Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Snow Day!



We awoke to snow yesterday - about 6 inches by the time it quit falling. According to the Auburn Journal, it was the most snow seen in Auburn in the last 20 years. School was canceled, so the girls and I did our morning chores together.

I love snow - despite the challenges it presents me as a rancher. Yesterday, we started by repairing sheep fence that had been pushed over by the snow. To get to the sheep, we drove on unplowed roads. After securing the sheep, we fed three groups of cows - pairs (cows and calves), first calf heifers and pregnant cows. Then we returned to the ewes and fed hay to them, followed by deliveries of hay to two groups of goats. After lunch, I resumed my rounds - feeding guard dogs, more hay for the ewes, and finally hay for the sheep at home.

Lara, our oldest daughter, is like I was as a boy - she played outside in the snow all day. Emma is more like her mom - she played outside some but was content to stay warm inside in the afternoon.


Today, we awoke to a hard freeze - it was clear and 18 degrees! The roads, which were plowed yesterday, were icy this morning. We moved the ewes onto fresh (and snow-covered) feed, and then moved goats as well.

I don't know if climate change is for real, but I do know that it snowed more in the foothills when I was a kid. I miss getting snow like we received Sunday night/Monday morning!

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