Brrrr!!!

It was six below zero (F) this morning when I crawled out of bed at 5:00am.

The plans this morning were for me to be gone at 7:00 to head downstate, and for Will and the kids to be at school at 7:45.  This meant getting out to the barn early and doing the chores before daylight...in sub zero temps.  However, it was not to be, for the phone rang at 6:00 with a call from the school saying it was cancelled.  6:30 brought a call from my dear friend I was riding downstate with saying it sounded like the roads were bad (lake effect snow) and all the schools in the UP and Northern Lower Peninsula (NLP) were closed, so we bailed on the trip until friday.

Chores were much more leisurely than expected! 

Cold, but not rushed.

Probably the biggest pain in the bum doing winter chores is bunny water.  

You can't use the bunny water bottles because the steel ball freezes right quick. We switch to water crocks when they start freezing up.  This means you have to take a big pan full of hot water outside with you to submerge the water crocks in, and then watch the cakes of ice bob up to the surface (this is fun...you have to take your pleasures where you can), then fill up the crocks with water from the gallon jugs you have taken outside with you.  Everyone also gets some food and hay and extra treats in cold weather to keep them warm.  We have recently brought one old girl in the house; Mocha Delight who is five years old.  She is starting to get a bit on the thin side so needs some extra pampering.  She is to the left of me as I type.

Extra straw in the boxes too for those bunnies outside.  

The ducks, even in sub zero temps, or maybe because of them, delight in splashing about in their improvised small puddle of water.  This three gallon fortiflex pan gets its solid ice dumped out every morning and then filled with fresh water for some drinking and paddling (mostly paddling).  They amaze me at how joyful they are with a bit of fresh water and a handful of chopped greens.  I'm so glad they came to us.

Around four I went out to refresh the frozen waters  with some liquid water and peeked into the barn.  All of the woolies were inside trying to keep warm.  Will and I this morning took the last few bales of hay out of the back of the barn (the loft is still full) to open up that space for the bodies to spread out. They all seemed pleased with this and everyone decided to hang out there this afternoon.  I gave them more water and another bale of hay to ward off the cold we are expecting this evening.  

Caught a few pictures while I was out there giving Fancy Pants chest scritches and snorgles that she said she deperately needed....

 Tea, posing. The Goats are ALWAYS posing!

 Elle, eyes aglow!

 It is hard to get good pictures of camelids. 

 They are either too close to the camera, or will not look at you at all!

 Elle and Gaia (mother and daugher)

 Creme de la Creme and Soliel

Creme with Igraine the nosy llama in the background.

(oooh, and a glowing eyed sheep I hadn't noticed!  Looks like Liz)

Riverbelle

007's Fiona Volpe

(if anyone knows what that means, let me know!)
-I Googled it:  Fiona Volpe was an assassin for SPECTRE in Thunderball.

 Pearls 2011 Cria

(She needs a name!)

Giraffe Girl -GiGi's golden fleece is in the background

 Crowd shots- shooting over the back of the annoying llama (who shall go unnamed),

 who wouldn't leave me alone!

You may have noticed that many of the new alpacas have some hair missing off of their noses.  They had been eating out of a round bale of hay; sticking their faces into the bale looking for the good bits, and in doing so repeatedly wore the hair off their noses.  It looks a little strange I think!