We had a wild night in Bedlam, perhaps it is true, as rumored, that this will be the last big storm of the winter. We had it all yesterday, driving rains, sleet, ice storms, shrieking winds and then, several hours of snow. We missed most of that, they got 17 inches to the North and West of the farm, 18 inches in nearby Vermont. I went out a couple of times last night to make sure we didn’t have any lambs (we don’t). Our cars are encased in ice and the gates and doors to the barn and pasture were frozen solid.

I feel for the animals on such nights, but every body was dry (some of the sheep had obviously been walking around in the snow this morning, sheep really do not seem to care about snow. The animals do not seem to feel sorry for themselves, they don’t quite know that they are supposed to be unhappy. In the barn,  everything was pretty much as normal. We chipped away at the car, we chipped away at the frozen manure, we handed out carrots. I was interested to note the big green water bucket, which we left under the barn gutter to catch the rain water in case the power went out had frozen solid in about four hours.

We spread a couple of bales of old hay down in the Pole Barn so the animals could lay down, but it was all eaten in the morning. The donkeys, unable to graze or wander, are bored and have begun gnawing on the barn wall again. We need some grass to appear.

Still, we fared well. The wood stoves have been heroic, although we nearly froze solid in the upstairs bedroom, we piled enough quilts and blankets on to stay warm and sleep a bit. The dogs and cats are not interested in being outside, the balance has shifted, the animals outnumber us in the farmhouse and have taken over. We will battle back when it warms up a bit.