I would have if I could have but I couldn't so I didn't.... come to work that is. The snow began to fall sometime Sunday night and it didn't let up until this morning. The temperatures stayed below freezing but the sun did finally make enough of an appearance to melt away that snow which was covering the roadways. If you go to the Flickr site, you'll see all the new pictures. Please, feel free to comment on them. I love hearing what you think.
I got home early Friday and the temperatures started to slowly drop from then on. I think the high yesterday was 28? In any event, we had plenty of supplies for ourselves and the animals. As the winter sun began to set in our backyard, many an animal was ready for bed and warm once there. The puppies followed the rooster brigade through the back yard towards the trees and watched as their feathered friends made their assent for the night.
With no one left to play with them, they took to running around in the yard playing by themselves. Smith and Wesson had retired for the night to the warmth of their dog cabin and if the puppies dared to bother with either of them, I'm sure they were properly scorned.
It wasn't the kind of weather that makes you want to stay outside but we did get in the white farm truck and go down to the barn and over to the trailer to load up some wood. The We had our dinner of ribeye steaks and sweet potatoes and we too settled in for the night. We watched "How I Met Your Mother" and a few other sitcoms and it wasn't long before we were ready to retire to our roost on the second floor.
Our only plan for the weekend was to spend lots of time with the puppies so they would get to know us better and so they would learn some manners. What we awoke to was freezing cold temperatures and a cold, drizzling rain to accompany them. So much for building a fire outside and hanging out with the puppies! It was just too cold and now, to top it off, the wind began to blow. There was a winter storm to the south and west of us and it was clearly going to come in before the weekend went out. We didn't need anything from the store so we changed our plans and simply settled in for the day.
I don't think the puppies minded one bit. They played until they were worn out and then napped for a couple hours before getting up and starting all over again. We're pretty sure that Smith and Wesson are glad we have roosters so the little guys will leave them alone...
I worked on organizing and packing up the Christmas stuff which is no small job by any means. You saw how much of it there is :) There were boxes and tissue paper and styrofoam packing materials everywhere you looked. The only way to do it is to dig in and that's just what I did. All the snowmen came down first and then the decorations that were on display in the spare bedroom and bathroom got put up. From there it was like an avalanche...lol! Box after box after box was filled to the brim with Christmas ornaments, stockings, snowmen, candles and wreaths, etc. all disappearing with lightning speed not to be seen again until December 2011.
I was exhausted to say the least! I made us a simple venison/roast beef and barley soup that simmered for about an hour on the stove top, filling the house with the warm scents of beef, onions and peppers all mingling together. We had our dinner in our chairs because the table was still full of Christmas stuff awaiting the appropriate boxes. The temperatures continued to drop as we went to feed the scraps to the dogs and give the roosters some of their feed. Gone are the days of foregoing the coat and gloves at feeding time, gone are the days of lingering to pet and play and watch. We get the animals fed and with puppies on our heels make haste back towards the heated cabin!
My bird feeder is a busy place these days...finally :) The back porch is a veritible hub of activity now that blankets of snow cover the ground and little insects are difficult to come by for all the birds. At any given time there are at least 6 birds in attendance and all are awaiting their turn at the feeder. There are 8 perches on the feeder but they eat only one or two at a time. I have no idea why this is...perhaps they aren't the neighborly types??? lol I figure I'll go ahead and get a couple more feeders to hang out there and see if I can draw in some Cardinals. What we have now are two different kinds; little, black-feathered birds with white bellies and yellow beaks and fat, little, blue-feathered birds with white beaks. I'll have to see if I can find them in my bird book so I'll know what they're called. They aren't quite as fierce as the hummingbirds were but they are insistent when it comes to taking their turns. It appears all animals have a pecking order...lol pun intended :)
With temperatures being what they are, we have to leave the water running in the sinks and the tub so the pipes don't freeze... even during the day folks. Come Monday, there was so much snow that the weather update was basically this...if you don't have to be on the road - don't be on the road. I stayed home. Every county with the exception of 2 had schools closed. Public transportation in downtown Nashville was re-routed to their snow routes only (not sure what that means but that's what they said on the new...ha ha ha)
As far as the eye could see it was a thick blanket of white and still coming down. On the farm we saw puppy prints in the snow all around the cabin and even a few spots where they took the time to roll around a bit. They were up pretty early because it was still dark outside but they had already been playing around. There weren't any rooster prints...lol
By dawn we had already eaten breakfast, biscuits and sausage gravy, and I was back to finishing up the Christmas packing process. We watched at the puppies ran around in front of the rooster trees until finally the roosters began to fly down. They don't just fly down and land right below their tree... that's where the puppies lie in wait. Indeed they actually fly over to the back porch before landing just outside of it. The puppies aren't sure what to do - chase the roosters that have landed or wait under the tree for those that haven't yet flown...? It's funny to watch them as they decide and even funnier to listen to the sounds of the roosters as they try to avoid being herded another day...
The horses came up to the gate to be fed and they both had snow on their backs and built up under their hooves. They snort and stomp and are generally in a bad mood. But the stomping gets rid of the clumps of snow stuck to their hooves so I don't worry about it. I'm thinking their mood is because they are cold, even though they have very thick fur coats, but it could just be they are tired of the hunters... I brought them both a bucket of sweet feed and pet them on their noses. They are skittish as ever and more than anything I want spring to come just so I can get close to them again. I long for those days, like this past summer, when Rebel would walk right up to me and let me pet him without shying and turning away. It's going to take more time with Smokey - in fact, I believe it will be just like starting over with him. These days, most of the time, he's in a foul mood. I guess if I heard gunshots throughout most of the day, I'd be in a pretty foul mood myself.
I reheated some of the refrigerator soup that I made while Mom and Neccy were here so we had comfort food to warm our bellies and keep us hydrated. Ever had refrigerator soup? It's always a good thing. I think it was Joyce who first named it for me. I had eaten it many, many times growing up but never knew what it was called. It's decidedly different each and every time no matter who makes it, no matter when it's made. You clean out the refrigerator and anything that is still good goes into the pot. Mine had corn, green beans, canned tomatoes, cubed chicken strips, rice and some of my homemade chicken broth... I added onions, celery and lots of pepper to kick it up a notch (thank you Emeril) and viola' soup was on!
What's not to like...? Go ahead, look in that refrigerator of yours and start cleaning it out for soup. You won't be disappointed... unless of course your leftovers have gone bad, in which case, I can't help you.
We stayed busy Monday and the time quickly passed. Before we knew it, the sun was setting low over the hills. We watched the news for the weather update and found that more snow was expected in the overnight hours. Well, they weren't lying this time. For certain another inch to an inch and a half fell before Tuesday morning dawned. In fact, it was snowing when we woke up and it continued to do so on and off throughout the entire day. The sun tried to peek out a few times but was hard pressed to do any kind of work melting that snow away. The roof over-hanging the front porch was lined with various lengths of icicles. They weren't even thinking about dripping.
Tuesday we decided it would be a good day for a driving lesson for me...well, I didn't decide it, Wally did. I had no intention of even trying to drive but he was right. Tuesday did present the perfect opportunity for me to learn a little something about driving under the influence of these harsh conditions. We donned our layers of clothes, our coats, our gloves and a scarf for me. We turned on the car so it could warm up. The minute I hit the seat of the car, my nerves were pretty well shot. lol Still I backed out of my spot, turned the wheel and headed away from my safe haven... Slow as molasses I made my way down the path passing the outhouse and the split in the driveway. Picking up speed I passed through the first gate and was feeling so so about my progress. As the driveway goes downhill I give the car some gas so as to have enough speed built up to get to the top of the next hill. Yeah right... I started up that hill with what little speed I had built up and my little car just said no. It just stopped right there about 20 yards from the top and wasn't having anything to do with going any further. At Wally's instruction, I backed it up to get a better start. Nope - still no go.
Well, long story short, I tried a couple more times to no avail and finally Wally took over. He backed us all the way back down the driveway, built up more speed than I had and off we went back up the hill. And to a complete standstill we came once again :) No go. Okay little car - we get the point. He backed us down again and was able to turn us around on the road that leads to the holler (don't even ask me how he did that - the snow was so deep I have no idea how it worked) and finally we were back at the cabin. Not to be deterred, we decided to try it again in his truck.
Well he was able to get us up to the top of the hill and out the top gate and we actually drove over to the road where Otto's bar is. There had been a couple cars/trucks ahead of us, as noted by the tracks in the snow, but not many. The snow was deep and crunchy sounding from having froze overnight and we couldn't see any part of the dirt road at all. The paved road wasn't much better. We were going to go to the Diner if we were able to make it off the farm but after seeing the condition of the roads, we decided breakfast would be better enjoyed if eaten at home. Later, when we tried again and were actually able to get to Hwy. 100, we saw that the Diner was closed after all so it wouldn't have done us any good to try and get there that morning.
I cooked up some bacon and fried eggs with toast, butter and jelly (not for me - I don't eat jelly...nope, no way... kind of like Neccy with beets...lol!) and it was devoured with a hunger not usually displayed at breakfast...guess all that snow driving really worked up an appetite! ha ha ha.
Since I was still not able to get to work, I set out to plow through some old cookbooks that I hadn't read in a long time. I found some recipes that I had wanted to try but never quite got around to...they'll be presented in upcoming blog issues, don't you worry :) It was nice to just sit there on the couch with my house clean as could be, my animals all fed and watered, birds at the feeder, my honey in his chair and my home warm and comfortable. Moments like that don't come very often so I think it's important to appreciate them when they do. Ahhhhhhhhh
Now don't get me wrong, it was still cold and snowy but it was one of the most beautiful days I've ever seen. Weird how that can happen, huh? So, later on Tuesday we were able to get to Hwy. 100 and we made a couple of stops while we were out. We dropped off some garbage at the dump, got some sweet feed from the Ace Hardware store and fueled up the truck at the Shell station ($2.89 a gallon!), we stopped for beer and then went home. What should have taken us about 40 minutes took an hour and 28 minutes instead. The roads were only slightly better than they were earlier and it was challenging to say the least. Thank goodness Wally was driving. I'll learn but Tuesday wasn't the day for that. lol!
Little did we know what was to greet us the next morning... how about this...all that snow had started to melt overnight and when it did, because of the below freezing temperatures, it froze into ice? yep... black ice was touted as being the danger of the day for all secondary roads.... me? Yep - stayed home again. You better believe there isn't one piece of dirty laundry, including sheets and towels... there isn't one surface with dust on it, nor is there one bathroom or sink that doesn't have a lingering scent of bleach...lol Snow days, it seems, are better for cleaning than springtime...
We did get out and about a little bit Wednesday afternoon when the snow began to thaw... we went by the co-op and picked up some chicken feed and grass seed and figured while we were in Centerville, we might as well pay a visit to Pee Wee's. We were there for an hour or so, drank a few beers and visited with Joe and Darryl and a couple other people and then headed for home. Coming down the driveway looked like a picture on a post card...Mother Nature in all her glory had worked a piece of art and I was ever so happy to be drawn into the picture.
Obviously I'm at work today and for all it's worth I have to say that it's not a bad thing at all... I know what the view is like on the way home and I'm looking forward to enjoying the ride. More so than anything else, I'm looking forward to being back home. Come see for yourself just how hard it is to leave... It was one of the first things Neccy said after being there for about 2 or 3 hours. :) Farm living might not be for everyone but it sure does suit me just fine!
Ha Ha Ha Here's a good quote for today... for all of us!
"I've been on a constant diet for the last two decades. I've lost a total of 789 pounds. By all accounts, I should be hanging from a charm bracelet." ~Erma Bombeck
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment