Winter Skies
The Northern Star sits closely now
The very deep freeze is here and will stay for some time. We woke-up to -6* (-21.11 c). Cold is relative I know. Some of you are seeing much colder temps than we are, but us, here…this is C.O.L.D!
It looked like snow lingered on Grand Mesa for most of the day. Today it is crisp and clear up there.
Terry and I were feeling housebound so we decided to go for a short drive…our neighbor was moving his 2-year olds into the corn field
We wanted to see what the snow level looked like ‘up-in-the-hills’. It’s starting to look very nice. If we continue to get more snow all through the winter water will not be as much of a concern as it was last year.
Come on snow!!
I thought the trees were extremely beautiful all decked out in their winter finery.
Today I need to finish up some Christmas shopping. Then I will need to get things for both Christmas meals…the Christmas Eve Dinner and the Christmas Day Dinner. I haven’t really decided which one to make the really big one–Turkey, ham, all the other dishes or the lighter one….lots of buffet foods…I’m leaning toward the Dinner at night and the buffet one on Christmas Day.
Usually, we have a treasure hunt in the afternoon of Christmas Day, but with the snow (and if it melts) the mud the thought just doesn’t appeal so I’m thinking we will play lots of games. Games and snacking and just enjoying each other seems like the way to go for a long Christmas Day.
Wishing each of you a really nice day today,
Your friend,
Linda
The snow left and the cold arrived! I will take it! For with the cold is SUNSHINE!
As I was cleaning my kitchen I happened to see a sunbeam
I had a little prism sitting on the window ledge when a sunbeam filled it with light…
I enjoyed seeing this bright little spot of happiness so much I wanted to share it with you!
You friend with a tiny rainbow in her kitchen,
Linda
Snowing here! Again. Tiny, tiny flakes with a sharp wind.
But on Friday… We had beautiful Sunshine! It was a pleasure to chop and haul wood.
Tonight it the temps are supposed to drop to -10* (I think that is -23 c, but I’m not sure) and hover there for a spell. Then we warm way up to Zero or a little above.
BUT there is supposed to be sunshine. Lovely, sparkly sunshine (!) and NO wind!
WOO HOO!
Well, off to scrape the sidewalk and mush my way out to the turkey and the chickens.
Your tired of the grey friend,
Linda
And I do mean cold!
It’s so cold I can hardly stand to be outside!
Although, (yes you guessed it) Mom does make me go outside WITH her!
We always have to bundle up…Mom and I.
First Mom gets ready.
I just watch her…there is a slim chance I won’t have to go out if she is going out….If I just stay here by the fire she will forget me!
She doesn’t ever forget me!
Ever!
So after she gets her jacket on, then her boots, then the big Carhart, and BEFORE the gloves she CALLS me…
“Come on Boom, it’s time to go outside. We have lots of work to do and you need to help.”
I try to squish down on the floor and well, just melt into the carpet so she can’t see me.
It never works! I get…
“BOOM! Come on now, we have to go outside!”
So I slink over to her with a big cheesy grin on my face and my tail whapping the air…
“Here you go, Boomer!”
BAM!
It’s done! I have my coat on and we have go out into the frigid air…it was 3* this morning when she so rudely wanted to go outside and check on the chickens and the turkey and gather wood and feed the wild birds and well, tons of other stuff…
Guess what!!?
The coat does keep me warm and being outside is really nice…there are always lots of smells and things to see and do…
I guess Mom does know what keeps a Beagle happy!
Sometimes it’s more than a nice fire, or a snuggly blanket…it is a WARM COAT!!
Well, it’s 18* out there right now and Fuzzy and I are going for a walk to the combines…I smelled Freddy Fox’s footprints and came back and told Fuzzy. He loves to go for walks; he just has to go slow. I don’t mind going slowly (after I search everything out first).
Fuzzy is a buddy ever more.
(Oh, by the way…Fuzzy still likes to sleep outside. Mom goes out and gets him and MAKES him come into the house for the night. I think Fuzzy is really part Siberian Husky.
Brrr!
Boomer
The storm is here! Yesterday we had extremely warm temps–57* by four o’clock, then by midnight it was raining. Three in the morning rolled around complete with a ground blizzard and tiny specks of nasty biting snow.
That is pretty much where we are right now…side blowing snow with gusts around 20-30 mph full of little stinging flakes of snow. The trip to the chicken house was fast!
Terry has an appointment he needs to keep so has been struggling if it will be worth the drive. Blizzard conditions are never good. Our oldest daughter had to drive to work in Grand Junction and she said it was horrid. Our daughter that lives in Grand Junction and works for CDOT says the roads are a mess everywhere.
Terry called the man he was supposed to meet with and was pretty much told that the man made it in…geez.
Well, it’s up to him.
Your friend in a blizzard,
Linda
The storm is supposed to start here any minute now. It’s supposed to be a huge wild one…with rain, then snow and blizzards in appropriate places.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND JUNCTION HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND LOCAL BLOWING SNOW…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO MIDNIGHT MST WEDNESDAY NIGHT. The WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
THIS AFTERNOON. SNOWFALL WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. SNOW WILL THEN CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING
* SNOW ACCUMULATION…4 TO 8 INCHES…WITH LOCALLY HIGHER
AMOUNTS UP TO 12 INCHES AT CERRO SUMMIT.
* WINDS…SOUTHWEST TO WEST 15 TO 20 MPH WITH LOCAL GUSTS TO 30 MPH THIS EVENING OVER EXPOSED HIGHER TERRAIN
We are ready. (Although, we still don’t have a furnace, we do have lots of wood 🙂 )
(This is what the sky looks like, day after day, after day.)
( At least we have a tinge of a sunset…nothing for a sun rise)
What I will be glad about is sometime after the snow leaves the SUN RETURNS!!! We have been without sunshine for over a week now. Beautiful sunshine. Threecollie wrote a wonderful post about sunshine, which so speaks for me also.
Yes, I know that the temperatures are going to plummet to way below the normal for this time of year, dropping to 7 or 3 or even zero Fahrenheit, but I can handle it if there is sunshine. These gray days are horrid.
Anyway, if you are in the path of this monster storm and arctic air mass
I hope you stay safe and warm and dry!
Thinking of you and sending you warm magic thoughts,
Linda
I have a little hawk…he/she is an extremely friendly….
He/she sits very close to me looking for mice hanging under the firewood
I’ve never had a hawk be so…hum…NOT shy. But this one is.
He/she even let me go into the house, get the camera, come back and take his/her photo. Of course the wild birds have fled…I would too if I were potential dinner. 🙂
As for the mice…he/she can have all that can be eaten.
Hauling wood is an even most pleasant chore!
Your farm friend,
Linda
Well, here we are! The last month of the year. The older I get the faster time goes…flying by, as they say.
Terry got both hydraulic pumps fixed on the 4010 –over $2,000.00 later and lots of his own man power the tractor is back to work. Sometime this week he will put the loader back on and be good to go with that tractor.
There is always something it seems. Our furnace in the house is now requiring repair. Whew! If and when we get through this repair cycle it will smooth sailing for a while. The nice thing about the furnace is it is just a back up…we heat with firewood, as you know. Still there are times (if we take off for a short trip or the wood burns too fast while we are in Grand Junction) that having the furnace click on if the temperatures in the house drop below 40 is a good thing. Frozen pipes are not a good thing!
A strong cold front is due in here —
(AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL BRING BIG CHANGES TO THE WEATHER STARTING TUESDAY. STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY AS THE COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NORTHWEST. VALLEY SHOWERS MAY INITIALLY START AS RAIN BUT WILL QUICKLY TRANSITION TO SNOW AT ALL ELEVATIONS BY TUESDAY NIGHT. SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL IS POSSIBLE THROUGH WEDNESDAY FOR ALL THE MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL VALLEYS MAY ALSO SEE SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS COULD CONTINUE INTO THE WEEKEND. FRIGID AIR WILL POUR IN BEHIND THE FRONT. AFTERNOON HIGHS MAY NOT BREAK THE FREEZING MARK FROM THURSDAY INTO THE WEEKEND. MORNING LOWS COULD BE WELL BELOW ZERO IN THE MOUNTAINS AND NORTHERN VALLEYS.)
So having the furnace as a back-up would be nice. It’s not going to happen for sometime yet, but Terry does want it in place if and when we go to Nebraska for the combine motor.
It is lightly snowing right now. Anyway, all things come to an end-once we get through this break-down/fix-back-up period I’m sure we will be good to good for a long time.
Your friend that loves December,
Linda
We had snow!
Lots and lots of snow!
Then it turned to rain, which turned to mud!
Lately we have been having fog full of frozen crystals, then the sun comes out, then the fog comes back…days of this.
Fuzzy and I don’t mind!
Really we don’t.
We help Mom out…we decorated the tree, hung some light on the porch, helped cook meals…although that always gets us banished to ‘the other room’.
That is what Mom always says when she starts making those yummy smells from the kitchen… “Out boys, you have to go to the other room now!”
So we do…
Going to the other room is okay doaky also…HEAT!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!
So it’s okay what goes on outside, for Fuzz and I…………….THE LIVING IS EASY!
OH!!
WAIT!!
I just about forgot.
Remember when I was new to the farm and I was terrified of the tractor and loader…
You have GOT to see this!!!
Chaco and Balou meet the COMBINE!!! (Turn your head so you can watch, it was taken with Shannon’s cell phone and Mom doesn’t know how to fix the video so it’s upside right)
Fuzzy and I rolled on the ground! After all it is just a combine!!
Mom told us that wasn’t funny, after all she reminded me I was afraid of the tractor when I first got here!
Oh, well!
Back to all the warm heat from the wood stove!
Just hang’n around and enjoying winter!
Boomer
