Perch on the Loose

Life is never dull in the country, no matter what you have heard!!

Laid back, perhaps, but NEVER dull!

We have managed to get thru’ the Blizzard of 2010 relatively unscathed. It came and went, came and went, leaving way more snow then Virginia is used to.  Powers outages, collapsing roofs, artic temps, are just a few of the side effects of this snowpocalypse/snowmageddon/snOMG/snowmore!!!!

Glancing out my window the other afternoon, in the midst of this 3 foot snow vista, I saw something that caused me to do a double take! Under the cedar tree, where I toss the cracked corn for the deer, was a large gray, unfamiliar, yet, very familiar form!

The huge, gray, Percheron mare from across the river, had escaped her fencing and her massive nose led her right to the deer feed!

Can you see her?

I ran out to the deck for a better look!

I yelled up to Mr. Green Jeans, as I was throwing on my boots and coat, to call the neighbor – her horse had gotten out!

I ran out the door, grabbing a bucket of feed, and a dog leash(!) as I went! The horse tack was in the barn, and I didn’t want the horse taking off before I could get her!

As I approached, I guess she thought she was in trouble, and she started to circle the tree. But I continued to speak softly, and shake the feed bucket. Food won out, and the mare approached.

I’ve met her before, on walks across the river. She lives in a huge field, with cattle, and now 2 other horse buddies. She is very sweet, but HUGE, with dinner plate sized feet, standing 17.5- 18 hands.

She was large enough to know that I was no match for her. So, food was the link to getting her to follow me.  With the dog leash dangling from her halter, she followed me, and the food, to my barn. When we came thru the trees, she caught sight of my horses, and they saw her! She took off for the barn, thru the almost 3 foot snow, to visit some new friends!!

The “old man”, ever alert, saw this huge grey “thing” charging across the field – and just knew, it could not possibly be a horse!! Discretion being the better part of valor, he turned tail and ran to the far end of the paddock! The “big guy”, leader of the pack, now considerably dwarfed, and realizing he was no longer the BIG guy, was cowed for the first time in his life!!

With this mutant horse charging across the snow, the “big guy” decided the “old man” had the right idea, and followed him!!!

Little Miss Lilly, all 30 inches of her, ran thru snow up to her neck, leaping like a rabbit, passing the other two, in her effort to escape!!

Breeze, on the other hand, saw nothing to fear! He perked up his ears, flicked his tail in a flirty manner , and pranced in his best style thru the deep snow, to the fence, to greet this beautiful female intruder!!! She did look alot like  a mare he used to live with, but on a much larger scale!!!

I was a bit worried for my fence!! With her height, and the added packed snow, my fence only came up to her chest- and the electricity was not on!!

Mr. Green Jeans came out, with a proper lead- the neighbor was on the way. He was not going to let me try to lead this mammoth out- I might get hurt.

Since the snow kind of impeded my mobility, I let him take over!!!

It took a bit to catch her – she was very interested in Breeze. Eventually, food caught Breeze’s interest (it was near dinner time, after all!), which in turn, again, caught her interest, allowing Mr. GJ to catch her!

Got her!

The neighbor and her dog came running over – difficult to do in the deep snow.  We suggested she ride the mare back – but that wasn’t an option. My daughter wasn’t home – she would have jumped right on!!!

So, Mr. Green Jeans said he would lead her back home, over the river. It took a bit, to get the Percheron with the program, finally she settled down and began the walk home.  It wasn’t an easy walk, with the hard, deep snow, and those big hooves so close to his feet! The neighbor and I followed behind – struggling thru the snow, and trying to walk in their footprints!

On our way back home...............

Watch out for my feet!!!!!

We were about halfway there, in the above photo-Mr GJ had to take a brief break- note the red face- we were all (except for the Perch) out of breath!!!

Thank goodness, the river is back to creek level- but still above boot level!

(If you go to this previous post , third pic down, you can see how much the water has receded, after the rains, photo was taken at the spot Mr. GJ is crossing the water)

If you look closely, you can see the mare, just above the snowbank, safely back in her own paddock!

Mr. GJ and I trudged back thru our tracks, at a much slower pace!!!

I went back to the barn to finish the nighttime routine and feeding. The “big guy” was snorting and anxious – not wanting to go into his stall to eat!! He kept glancing thru the stall out the open barn door, sure that mutant horse was still out there somewhere! My ‘big guy” had lost his bravado!!!

So, I closed the barn door, coaxed him in for dinner, and eventually, he calmed down and began to eat.

When Breeze came a little too close, all of a sudden, the “big guy” remembered WHO he was, pinned his ears and rushed Breeze- as if to say – I AM the boss within these walls – and don’t you forget it!!! The “big Guy” was back!!!!

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Life is happy, and never dull, at Mountain Meadows this morning………..

 

The Blizzard of 2010

I think this is our third significant snowfall for this winter. It started snowing at 6:30am yesterday , and is STILL snowing at 11am – with no end in sight!!!!

Just by chance, I happened to read an article in Yankee Magazine by Edie Clark, about an 2008  ice storm in New Hampshire. 400,000 households in the state were without power. Altho her ice encrusted world was pretty – she likened it to Armageddon!!!

The author hauled water from the spring, melted ice for washing dishes, read by candlelight, listened to a hand cranked radio, and slept next to the woodstove!!!

On the 12th day, there was light!!! The electricity was back on in NH!!!

After reading that story, I should NOT complain – our electricity went out about midnite last night. We don’t have ice, just an unbelievable amount of snow for this area of Virginia.

We have a generator, and I am hoping the propane does not run out!!! The news tells us the power should be back on in 10 hours or so. My fingers and toes are crossed!!!

The basement woodstove is on – which heats the the lower and main level of the house. Doesn’t do much for the upstairs – but heat rises, so we will see………….

The kitchen stove does not work on the generator – so, we are microwaving water for tea, and my daughter made a pound cake in mugs in the microwave!!! If we are forced to activate the upstairs woodstove – we can cook on that!

It is times like these, that make me appreciate what our ancestors went thru – without generators, running water, indoor toilets,  or any of the modern conveniences!

We did have to run out early in the morning yesterday – as the snow was starting to accumulate.

I thought I had everything I needed – and realized the bag of feed I thought I had for the horses – was not there!!! So, with Mr. Green Jeans at the wheel, we went off to the co-op for the horses!!

Amazingly – we were not the only ones out – the place was packed!!!! Bill, who works behind the counter – said they had been non stop busy since the day before!! I doubled my feed order and we scooted out of there.

On the way home, we headed to the Post Office – and came upon an accident – two cars collided and were in the ditch. One of them was our mail lady!! We weren’t allowed to stop – so continued on to the PO – the postmaster was already aware of the accident and was making the necessary calls. As we left to go home – the traffic was stopped for emergency vehicles, so DH decided to take the back way home. “The back way” means rural, unplowed, winding, gravel road!!!!!

It was picturesque of course, but a bit nail biting for me! I kept praying there was no one coming around the bend at us. And, of course, my camera batteries died at this point in the drive, so I had to resort to the cell phone camera for photos!

This morning I let the dogs out with me – so they could plow a path for me to the barn!! I felt like a kid in a snowsuit, with many layers underneath waders and a waterproof drover’s coat!

The horses had trampled down the snow right outside the barn, but poor Miss Lilly was quite perturbed – all this snow is just not her cup of tea!!!

The wild birds were gathered at the feeding station – chattering away, waiting for that human to come out and give them breakfast! I refill their dishes every hour in this weather!!!

I am not sure if the deer ventured out last night to get their evening meal of cracked corn. I did notice one of the trees that shelters one of deer feeding spots, had broken in half under the weight of the snow.

I would not be surprised, if we end up with close to 40 inches of snow. there is yet another snow storm scheduled for this coming Tuesday!!! We have Minnesota weather in Virginia!!

If  I can step away from the computer – this would be a great day to accomplish all the “must-do’s” and art/ sewing projects that are piling up!!!

I am looking at the pond in my banner picture above, and have a mantra running thru my head: Spring WILL come, spring WILL come, I know it will, I know it will, I know it will, I know it will……!!!!!

***I just uploaded a bunch of pix to this post – and the electricity was struggling to come back on!!! It finally did – yay!!In the 12th hour – there was light!!! But all the pictures disappeared – thankfully, most of the post was saved!! Let’s see if I can upload the pix again, and get this post up, before the power goes out again!!!***

I don’t know why – but the pictures won’t upload. Soooo, visualize, and check back again tonite. I will try to upload the photos again – if we have power!!!!

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All is white for as far as the eye can see (and that is not far at the moment) at Mountain Meadows today…………………………………..

 

Snow Daze………………

View of the pew

Deer tracks

“Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they do when they stick together.”………..Verna M. Kelly

Crystal mound

Snow dusted mullein

Over the river, and thru’ the woods………..

This doe and fawn have been soooo anthropomorphised by me, that Mr. Green Jeans lowers his gun and allows them to pass!

This was only a quarter of the photos I took – hope it wasn’t a boring trek for you!!!! More tomorrow, if you dare return!!! LOL

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All is well, very cold, and snowily photogenic, at Mountain Meadows this crisp Sunday morning……………

 

Friday the 13th- Again….!!!

Didn’t we just have one of these last month!!?!! And, we woke up to snow AGAIN!!! Didn’t we just have some of that last month????

As usual, the snowfall we got was minimal – just enough to make it pretty, not enough to delay schools. South of us, strangely enough, got more snow!

The husband was out yesterday broadcasting seed in the paddocks. I know he was hoping for more snow to help with the seed germination!

The robins that have arrived are looking very confused, and my seed bar on the back deck has an overflow of patrons! To date, we have had juncos, mourning doves,blue jays, cardinals, titmice, chickadees, goldfinches, red finches, white crowned sparrows, and other sparrows, as regulars. The cracked corn for the deer attracts ground feeders,  starlings and grackles among them.

The feral cat has been limping for about 2 weeks now. I am torn between trapping him and inflicting further mental trauma, or just letting him be. He is still showing up to eat, and keeping his regular schedule during the day, so I am not too worried.

I got my “new” enlarged breast plate/collar back from The Saddle Doctor for my big guy, Prince John. We are changing  over to western tack, and I got a wonderful refurbished old saddle from a gal an hour south of here. The Saddle Doctor is local, and I found a used collar, but it was too small. She lengthened the straps, and we are good to go. I will have to take pictures of  ‘the big guy” in his new attire!!!

While at the Saddle Doctor, I got a tour, saw their new colts – foundation quarter horses,absolutely adorable!!! I also discovered that those folks sell horse feed, much better quality, and less expensive than what I have been buying from a commercial dealer. I am all about keeping business local, and of course, spending less when I can!  Brought home a 50 lb bag and mixed it in with the old stuff – and the horses just loved it!!! It is healthier, and dietetic at the same time – with less sweetener, more grain, more actual food for my dollar. So, it’s a win-win!! I am loving the small towns more every day!!!

The hunt for companion ponies still goes on. We visited some, one of which we would dearly love to have. But, the caretaker has yet to respond to our many inquiries. It is bordering on being rude- since he was quite excited about us having them. So, the search goes on…..

Yesterday, the daughter and I visited a local man with several miniature horses. We are looking to adopt, not buy. He was looking to sell, all of his minis are registered with papers, and I understand perfectly. But, he is moving from his present property, and I mentioned that if he got stuck, he was more than welcome to leave one or two of the tiny guys at my property for awhile. We left, and as we pulled into our own barn, here comes the guy, pulling in behind us!! He lives up the road from us, but the field he rents for the minis is on the other side of town. Since we were both taking the same route home, he was right behind us (I never noticed!) and thought he would just come and check out our property!  I guess we met muster, because he said  if he ran into a problem getting a new rental field, he wouldn’t mind letting one or two of his minis stay with us, and he’d PAY us to keep them!! Woohoo!!! Ownership of sorts, without the financial aspects of ownership works for me!!! But, I probably wouldn’t take his money – just having them there to play with will be enough for me!!!! As long as he covers farrier and vet bills!!

But, as with anything else, I won’t keep my hopes up – the offer is out there, if it’s meant to be, it will be!!!! We are still hoping to hear back at some point from the first guy. With my luck, I’ll get callbacks all at once, and will be overflowing with minis, and my husband will divorce me!!! LOL

Today is definitely a catch up and clean up day. I have been procrastinating for so long, and working on other things, that the house is falling to wrack and ruin!!!

Here are some pix of what has been going on-  “new” lawn ornaments at the entry to our driveway that the husband unearthed, some local minis (not the ones we looked at),the work of our local woodpecker pair.

One of a matching pair at the head of the driveway

Who made these pine chips?

The origin of the chips - the woodpeckers' handiwork!

Pine tree canopy thru the woodpeckers' eyes

Minis!!

How cute is this?????

All is well, and the snow (what little there was) has almost melted, at Mountain Meadows this morning…………………..

 

Ice and Snow- Finally!!!

I have been waiting for snow to  fall!!! There is no reason, in my mind, for it to be bone chillingly cold – without SNOW!!!

Finally, we got some – altho’ for all the hours it snowed, the amount was not too impressive!!! The grass is still peeking thru the layer of frozen stuff. In the afternoon, the snow turned to sleet, and altho’ I haven’t ventured out yet this morning -I’m guessing everything is a sheet of ice!  The schools are closed again today and the traffic seems minimal to non existent on the country road near my house.

Yesterday, the horses tottered into the barn on hooves that were packed with softball sized snowballs! They were like 4 legged ballerinas with a drinking problem!!! I felt so bad for them – and with much effort – picked out the snowballs, which were imbedded with hay, manure and rocks! Attractive, I know……………

Several people have told me to spray PAM, on the horses’ hooves, and that would keep the snow from sticking. Well, the daughter tried it – doesn’t work!!! The snow is just too wet. As soon as they go back outside – they start building up the snowballs again. It’s like icy platform shoes – the ‘old man’ went from 15/3 to almost 16 hands after circling the paddock!!!

I went for a walk yesterday, hoping to be the first out – to check the footprints in the snow. Except for one set of tire tracks down the old road – some adventurous soul already crossed the river in their car, I was the only set of human prints around.

The birds made zentangles in the snow, searching for any cracked corn the deer  left behind from the night before. The deer did not show up for dinner before or during the snowfall, their footprints are nowhere to be found. I guess they decided to hunker down in the woods and sleep out the storm.

Came across some rabbit tracks, and those of the feral cat who lives here somewhere. I left some lovely imprints in the virgin snow – as I found the ice hidden under the snow on the road, landing ungracefully on it!  When a wanderer falls in the woods, and there is no one there to hear it, does she make a sound?????? LOL

As I was wandering and taking pictures, I apparently disturbed a squirrel taking a potty break. Very perturbed, ( and wouldn’t you be?), this little squirrel scrambled out of his nest and loudly and virulently cursed me in squirrel-ese, as he raced to the top of a neighboring tree, safely out of reach of this ‘intruder’!! The huge fox squirrel hung bat like on the side of the tree, motionless, until I was safely out of his sight!

A pair of white crowned sparrows, hunkered down under the chair on my little bird feeding deck. I had poured some seed under the chair, away from the snow, and they took full advantage of the cover and the food, hanging around for quite some time, ignoring the huge human trying to take pictures of them thru the glass!

My church pews have a new cushion of ice glazed snow, very pretty, but not very comfy!

The temperatures are going up a little today – but it is still gray and cold outside. After I finish this post, I am going to slide to the Post Office and then spend the rest of the day inside, crocheting little treasures for my Etsy shoppe!!

White crowned sparrow feasting under the chair.

Birds eating the deer corn- this is all the snow we got!!!

Snow covered teasel

The barn - before I left footprints on the driveway - for all the snowing it did, we did not get alot!

Found metal object in the snow (vintage radiator coil)

Squirrel nest with wet spot- he was interrupted mid-potty!

Can you spot the angry squirrel clinging bat- like in the tree?

All is well at Mountain Meadows on this snow glazed afternoon…………

 

Frost Impressions

I just love these pictures – they would make a great pattern for fabric!!

Very early the other morning, I was sitting in my car, warming it up and defrosting the windows. I happened to look out the window at the sky – and this is what I saw………………………

All is well, and not quite so frosty, at Mountain Meadows today……

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“Everybody has their own heartbreak, and only they can find the right glue….”    ———-PM

 

It’s Really Winter!!!

Temps got down to the 20’s last night, with wind chills in the “I don’t wanna think about it” range!!

The winds were really blustery – scary almost- I could hear them freight training it past the windows in the dark of night. The 40 mph winds were dragging the cold in with them from the west.

When I walked out to the barn this morning – both of my antique church pews had been hurled by the wind- one had actually been lifted and rolled at least twice about 5 feet away from its original location!!  Those babies are heavy – solid wood – so you know that wind was moving!!!

The husband was stoking the fires all yesterday, and at midnite, 3am, and 6am, in an effort to stave off unnecessarily high electric bills. There is something comforting about walking back to the house from the barn, and seeing a plume of smoke rising from the chimney. Means hearth, and warmth, and home to me…………………..

These are the days that barn chores don’t appeal to me – and I wish I had some hunky hired help (other than the husband, of course-who is on the mend from recent surgery)!

The daughter was tempted to do the snow dance- the one with pj’s on inside out that is supposed to guarantee snowfall? If she did it, it didn’t work- the only thing resembling snow was the frost on my windshield this morning!

The mud and puddles from the last few days’ rains have frozen into ice chunks and black ice. I hope the horses, tho’  blanketed and fuzzy, had the good sense to come into the barn last night. The submersible water heater kept the water in the trough ice free, but the hose and pump froze again – despite my best efforts to drain all the water out of the hose. So, tomorrow, we’ll be out there with a hair dryer – heating up the pump handle, and hoping the sun will warm up the hose. If not – we’ll be filling the trough in the bucket of the tractor again (see previous post about that adventure!) The old guys need their water to wash down their hay. They are on the 5th square bale of the winter, but still beg for the few remaining bits of green grass that are out in the hay field.

The bird feeders and porch railing are loaded with seed for the wild birds. One of the local hawks has adopted a tree near the house as his roosting spot. I hope it has nothing to do with the proximity of the bird feeder and its tiny patrons!!!

Tonite’s trek to the barn, to tuck the old guys in for the night, was overseen by the stars peeking from behind the clouds. I ran out of cracked corn for the deer – had one  corn cob left that I tossed for them. I feel bad – but I will run to the co-op tomorrow to get a new supply!

The horses were in the barn – it was 20 degrees at 7pm – no doubt it will be bone chilling by midnite. I fed them, straightened out their blankets, and put down some more flakes of hay, and bid them good night.

Coming back into the warm house, I am greeted with the aroma of the wood stoves, and the gingerbread cookies I finished earlier. It’s time to get on the sweatpants, get a warm dog and a hot cup of tea, and settle in for the night……………….

All is well at Mountain Meadows tonite…………..

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It’s almost 2009, do you know where your life is???……………….Oprah

 

Natural Patterns

Not quite a Yule log finish……………………….!

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All is well at Mountain Meadows tonite……………….

 

Just Another Day……………

Started out the day going with the daughter to run errands and drop off blankets to the SPCA.

Yesterday the daughter did her volunteer, and was hemming up donated blankets, that had been cut up to be used as snugglies for small dogs’ beds. Daughter volunteered to bring the blankets home, where Mom (me) has several sewing machines. The volunteers had been blanket stitching the raw edges by hand, and since 2 of the volunteers had never held a needle before, and my novice sewer daughter was their instructor(!)- she opted to bring the work home!!

My favorite sewing machine is a 1950’s model, rescued from the thrift store for $5!!!! It weighs about 35 lbs, case and all!! We dragged it upstairs, pulled out a card table, and set up a makeshift sewing area in front of the tv.   I showed her how to run the machine, and sat back with a glass of wine while she worked!!! It was HER volunteer, after all!!!

My spectator status did not last long, when my favorite machine started doing things wrong. I never had it worked on or tuned up, because we were in the process of moving when I bought it. I figured I would have all my machines tuned up when we got settled here in the boonies.

Had to go drag out the Pfaff, which also needs a tuneup, but it finished the job admirably!! Good thing, ’cause the daughter’s patience was due to be drowned in a glass of wine also!!!!

It took 3 hours, and two balky machines to trim and hem up 16 blankies. But those homeless pups will love them!!!

This morning we headed out to deliver them, then stopped off to get my hair recut, followed by some quick shopping, while the husband snoozed at home in his  La-Z-Boy ‘recovery’ chair.

One edgy new haircut, and several shopping bags later, we went home. We had to take care of the horses, and fill the water trough. Despite our best efforts, the hose and pump froze again! I don’t think it got much above 28 degrees F today and tonite it will probably be in the teens.

So, the husband and his recovering rotator cuff got in the tractor- daughter and I loaded up the empty 100 gallon trough into the bucket of the tractor. Husband pulled around to the back of the house and hooked up a hose to the outdoor spigot. He then sat in the tractor with the heat on, taking a snooze, while the trough filled up.

I locked the horses up, turned off the electric fence, and opened the gate. Husband drove the tractor into the paddock, lowered the bucket, and the daughter and I gripped the edges of that heavy trough as he backed the tractor away. Lo and behold, it worked – without spilling a drop!!! I couldn’t believe it!! My idea was just to fill the tractor bucket with water, and dump that into the trough. But, no, husband insisted his way would work – and it did!

My ears are still frozen – note to self – find the hat, ear muffs and hood to the down jacket!!!

Time to get dinner ready, and sit in front of the fire……………………….

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All is well, and very cold, at Mountain Meadows tonite……………….