Back In Maine

I made it back home from my trip to visit my mom in Florida. It took a bit of work and time but Delta came through.  The Nor'easter after Sandy gave the mid-Atlantic states another wallop.  LaGuardia was again at a snails pace.  I got into Bangor at 2:30am. I called into work from LaGuardia.  No sleep and ICU just aren't a good combination.  The weather change was a bit of a shocker.  Ted brought my jacket to the airport so I survived. 

The weather has definitely took a turn for the colder here.  I found this Woolly all curled up and barely moving. The grass has started to freeze nightly and the ground is beginning to get hard.

 

Poor little guy. It is kind of sad but they will be back with a vengeance next fall letting us know whether our winter will be aggressive or light.  This year they were everywhere.  They were making mad dashes, for a caterpillar that is, across the roads this fall.  So I guess we know what to expect. Heavy snows and cold temps. Yehaw!  I will explain the yehaw in a later post.

The big change for the animals is Frozen Water Bowls. Not good. 

Even the troughs have a thick layer of ice every morning.

We now have the seasonal event of adding the heaters to the tanks. Yes, the electric meter begins to whirl.   Even Emma and Lucy's dog bowl has a heater.  The barn cats have to get fresh water too.  It was kind of fun removing the ice sheet and breaking it up.  Okay, I still have a bit of kid in me. I'm weird too, I take pictures of it. 

We bought heavy duty extension cords because our breakers kept tripping and going off last winter.  We learned that the snow would hit the connector where the extension cord plugged into the heater and trip the breaker. Last winter we covered the connections with electrical tape.  It worked somewhat.  There were still a couple of mornings the troughs were frozen.  Well there is a very special fix for this. 

Yep, liquid tape.  It can be found in the electrical department, of course, and comes in different colors.  We painted the connections with the tape and it dries quickly.  It smells like the old airplane glue from my childhood.  You know the glue that were weren't suppose to use in small spaces because it gave you a wicked headache and kind of woozy. 

We couldn't leave the cords on the ground.  The goats would have a fun time pulling them apart and getting all wrapped up. That is just what goats do. It's in their nature.

 

Then we ran the cords across the top of the fence and secured with zip ties.  Only time will tell if this system works. We will find out during a good snowy Nor'easter.  That is just the way life is. It will never happen when the weather is sunny and dry.

We plan on running electric and water hydrants to the troughs in the future.  You know, the future when we have the money to rehab the barn and do these improvements that will make life easier.

Emma and Lucy seem to absolutely love the cold weather.  They spend their days wrestling and running around the yard. Then inside to sleep in the rays of sunshine in front of the nice warm wood stove.

Winter is coming. No, winter is here. A sense of expectation is in the air. That and a hint of wood smoke.

Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.