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!