We are in for a few days of cold, snow and wind. The forecast is suggesting double-digit negative low temperatures for Sunday and Monday. Monday’s high won’t even reach zero and winds are expected from 20-30 mph. Finally, depending on when you check the forecast they are suggesting anywhere from 1-12 inches of snow. You may think that sounds mild. I think it sounds like I need to get ready.
Forecast by wunderground.com
Cows are no big deal. I’ll just walk them up to the barn and lock them in the lot Saturday evening. They should be warm and out of the wind in the open bay of the barn. Chores will be much easier with them there. We’ll just toss down a few bales of straw for bedding and ride this thing out. I’ll have to get the skin on my new greenhouse Saturday morning so I can move the chickens in there. Not sure why I waited so long to build that greenhouse. Lazy I guess. I’ll also have to build roost space in the greenhouse and mount the nest boxes within. We’ll put the rabbits and ducks in the other greenhouse. I don’t think the ducks care either way but management will be easier with them there. The remaining pigs should be fine in their deep bedding.
That leaves the house. I need to bring in oak I can split easily, hedge that will burn hot, some larger hackberry logs that will burn for a long time and I need to make some stick bundles to help start the fire easily. Beyond that? I’ll make sure the Burkey is full and we have some broth on the wood stove. Maybe Julie can bake a loaf or two of bread…a rare treat! The kids and I have a few board games we need to spend some time with. Agricola has proven difficult.
Hopefully this will just last a couple of days and we’ll be back to our normal winter schedule. Looks like 30s and more snow and ice all next week. That will really test the cow’s ability to dig through deep snow to find grass. But who knows how the forecast will change in the next 7 days.
Wild times. Doing our best to deal with what comes our way. Hope you are prepared.
Chism Heritage Farm 
Good for you for being able to endure such brutal weather. We’re dying over here in VA with a low of 17 and highs in the 30’s. Yeah, we’re ninnies….
Locals scrambled to the store to get bread, eggs and milk. I guess there’s a lot of french toast on the menu tomorrow. Also, the store was out of potatoes today.
Who knows what we will actually see for weather. Today was a nice day. Working outside in a hoodie.
All animals are well sheltered for the coming storm. I have plenty of wood indoors and water in the Burkey. If the power goes out we should be just fine.
Looks like you have rainy weather. I think I would rather be cold than wet this time of year.
This is exactly why I live in Texas….lol. It drops below 20F and people here think it’s the end of the world. My high yesterday while I was building fence was 66F. The only thing that hard on the animals is low temps, freezing rain and the wind when they all come at the same time.
I feel slightly guilty for living where I do when the rest of Canada is battening down the hatches, as you so aptly put it. A blogger in Minnesota was writing about how grateful she was to have advance warning of the coming weather so she could prepare, much as you have, by moving animals, stocking hay and feed in convenient places, bringing in wood, etc. And that is something to be grateful for – but perhaps even more so, for both you and her, is the fact that you have the hay, the feed, the wood, the flour to make bread, etc already at home, all you’re doing is shifting it closer in (I say “all” like there’s nothing to it :)). Not like the poor souls who are buying out the last potatoes in the shop because they don’t have 50 lbs of them stored away in their cellar, and will likely have to leave if the power goes out, since their house will freeze. It’s a funny kind of “luck” I guess.
We were talking about the advanced warning thing yesterday. If not for the forecast, I would not have imagined the beautiful, warm partly cloudy day yesterday would lead to the blizzard raging outside today. But, because of the forecast, we knocked out our chores today in record time, came in for biscuits and gravy and are heading out to play in the 20 degree wind and snow before it really gets cold.
Agricola looks interesting by the way, is it kind of like Catan or one of those? I’ve never gone that route with games for the family, but often been tempted. We have two who like to be creative with the rules, and two of us who are very law abiding, and read every line of the instructions, so board games often lead to family friction if they’re too long. We have been working on a 1000 piece jigsaw over the holiday, a solid week has it about half done – Monet’s Water Lilies. It’s beautiful, and I’m learning just how many brush strokes and nuances of colour went into his work, but oh my gosh it makes for a difficult puzzle.
I can imagine that is a difficult puzzle.
Agricola is much more complicated than Catan. You might pick up the two-player Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small. It has some of the same elements but the game is limited to 8 turns. Then you total up points and swear to do better next time. Be sure to get the expansion. That helps to avoid the simple race to get the most sheep. You’ll see what I mean when you play.
Make sure you play family version (agricola) several times before you try regular. Wife and I got the game and it is tough, I keep thinking if only I had more turns.
Right on. We are working our way into the game.
Ticket to Ride keeps us entertained when we don’t want to think so hard.