January Arctic Blast

The long awaited January arctic blast finally hit us this week. And boy was it fun. We usually get at least one of these every January, and again, mother nature did not disappoint.

Gladly, we have learned from past experiences up here in the wilds of Wyoming and we were ready for it.

The temps were at or below 0 for several days, and the windchills hit -35. Better than the -50 we saw last year.

We did not lose water into the house. The backfill we did last spring helped rebury the water line to where it should have been prior to the years of erosion in that area. Rob and I had a retaining wall put in place with the intent to back fill it then, but alas, Covid hit and plans changed in ways I did not anticipate.

We did not lose water in the house. The heater in the crawl space and the constant sink trickle were enough to keep it all flowing. The water line to the fridge did freeze up for a few days, and I think maybe I will have Michael go under there and just disconnect it before we end up with that line rupturing. The ice maker doesn’t work so there is really not much reason to have it still hooked up for drinking water.

We did not lose power!! That’s always a good thing!

Best of all, the critters all did great thru this frigid time. No frost bit ears, no snotty noses, no rattly breathing amongst the sheep. Brandy had one day where she was shivering, but she resisted having a blanket put on. She got a bump in her grain and powered thru it.

Miss Mako, the eldest of our guardian dogs at 9, is not as happy about all this anymore. She tended to stay curled up in their hut amongst the straw unless she wanted to eat and tend to bodily functions. The other two dogs curl up with her, and then Mr Tally comes in to share the love. Before you ask, no I can not put her in the barn, or bring her into the house. She would do more damage to herself trying to get out and back to her sheep than gain any comfort being inside. I tried it once before and she tore her paws up some digging under the barn wall getting out.

The wind and snow kicked up again yesterday even with our slight rise in temperature. We hit 23 yesterday. Brandy did want to go in the barn last night. I think the constant blowing and swirling snow was just too much for her to want to deal with. True to her nature, I found buckets and other items tossed around the barn. She did keep herself amused.

A night in the barn means we need a roll in the snow first thing!

One new thing I did learn was just how much the tractor slides around on ice and packed snow.

To complete this story, I need to go back a few days prior to the blast. The power company whose lines run thru my property decided that this was the perfect time of year to clear up the right of ways of trees and brush. It did need to be done, no doubt, but I would have thought that winter was not the time to do this kind of work. Alas, it was not my decision and legally I have to let them on the place to do it.

They arrived 2 days earlier than they originally told me, and on Wednesday afternoon, they showed up with a truck, huge trailer, and a skid steer with a mulcher thingy on the front of it. I also was originally told they were going to be coming in the back gate of my place, and not my driveway. That didn’t work out for them so here they are.

The trailer was way too big to fit around my driveway and into my pasture short of tearing down part of my fence line, which was not going to happen. They dropped the skid steer and took the trailer someplace else.

Into the pasture they went, and then out, then in, then out. Evidently their skid steer was not operating correctly so they were going to call it a day. Unfortunately, they left it in a spot where the sheep had to walk to come in for the night and it was a bit of a problem for me to get them to walk around it. Cus you know, anything new will eat them in their minds!

They came back in on Thursday with a second skid steer and I had them move the first one where it would not be seen. They got on with their job, but for some reason, every 20-30 minutes the guy in the truck was in and out of my pasture all day long.

They drove exactly where I must take the tractor to bring hay up to the feeder.

Packed snow and ice under the new snow, exactly where I have to drive.

They drove so much they packed all the snow down and turned areas into a sheet of ice, including my driveway.

The path I take with the tractor has the least amount slope so I can get the hay there with little effort with a big weight on the front. 1500lbs is a big load to take up a steeper hill in the snow.

Friday arrived, and I ended up with the pukey bug. I knew I had to try to get a bale up in the feeder prior to the blast hitting on Saturday. Once the worst of the puke thing was calmed down I took my chance in the late afternoon to get that done. Michael still won’t learn to drive the tractor, so I had no real choice in this matter.

The bale already out had been eaten into a mushroom shape by the sheep. I had hoped that there would be enough room for another on top without being so top heavy that it would roll out onto someone if it got too windy.

I got the tractor fired up, grabbed the new bale and tried to get up my driveway with it. I had to keep rolling backwards and making a run at it, cus it was so slick that all I was doing was spinning the tires. Once I found enough purchase, I did get into the pasture, and once again was stuck just inside the gate, spinning the tires. Finally got past that icy area and up to the bale feeder. We knocked down the existing bale as much as we could, but there was not going to be enough space for the second one.

On the way back, once again, stuck on the other upslope. I had to make a detour around the barn, and almost didn’t make that either.

After getting out, and dropping the bale back on the stack, I thought using the blade to drag some of this packed stuff on the driveway would be a good idea. There was some tire spinning but it was better than having all the weight on the front. I got the areas mostly cleaned up and looking better. Even managed not to puke off the side of the tractor in the process.

Then the fun happened. This is where I learned a new valuable lesson.

1953 Farmall Super M tractors really do not like snow and ice.

I pulled a blade full of snow off to the side of the driveway and then proceeded to slide down another hill sideways. Oh boy.

Got the tractor to stop that slide, turned into the slope and went to the bottom, turned around and back onto the driveway.

Only to find myself in a second sideways slide, this time heading right at my son. I’m really not liking this at all. There is no good way for me to get off this thing in a hurry that won’t dump me under a rather large tire or blade. And dropping the blade did not stop the slide either.

The look of alarm on my son’s face was priceless though as he was scrambling to get out of the way.

This is my first rodeo on the tractor, and I rode that beast like a bucking bronco! Still didn’t puke but boy I sure wanted to now!

After that second slide, I decided that enough was enough and parked the tractor.

I must say, growing up in New England and learning how to drive on this winter stuff is a good thing. The ambulance I use to drive had on spot chains, and I really wish my tractor did also!

I’ve never had this kind of ride before. I know we get areas of packed stuff in the driveway but not like I had this year due to those tree guys going in and out. Their 2 day job turned into 8 days because of weather and the fact that their skid steer froze up and they could not fix it.

By the way, I got a bale out finally yesterday during a break in the wind and snow. And yes, I did have an issue getting into the pasture again.

Making a path thru the new snow to their hay

I’m really looking forward to spring.

Blessed Be

A short video of the naughties making their daily escape from the pasture. Silly boogers!