Merry Christmas… It’s 5:38 am Christmas day on the High Plains of Wyoming. The wind is blowing and it is snowing a wet sticky snow. I’m going to see if I can capture some of the beauty with my camera after the sun peeks over the horizon.I woke up about 45 minutes ago. Ran the house dogs outside to do their business and stood in the door and soaked up the beauty of a small elm tree flocked with fresh snow.
When I first looked out I didn’t see any drifts, selective vision don’t you know…lol. Then I looked more than 2ft in front of my face…lol and of course there are drifts. Like waves on the ocean. It’s not very cold, 28 degrees Fahrenheit by the weather channel on my computer. 38 degrees in this valley by the thermometers on the fence. That explains why the snow is sticking to the walls, trees, fence, everything it comes in contact with. It’s freezing and melting, then freezing again.
God be with the folks on the roads today, they are going to need all the help they can get.The kennel is quiet, no howling or barking this morning. All the work preparing for winter is benefiting the little hairballs this morning. Hauling straw in and filling their houses, covering the fronts of their pens with tin, as well as half the tops. Gives them added protection from the bone freezing wind chill that comes with storms like this.
This morning my dogs, large and small alike are taking advantage of their houses and the windbreaks around them. It was a gut wrenching, muscle pulling, job getting that tin up and anchored so the wind can’t sail it away. My body still feels like it’s been attacked by an oversized meat tenderizer hammer. Ouch! Painful muscles aside, it’s worth it to have the protection up around the dogs.
Before the influx of rescues this fall my kennel was pretty well prepared with calf hutches for houses and dairy stripping for doors (vinyl strips overlapped hanging from the top of the doorways) It took a gargantuan effort to get the rest of it constructed and prepared for winter. It’s still not the way I’d like it but it’s working. The dogs are doing pretty good over all. Taking care of them is kicking my behind. But they have a place to sleep, water to drink, food to eat, and a visit and pat on the head. Each group has at least 2 dogs in it. So they have company and someone to curl up with.
Truthfully taking care of the dogs is about all that has been getting done. Go out take care of the dogs, come in and collapse. Start functioning again and shred paper for the whelping house.I’ve got to get to work on the paperwork end of things. Ugh! Besides shredding mountains of paper for bedding that is…lol…newspapers, magazines, catalogs, envelopes, whoo hoo it’s a shred fest. Yes friends and neighbors bring me their newspapers, magazines, catalogs, etc for recycling into dog bedding. Their paper contributions are much appreciated.
I do wish I had my dog barn up. That would be wonderful, early morning lights, good venting, solar heat/and cooling for the summer, fresh water all the time, a grooming area with hot water on demand, and cage dryers as well as handheld, more protection from the winter storms, coyotes, cougar, as well as the scorching heat of summer. Indoor outdoor runs for the Pomeranians. So they can still go out and play but with a bit more protection.
Would be nice, change that, will be nice. Although sometimes I wonder if it’s more for me than for the dogs. They seem pretty happy the way they are. Getting to be dogs on a ranch…lol.Life is a journey…enjoy the trip…
Mary E. Robbins & the Hairballs
307.788.0202 USA Mountain Time
If you click on the photos they will blow up to full size... just remember to use the back button or open them in a different window or tab.
P.S. The photos above are the view this morning, from my front door.
P.P.S. The photos below are more December ranch photos... enjoy...
December 16th, 2007 early morning...
The light shining out of my kitchen window before the sun was fully up.. icicles anyone?
Absolutely beautiful morning...
December 24th, 2007 ...Diesel playing with a piece of firewood.
Ranch cats sunning themselves on poles, in front of the feed storage...
Chickens out and about...
Diesel and LuLu (Lu Lu is the lab)
Breathtaking views from my yards... cattle on the range... view to a ridge 30 plus miles away...
Guinneas and Chickens...
The Gray Goose... 2 of our geese survied the cougar hunting...we are shutting our birds up and night now...
Diesel and Sara... Sara has the fire wood this time...
My beautiful Sara weighs about 120 lbs...
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