Thursday, February 13, 2014

Whatta few days. NEXT!

It sounds like the East Coast is going through what we went through last week.  Husband had heard on the news that we were going to have a snowstorm here (not unheard of, but kind of unusual), and had some things he needed to do in town.  He offered to get any groceries that I needed, if I would stay home and take care of the fire.  Sounded good to me, I needed to clean house anyway, so off he went.

And in the snow came. And more.

And more...

And my word, even more!

Husband came home, eyes like silver dollars, commenting on the relative sanity of the general public, and handing me the groceries.  After quizzing him about a couple 'off brands' that I didn't recognize, he told me he'd done all the shopping at one store, and came home.

Oh.  Okay...

By the end of the day we had nine inches of snow.  This was the most I'd ever seen here.

But it wasn't over yet, folks!

After husband came home, I had mentioned that I was going to do some laundry.  He nodded, and said, good idea, get it done before the power goes out. I washed, I dried, and just as I was getting the last load into the dryer, poof. No power.  Husband doesn't know his own strength, I guess.  We dried that load by the fireplace.

We were without power most of the day, it came back in the evening, off and on.  The next morning there was about 3 more inches of snow, making a total of 12 inches where we are.  I managed to feed without faceplanting, but it was a long time doing.  The llamas didn't seem to care, in fact, they just dug down to the ground, and sat in the hole, making a little llama igloo.  The cat stayed in the hay stack, Rudee only came out if he had to, amazingly it was too much for him.

The chickens.  I opened the door, the looked at the towering whiteness, and I swear, in unison, they all walked back to the roost and stood.

NO.  JUST. NO.

I have never seen such a concentrated stare of disgust from an animal for a LONG time.  And they never did come out, until the snow was gone.

We ended up losing the phone for a little while too, which had a humorous aside.  Tried the phone, nope.  Tried the cell, it was flaky, as usual, which made conversation to family trying.  I told Mom finally that I would call her on the radio.

WHAT?

The radio!

I can't understand you!

The Amateur Radio!

What??

Out of desperation, I finally bellowed- I kid you not:

OINK! OINK!

Oh, radio!  Ok, bye!

------

At this point we are fairly back to normal.  Husband took snow off the roof of our pole barn, that day, and it was a good thing, as we had an ice storm the NEXT night, giving us an inch of ice on top of the snow.  Husband didn't want me to go out, so he took the feeding duties.  No llamas.  The next day, he went out with the ATV to check on them (still not wanting me to go out...), and actually had to break a trail for them to get down to feed.

That night was terrifying, too.  It sounded like a war zone, cracking and snapping of branches, most right near our bedroom.  With that, and getting up every couple hours to check the fire, we didn't get a whole lot of sleep...

Husband then decided to clean up the snow and ice.  He has his father's tractor, and used it to clear the driveway.  He made a pile of snow about 5 feet high.  I, being silly, put a little rubber duck on, to see how long it takes for said duck to touch ground.

We talked to neighbors, several lost buildings, or walls of buildings, several were without power for nearly a work week, one even lost a tractor parked in a building.  Lots of lost trees, some of value, some just a loss of pretty.  Generally, people did okay, we checked on neighbors as we could, and stayed off the roads.

East Coasters, I feel for you, but right now, I am very happy with the mundane ol' rain they are predicting for us...  Keep warm, and take care of yourselves.

Pictures soon...

4 comments:

Sharon said...

Wow, you really got hammered, didn't you? Lucky that you have alternatives for heat. We don't, sometimes it worries me. I know about the cracking, so hard on the trees.

messymimi said...

Cat, i'm just glad your DH got home before it all really hit the fan. As for the hens, i wish i had the option to just stay in when it's bad out there!

Lisa said...

Ah, good ol' ham radio! When all else fails!
Glad you've made it thru this episode of the snopocalypse safe & sound!

Cperz said...

That sound absolutely miserable. We, too got 12 inches of snow followed by ice but we don't have the responsibility for animals. That sounds daunting to me. I sympathize with the chickens.

I hope all the bad weather is past you at this point. I am sure your animals are thinking the same thing.