Ice storms can be the nastiest and most beautiful images in the winter pasture. Ice brings tree limbs down and knocks out power and it’s the single thing our animals most dislike when it comes to the weather.

Sheep and donkeys are desert and mountain animals, they don’t really mind the cold and the snow.

What they don’t like is rain and ice mixed together. So when there is an ice storm as there was this morning, we move the feeders into the pole barn and feed them there.

The donkeys get grumpy about sharing their hay, but the sheep just work around it. It means more cleaning up in the pole barn but it keeps the animals dry and comfortabe.

We take comfort from the sun, it is out longer and brighter this time of year, we can feel Spring even if we can’t yet feel it. Maria has scores of seeds already growing inside of the house.

Tomorrow I pick up my rental car, my Toyota SUV won’t be ready for a month. I’m recovering from a nasty tooth abscess but still, need to rest today.