Monday, December 8, 2008

Oh boy, challenging is right!


So, have I mentioned the weather in detail lately?

Entirely too often for most, I bet, haha Anyhow, so over the weekend as I am trying to get hay unloaded and co-ordinate pick ups with people, we had freezing rain and fog. It was so slick at the shop you could hardly stand up on Saturday. So we put down some salt and that helped a bunch. On Sunday, it wasn't too bad but the roads were pretty nasty-either sloppy with lots of spray or getting pretty icy with the sprinkles.

Then this morning I was woke up around 4:15. The winds arrived in full force. I laid there a few minutes and listened to my (very heavy, mind you) wind chime create it's own melody. I drifted back to sleep and was roused about 5:45 when a gust came through that sounded like a combination of a freight train and a turbine on a jet. Seriously.

When I got up, I could hear things rattling a little....the normal things that make noise at my place when it's windy. I bundled up and stepped out the side door and nearly had my breath taken away-WOW! Noisy noisy, strong winds with some good gusts even it seemed fairly warm out. Up at the barn, I picked up a few lighter items that had been blown over, but it looks like my nice pedestal fan is probably broken for good now. The barn had been scoured clean of loose bits of hay, the tarp alongside the chicken pen was making a racket, I chased down the bucket that had blown off the hydrant, and moved a few items in danger of sliding away. The horses seemed relatively calm and resigned, a bit anxious for breakfast. The chickens, on the other hand, were a totally different matter altogether. Talk about upset! Oh my goodness, what a racket they were making too! Since they weren't able to roost, I put out some corn to keep them busy for the day, after checking to make sure they hadn't hurt each other.

My poor Jethro had a bit of a time of it up there, he has his routine in the mornings, poor little thing....he doesn't weigh enough to handle big winds, lol So back at the house I secured a few things and then it's off and running on the rest of the morning routine. On the drive in, traffic was really slow-slower than road conditions would normally warrant due to the winds. It's 28 degrees here and blowing a gale, pretty much, and there is no way I can safely open the gates here, and I won't be opening the overhead door either, if I can avoid it. I've seen it worse, but not often. Thankfully, this is supposed to die down later today-whew!

4 comments:

Sherry Sikstrom said...

The wind is my least favorite, it can make a decent day fall apart completely . We had huge winds here in November but it seems to have settled for the time being , we are just now getting our snow.

suvalley said...

Still blowing this morning of course. Gusts to 70 mph the weather liars say :(

Last night about 9:30 I went back up to the barn to check on everyone. Talk about miserable horses! Everyone was telling me all about it, like I could dial down the weather to suit them. lol Reba in particular seems to be rattled, but I do keep in mind that it's her first experience with big winds at my place, so all the sounds and sights are new.

I took pity on them all and tossed out a bunch more hay, and handed out some apple pieces for a treat. They had all licked their feed pans clean of the mash they'd had earlier and I think they were hoping for more ;)

So this morning, I fed out a sizeable amount of hay again. For the Princess and her hony, I am not too sure how much stays in the stall area-about one half of that stall (which they share) is sheltered from the winds-I can see that some hay blew out under the panels. How much, I have no idea :(

Everyone had butt to the winds, though, and there is no sign of shiver, tucked tails or hunched backs so I think they are all good there. Drinking plenty of water too which is always a worry.

Next on tap-more snow!

suvalley said...

Oh boy, we just can't get a break here....first, it was very cold. Then the snows. Then the freezing rain. Now the winds.

Here is the latest forecast from our weather liars:

AKZ111-101400-
MATANUSKA VALLEY-
INCLUDING...PALMER...WASILLA...SUTTON...CHICKALOON
400 PM AKST TUE DEC 9 2008
.TONIGHT...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION 2 TO 4 INCHES. LOWS IN THE UPPER
TEENS TO MID 20S. NORTHEAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH. LOCAL GUSTS TO 40 MPH
IN THE EVENING.
.WEDNESDAY...SNOW LIKELY. ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATION 2 TO 4 INCHES.
HIGHS 25 TO 30. LIGHT WINDS.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...SNOW...TAPERING OFF AFTER MIDNIGHT. ADDITIONAL
SNOW ACCUMULATION 1 TO 2 INCHES. STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION 5 TO
10 INCHES. PATCHY FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS 15 TO 20. LIGHT WINDS.


Is it summer yet? *whine*

Unknown said...

Well, the wind finally died down in my neck of the woods. I do have a tree that has fallen into the tops of the neighboring trees, when it comes down it will take out two sections of fence. Maybe I will just close off that area of the corral.
The horses faired well in the winds, just hunkered in near the big feeder.

Tonight I have seen a few flakes of snow. I am hoping it will give us a layer of traction on the polished ice we now have on the driveway and roads.