Friday, January 16, 2009

~Baby, it's cold outside!!!

DARN, it's cold out this morning. When we left the barn last night, every animal we had was tucked in snug as a bug. This morning every one of them was covered in frost. My neighbor Kelly's thermometer registered -35 degrees. These are the coldest temps we've had in years.


All in all, everything is fine despite the cold. The water lines were not frozen in the house or the barn, tubs were thawed thanks to tub heaters and all the animals were fine. Fortunately handmilking is like riding a bicycle - once you learn you, you don't forget. The vacuum pump that provides the suction for the milking machine wouldn't work. The cold was just too much for it. We brought it in and set it by the woodstove. It should work fine for night chores. If not, we will get buy. If that's the worse we deal with in this kind of weather, I'm grateful.


We are supposed to get up to zero today - zero actually feels balmy :) One more night of really low temps and then things should moderate somewhat. I remember growing up when winter temps were like this for weeks at a time and we had feet and feet of snow. My brother and I used to climb the big pine trees near our home in NH and jump off the big branches into the deep snow for the fun of it. We get a good amount of snow here but nothing like it used to be.

Hopefully these sub zero temperatures will kill off bugs and sickness and garden pests before spring arrives and spring will come, I know it will, won't it? The gorgeous flowers posted
today at Northview Diary are definately a sign of hope :)

~Stay warm and safe~

9 comments:

DayPhoto said...

A SURGE Milker! I have two milking units. But we don't milk any more. You stall is nice! Your cow is a good girl,I'm had some that want to kick the milker off all the time. Most of them didn't but I had a couple that would try.

Boy! I hope your weather eases us soon. That is really just WAY too cold.

I too rejoice on the cold for killing bugs, some years it just doesn't get cold enough and we had major pest problems for the whole season.

Have a good weekend.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

Unknown said...

Gee, my temps over this way are like a heat wave for you LOL. I know the inside of the barn had the snow crystals all over the walls and a few sheep had frost on their wool. I loved your post yesterday on the "new" milker....I loved reading it! I know in a couple of months we will be posting about how hot it is....maybe:)

threecollie said...

Every time I feel sorry for myself in the cold all I have to do is read your blog and know we are lucky., Stay warm!

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

Sure glad you have the space to house everybody during these deep-freeze conditions.

Recently, like you were looking at the positive, I heard that most times people just dwell on what's not working in their lives rather than what IS working in their lives.

and yes! kill the pests.

Deb said...

linda,
Thanks - Jan is a good cow, I really am lucky. She's only kicked me once and that wasn't in the milking stall.
I hate bugs in my garden so I try not to complain about a few days of frigid weather but this is REALLY cold :)
You have a good weekend too!

kristi,
right now I'm looking forward to posting about warmer weather :) Hope you enjoyed your day off. It did warm up to 2 or 3 about and it was a nice, sunny day.
I'm glad you enjoy yesterdays post.
Have a great weekend :)

threecollie,
-7 is pretty darn cold. Sometimes the ocean keeps us on the warm side but not this time. One more night of really cold and then we should get back to more normal temps. I can handle zero and normally don't mind the cold but I wimped out today :)

joanna,
no point in grumbling about my cup being half empty - no one would listen anyway :) I get frustrated like everyone else sometimes but I try to give thanks everyday and make the best of it.
Have a great weekend :)

Tammy said...

The picture of Jan and the bucket milker sure brought back memories! My Uncle was a dairy farmer and I spent more time down there playing with my cousins than I did at home! All the milking was done with the bucket milkers and then carried to the big bulk tank. Needless to say they had very strong muscles from carrying all those buckets. They milked a varied assortment of cows. They started out with Guernseys, but then their bull almost killed my Aunt so they started keeping a more docile breed and many of the 'milk' cows were Hereford/Guernsey mixes. There was also a half black angus and another that was half holstein--from the neighbors bulls jumping the fences. What is sad is I can remember most of the names of those cows, but not many names from the people I've met over the years! ;-) Thanks for the walk back in memory lane.
Tammy

Egghead said...

That is some cold temperatures. I grew up in the northeastern part of Oregon where we got lots of snow and it was common to get below zero for weeks at a time. We plugged our cars in to keep the motors warm and dressed the part. You get used to what you know.

Grab a cup of hot chocolate and stay warm.

Deb said...

Tammy,
Your very welcome :)

Egghead,
Your right - we survived it with no problems. Today it's 20 above zero and we are getting a foot of snow! When you are prepared - it's just another day.

Debby said...

Oh my gosh! I feel darn guilty complaining about our -11.

Thanks for the reality check!