Old Man Winter 2012 New Challenges

Old Man Winter took a big shot at us in the Pacific Northwest late last week. Places hit worst were the foothills of the Cascades as well as Thurston and Pierce counties. Our farm happens to be in both the foothills and Pierce county so we took quite a beating. We had warnings a big snow storm was on it's way but it was immediately followed by an unpredicted ice storm, (also known as a silver thaw, I'm told).

These pictures were taken after the frozen rain hit the 17 inches of snow we had last Thursday. The ice formed a crust atop the snow about 3 to 4 inches deep that seemed to hold the snow on the roofs together like one huge blanket.

You can see in the barn picture how the huge heavy mass stayed intact even as it slid down the steep grade. I couldn't believe the blanket stayed together even after it left the roof. We worried all that weight would cause damage but all our structures held up, thank God.

We lost power before the icy rain even arrived and didn't get it back until sometime early Sunday. Our cable, phone and internet didn't come back until late Sunday evening.

Without power, we also have no water since our well runs off electricity. We did have some water available in stock tanks but with this number of horses and the length of time our power was out we actually used everything that was available near the barns. We were quite relieved when the power finally came back. Taking no chances, Dave headed straight to the barn to fill water.

The horses seemed to weather the storm and the resulting outages better than the humans. When the thaw did finally come most horses didn't seem to mind the sound of the snow and ice breaking up and falling to the ground. A couple even seemed to be enthralled watching the snow as it hung there waiting to drop. You just never know what will intrigue them.

Before the ice storm arrived, a couple of the boys got out to play in the deep snow. Storm has been in the snow before and he had great fun cavorting in the white stuff. Andy has not been out in the snow and he wasn't quite sure what to think at first but it wasn't long before he was bucking and rearing and rolling, having a great time.

I wish I had pictures of their antics but at the time, I was busy getting what I could ready in the house so we could be as comfortable as possible under the conditions. Thanks to our wood stove we stayed warm and were even able to have a couple of simple, but hot, meals.

I'm really glad it's over but I'm told by my friend who works closely with the National Weather Service that this is only round one. I'm thinking it's going to be a very long winter.......

The Current State of Affairs...........

I know they say a picture is worth a thousand words but I'm not really sure what this one has to say. From an artist's perspective it sucks and not just because the background is cluttered and the lighting is off but if you're wondering what I've been up to, it's pretty spot on.

I know it's not really the view I had in mind when I asked Dave to take a picture for me. What I was interested in were the two characters laying across my pillow protected lap while he obviously saw a much wider perspective.

I imagine you can tell from the picture I spend a lot of time on that couch. Most of the clutter has to do with those things it takes to keep me comfortable. Seems like any time I decide I'm mended enough to be off that thing I end up right back on it. Progress is slow and driving me absolutely crazy.

The phone calls, cards and emails have sure helped with my sanity as have the two friends gracing that couch with me. I'm pretty sure Sugar and Squeaker appreciate my couch bound time much more than I do. My interactions with the horses are way too brief. I am longing for springtime and good health so I can get back to doing what I do.

In the meantime I'm wearing out the couch and pretty sure by the time I get done with it it will be ready for the dump. I'm already so sick of it I don't care if I ever see it again, so that might not be a bad idea for moving on from this part of my life. Sugar and Squeaker probably won't appreciate giving it up but then in place of actually getting my lap back they just might not care either.

I get a clear look from each of them that says they don't think much of the pillow on my lap. Each has tried her own little maneuvers to rid themselves of that fluffy lump between her and me. Maybe that's why the two have resorted to laying across each other as they accommodate my request for company. Who knows but it's a close up I was really hoping to capture that just can't escape all the clutter.

A Little on Christmas

Normally, I do a post on Christmas eve, some form of variation of Twas the Night Before Christmas This year I did think about the famous poem and my usual yearly mutilations to make it fit life on our farm but to be honest, I just couldn't do it.

In former variations I tried to reflect true Christmas spirit and happenings here. I began this tradition in 2008 Twas the Night Before Christmas Each year there was some kind of change, no matter how subtle it was.
Twas the Night before Christmas 2009

Good or bad the changes were noted T'was the Night Before Christmas..........2010


Somehow the changes here this year just didn't seem to stimulate my Christmas muse. While stories untold have never been enough to stop me from dropping hints like those done in 2009, this year's journey just didn't seem to mix with my idea of Christmas spirit.

Not that I haven't seen and experienced plenty of Christmas spirit this year. It just did not lend itself to the elements the tradition of this holiday poem has been for me. The stories will be told in their own time and maybe then my Christmas muse will find itself again.

In the meantime I thought it best to reshare Molesting the Christmas Tree.......... While I really missed having a tree this year, I'm sure had we put one up, it would have fared about as well as last years. Yesterday I really did miss the tree enough to try to convince Dave and Lindsay to join me in a decorating party but Dave just didn't seem all that enthused so I let it go but I'm pretty sure he's wishing we'd not skipped on this Christmas tradition and next year it will be back alive and well, even if it does get abused by the dogs and cats.

Wishing a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

That Second Page.......

Gypcy

I cannot believe is has been Thanksgiving since I did a post. I sure thought I'd be back to regular posting long before now. Actually I was really counting on it. I had added a second page to my blog hoping to raise some money for the holidays.

Before my colonoscopy I actually got many of the pictures taken thinking I would be able to get everything up during the two weeks between that test and my surgery. Instead I ended up on my back for those two weeks trying to heal up enough so my surgery wouldn't get postponed.

I guess once my stay in the hospital dragged on, I should have realized there wasn't much chance of me actually getting anythings listed before Christmas on that second page I added to my blog. As it is, I couldn't really decide if that page was going to do the job or not but I never got much farther than thinking what my alternatives actually were.

I thought about listing some things on Craigslist. I thought about building an online store or maybe building a blog specifically to feature what I have to sell. Since some of the things I want to sell are horse items, (tack etc) I thought maybe it would be best to put that stuff here on this blog but then I really haven't had the energy to do much of anything, so nothing got done.

Last year I worked at Fred Meyer for the holiday season and that took care of the gifts for family and friends. I probably would have been a good candidate for rehire this year if I hadn't gotten sick. I was actually in the hospital this year when holiday hiring was done but I pretty much already knew there wasn't much chance I'd be up to working for the holidays that's why I had decided to do that page on my blog.

My crafts have always baled me out in the past. Heck, my crafts pretty much paid for Scandalous let alone all the school clothes, birthday and holiday presents they paid for over the years. I guess it's taken until now for my denial to be broken down enough to realize that's just not going to happen for this Christmas. I know there are a lot of people struggling just like us but I have never really experienced a Christmas quite like this one before.

Dave and Lindsay opted to not have a tree this year and that hasn't helped my holiday spirit. I just can't believe there is not a tree standing in it's usual spot near the fireplace and even more so, I can't believe it's OK with Dave and Lindsay that there isn't one. Strange............the twists and turns life can take.

Reality is sinking in. Hard for it not to with Christmas just a few days away. The hardest part about this Christmas is just not being well. The other stuff doesn't really matter but I'm having a difficult time being unable to do what I love most. I miss the time with my horses and just seeing them out in the field is not enough.

I know I must behave. I actually got a little reminder of that the other day. Don't ask me what I was doing because I don't know. What I do know is that a small section of my incision reopened. It is not infected or anything like that...........just a reminder something I did was too. It's not very deep or long and it looks like healthy enough tissue but it's presence makes it pretty darn obvious I'm not ready to be off the couch and thinking about ways to raise money are probably just going to have to wait.

I had hoped I would raise enough that I would have the funds to buy software to build myself an online store. I've been thinking about building that store ever since I closed my ebay store down but I never seemed to find the time. With Dave still out of work, getting an online store going would probably be good for him. He always did my ebay shipping for me and did a great job of it.

Since the doctor thinks it's going to be a while before I am fully recovered and my body seems to be agreeing, I figured I would probably have the time I needed to get that kind of a project done. God knows I certainly have enough inventory to do it between my crafts, all the thousands of books I have etc.

If anyone has ideas about good software programs for online stores, I'm open for suggestions. I do need something that will take credit card payments probably through paypal and it needs to be fairly simple. I still haven't figured out how to use the software the online bookseller I wanted to use works so simple is a must.




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Happy Thanksgiving

I'm most thankful to be alive this holiday even if I'm not up to celebrating. Funny how life's bumps can change one's perspective. Now if I could just get back to eating like normal. I sure am wishing my stomach would tolerate turkey with all the trimmings. Maybe by Christmas I'll be to that point.

In the meantime, here's wishing everyone a great Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season to come.