I don't know how you farmers in the northern areas do it; we are having temperatures in the 20s, strong winds and sleet - and it's awful! We are not set up for any such weather. I spent most of yesterday afternoon turning off the water to the barn and pastures - three separate systems, and draining the pipes so that they won't all be broken. I thought I had done a good job of pipe draining back when it froze in December, but I still had to replace a fitting that cracked on one of the pasture trough float valves ( that must be enough nouns used as adjectives to satisfy anyone) and a short section of pipe at the wash rack. I wonder what I failed to do this time...
All the animals are getting extra hay, a few of the pensioner horses are blanketed and there is one that has to come in soon for his daily re-hab therapy. And the latches on the pasture gates are, of course, all frozen shut. I shouldn't have to endure our sweltering, humid summers only to be frozen solid in the winter. All I want to do is hibernate.
