a few patches of green grass began to show, though in other places there were snow piles three and four feet deep:

 But the temperatures gradually moderated and life returned to normal. The Red Poll girls seemed to be at home in any kind of weather:

 The blizzard had knocked down some yellow apples so I fed them to the horses and cattle:

 And winter is now here to stay. January and February are usually the harshest months, but Red Polls are hardy cattle and seem to do just fine. I'm not sure the same could be said for me:

The Beauty Of Ice - Part 2

I was wet and cold. The ground was wet, icy and slippery. But I walked around the yard taking photos of the amazing ice covered beauty. These were apple twigs:

And Elderberry tops:

Ice covered grass along the dogs' fence:

This crystal palace was actually the remains of Wild Cucumber Vines:

And a lovely but unknown weed:

The old fashioned rose with an ice covered rose hip:

Mock Orange:

And Eastern White Cedar:

Wild Grasses:

And the ancient Lilac in front of the house:

Even the dried flowers of the Tree Hydrangea were coated in ice. There was beauty all around - in spite of the miserable weather. I hope you too found it worth a look:

The Beauty Of Ice - Part 1

Winter really arrived in January. I went out one day to give the cows a new bale of hay and found about 6" of snow with 1/4" of ice on top of it - and a rapidly growing lake of cold water on top of that. The falling rain was freezing rapidly and we were to drop to near 0 degrees that night, with a low of minus 23 two nights later:

The scene outside my door was kind of pretty, but treacherous:

The hay bales were covered with ice:

The apple tree branches were covered with ice:

The fence wires and gate were covered with ice too, but the poor cattle had to endure the cold rain. For that matter, I had to endure it also, but at least I got to go back inside the warm house when I had finished my work:

The fence posts and fencing were icy and those fuzzy, red clumps you see consisted of cow hair. The girls had been scratching their itches on that fence post:

Each Goldenrod plant was coated in ice:

This plant looked awfully familiar, and I thought it was in the mint family, so I looked it up when I got back inside the house. I think it was Mentha arvensis, or Wild Mint, and it too had a clear coating of ice:

The Box Elder seemed to have a crystal coating:

And all my Tall Garden Phlox:

I wasn't sure, but I thought this fine textured plant was Bedstraw. I was traipsing around in the water, ice and snow while I took photos and there are more to show you, so I'll post Part 2 tomorrow: