Yesterday was a glorious day. The sun was shining and it's warm rays were gently caressing the soft breeze. I spent most of the day working outside in just a sweatshirt.......well, I also had pants on....my neighbors think I'm weird enough already, thank you.
The thermometer in the chicken coop already read into the 50's when I was out doing chores in the morning, and by afternoon the mercury was almost at 60 degrees- unbelievable for January day in Iowa. The entire winter has been unseasonably warm, so warm in fact, that the plants are confused.
My Clematis vines are still actively growing.
As are the Dianthus....
..and the Asters.
Of course the Wild Geranium is flourishing...because it's a weed.
I must admit, I had to smile at the Dandelion's tenacity to muster a bloom even in the dead of January.
It has been so nice to have the grass stay a little greener during the winter months, and I really enjoyed finding previews of spring under the dead leaves as I was cleaning out gardens yesterday.
The barn cats spent the day doing what cats do on a warm day...... synchronized sun-bathing.
The hens scratched about in their yard while Yellow Man kept a watchful eye on his lady friends.
And the hens rewarded the warm day with a bounty of eggs.
WELL....THAT WAS YESTERDAY.
This is today.
There was a 'high' temperature of 16 degrees today with 25 mile an hour winds. Factor in the wind chill and, well, I don't even want to talk about it.
With the exception of the hesitant ewe lambs that had never experienced snow before, the sheep didn't seem to mind the drastic weather change. The ewe lambs took a bit of convincing to leave the safety of the warm, straw-filled barn, but once they bravely ventured out into the unknown, they seemed invigorated by the cold.
The dogs didn't mind it either....obviously.
Even Jolly Ball didn't mind. I hope Emma doesn't lose that darn ball in a snow drift again this year.
BUT, do you know who did mind?
Me! I minded a lot!
I was loving the warm weather. I was loving that it was unnecessary to bundle oneself to look like Ralphy's little brother in A Christmas Story. I was loving that I could fill buckets from the hydrant without the wind blowing water onto my clothes, instantaneously creating frozen, crackly pants. I was loving that I could keep my boots on the back porch and slip into them on my way out the door without finding them filled with snow.
Ugh. It is Winter, so I suppose I need to deal with it.
In the meantime I will wrap myself in a blanket, grab some tea, and busy myself dreaming of planting gardens, and perusing the pages of some chicken porn...errr...ummm....chicken catalogs...
Yes, Chicken Math will be happening again soon.
But, for now, Morgan and I share the same sentiment about our current weather situation.
Make no mistake, she is not smiling here, this is her way of thumbing her nose at the weather....sadly, she doesn't have opposable thumbs....
I promise to be less cranky next post...if it's warmer.
16 comments:
I feel your pain! My chickens shut down the egg conveyor belt and hunkered down in the barn all day! We didn't have any time to "harden off" between 60 degrees and 10 below (with wind chill). Insert very sad face here.
Sad face here as well. The snow was seeping into every tiny gap in the chicken coop and outbuildings- even around the doors that we thought were well sealed. A 45 degree drop in one day is just unfair!
I probably could have stood the temperature difference if not for the wind.
Judy
I must say, it was a slap in the face today, and we didn't get as much snow as you. Try to stay warm.
I'm with Morgan.
Bah, ha! Synchronized cats! How ever did you train them to do that? Must have taken days. Weeks even.
When it gets cold, I always hope it is good for the polar bears, poor guys.
I can't imagine staying out long enough to get those synchronized cat photos but they really are awesome! And I don't believe that Emma will let go of her Jolly Ball long enough for it to get lost! ;-)
Perfect weather for staying inside and knitting or spinning. If only that paid the bills...
Stay warm my Friend!
And how is your Clematis today? Here this winter is awful,too. Not cold, no snow, but wet, wet, wet. The sheep don´t want to leave the barn.
We had a couple of days of low forties and sun here which was nice...now we are back to sub freezing temps and frozen water. I love days without frozen water....
Actually, the synchronized cat photos didn't take long at all. Those boys are brothers that we adopted together several years ago, they are always together, generally doing the same thing, at the same time :).
Astrid, my Clematis is, as they say, toast :(. It will come back when the weather warms up in a couple of months though.
I love looking at your pictures. Your animals personalities shine through. Even my ducks who only go inside to eat have been going into the coops. It will warm up again, eventually
It's crappy here too!!! Blech. I know I'm taking a chance by saying this, but I like a snow for a little while, it's better than all that brown.
Got my McMurray catalog in the mail this week too.
I liked the synchronized sun bathing...looks like they are guarding the gates...and nice picture of the eggs!
Yay for chicken math! And at least it was 16 above...last week I think we barely got above 0 with temps in the -teens and -30+ windchill :( But we're over the hump now! We're easing into the "Thursday" of winter!!
My sister that lives in South Carolina told me I needed to take a look at your blog.. So here I am and she is right..You have a cute blog and I just loved all the pictures and commentary.. Just Fantastic~!
Have a Tiggeriffic Day~ ta ta for now from Iowa:)
Oh, that's just CRUEL!!!
Stay warm Dear Friend...Spring's not far off!
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