When it snows, all the animals care about is food. When are they getting it. How much. When are they getting some more. There’s really nothing else to do when there’s half a foot of snow on the ground.
I tried to talk to Clover about her life, her thoughts, her plans for the future.
I told her people were asking about her. Wondering about her.
She was busy.
I told her, “But CLOVER!!! You’re popular! People MISS YOU.”
She said, “Let them eat cake.”
Then she thought better of it and said, “WHERE’S MY CAKE?”
I said, “Marie Antoinette never appeared before her people with hay in her hair.”
And Clover said, “Don’t you have a COW, Woman? Go ahead, find your cow. SEE IF YOUR COW IS AS POPULAR AS ME.”
I think somebody’s jealous and that I have my work cookies cut out for me because I have spent too much time with my cow.
Twice a day, I go out to tend the animals. I break their water. In the mornings, in particular, I count their cute little heads. Make sure everybody’s there and everybody’s okay.
I bring hay and feed.
The water hoses are frozen. Beulah Petunia is a heavy drinker. I fill up watering cans in the house and fill up her buckets. This involves repeated trips. It’s not an efficient system.
But everybody has food and everybody has water.
And everybody has somebody to snuggle.
And that’s all everybody needs.
patrice says:
Getting water to the animals has always been a huge struggle when everything freezes. Last year we had to keep the horses in the barn when we had our huge snow. They were fine at first, but as they got bored, they got really bratty!Love the pictures of the gang!
On December 8, 2010 at 5:49 am
Mermonster says:
Ah food. The way to everybody’s heart. 🙂 And I still can’t figure out how southern WV is getting more snow then we are.
On December 8, 2010 at 7:04 am
CindyP says:
Awww Clover, you’re lucky she had the cow…you’d be in the milking parlor!
Would it be easier to drag the hose in and out to BP’s water?
On December 8, 2010 at 7:05 am
Pam says:
Our llamas, goats and donkey love WARM WATER during the winter. This assures that they drink enough water. We also have a water “heater” that keeps the bucket from freezing, but they wait for the warm water.
Pam
On December 8, 2010 at 7:06 am
Gem says:
So true.
On December 8, 2010 at 7:33 am
Carol Langille says:
That part about ‘everybody has somebody to cuddle’…..now that’s something to be grateful for. More than money, more than abundant food, more than anything….someone to cuddle with at the end of a long day or the beginning of a snowy winter day. You hit the nail on the head, Suzanne.
That’s warmth from the inside out, isn’t it?
On December 8, 2010 at 7:49 am
Rachel says:
All you need is love… and food, right? When it’s too cold to run around and butt heads, what else is there to do but pester your master for food all day?
On December 8, 2010 at 8:07 am
Lee W says:
I tempted my silly ehns out of the barn with some bread crumbs. When they saw the snow they stopped dead in their tracks, and gave me the stink eye. I dropped crumbs, and they came, very begrudgingly and with lot of flapping “holy moly what IS this??” Then, when said crumbs were consumed–> back to the barn. The goats don’t seem to go out, I may need to temt them too!!
On December 8, 2010 at 8:16 am
Joycee says:
It’s gonna be a long winter…cookies would make Clover forgive you for paying BP too much attention!
On December 8, 2010 at 8:33 am
Miss Becky says:
that first photo of Glory Bee clearly show how she is growing up. Look how long her legs are becoming. thanks for all the photos Suzanne, this is such a pleasant way to begin my day. :yes:
On December 8, 2010 at 8:44 am
Lisabeth Olson says:
Clover and GB are the same color, can’t you tell her you made a mistake, oh no I guess not it is BP she is jealous of.
Well, Miss Clover sharing is necessary for all of us, two leggers or four leggers. If you share close you get more heat! :dancingmonster:
Wonderful post, but please keep the snow in WV. We are getting rain by the inches here in Oregon. That is why it is so green. :snoopy:
On December 8, 2010 at 8:51 am
ulli says:
How lovely to see your brood in snow scenes. Yes, they do eat heartily in the cold weather! What a job hauling that water. I know it’s not necessary, but if it were me, I think this spring may be a good time to build a barn.
On December 8, 2010 at 8:55 am
Wendy B. says:
Cute post! Good to hear from Clover again too. Just a little FYI, even though you probably already know about it… But I noticed that our local farm supply store is selling heated garden hoses! However, they were $80…gulp. But may be well worth the money for the efficiency and convenience. Just saying…
On December 8, 2010 at 9:09 am
mammaleigh says:
I thought it was cold here today, we are at 20 degrees, but at least I dont have the snow to deal with too! I would rather one pretty day of snow then a week of it! Or Month depending on where you live!! Y’all can keep all that white stuff up there…haha. My chickens are doing good here just pecking and scratching, then the wind will hit and they run for cover! Its funny to watch from my window.. 😉
On December 8, 2010 at 9:11 am
Beth says:
Amen!! :cowsleep: :chicken: :sheep: :woof:
On December 8, 2010 at 9:26 am
Brenda says:
What we do to keep our hoses working (if I remember to do it) is after each time we run water, we drain them. Be sure to undo them from the faucet, hold that end up in the air for a few seconds, move down a little way, hold that up for a few seconds, and so on until you reach the other end. Then since the hose is empty, it will be clear for the next time even if it’s really cold. Undoing it from the faucet also helps keep the faucet from freezing as easily. You’ll have to wait now until they thaw out, or bring them in someplace that’s above freezing (and that can get wet when they thaw), but maybe that will help.
On December 8, 2010 at 9:36 am
Ramona says:
I was thinking a big stock tank and a floating water de-icer!
Luckily our stock tank rarely freezes, but I make sure it’s filled up on the warmer days. Then when it does freeze, we break the ice.
On December 8, 2010 at 10:00 am
Ramona says:
oops, meant to post this link
This is one of my favorite places to order horse supplies from. They have a livestock catalog available too.
I think they know my voice now since I’ve used the so much….
https://www.jefferslivestock.com/search.asp?camid=LIV&ss=water+heater&search-submit=GO
On December 8, 2010 at 10:01 am
IowaCowgirl says:
I hear ya…Water, shelter, feed – that’s what my days consist of also! And this weekend is to bring frigid temperatures and blowing wind, the latter which is of concern. Livestock can handle cold, but wind and blowing ice/snow must be dealt with…we’re building a new barn/lot addition that will be done Thursday – just in time for the nasty weather! I’m so excited!!
At least I have no excuse to not get the X-country skis out and work off some pre-Christmas lipid cells….
On December 8, 2010 at 10:03 am
Teri says:
Goodness – thank you again for a chuckle. The Marie Antoinette line was priceless lol. I feel your pain with winter watering. I have to fill up my buckets in the bath tub and then I wheel them out in a garden cart down to the barn. So far the cart can make it through minimal snow drifts, but not much after that.
On December 8, 2010 at 10:08 am
BrendaE says:
What a funny and cute story with Clover. Girl you must be in great shape to haul all that water and do all those chores. Here in gorgeous Colorado it’s 60 degrees today. Woohoo! And we are the snow state – of course it’s snowing always in the mountains but down here in the city – it’s spring time.
On December 8, 2010 at 10:23 am
Karo says:
If you ever go out to count heads and find Clover missing, you just might find her lounging on a couch in a living room in a townhome in a suburb of Dallas, Texas.
And you can be sure she will be up to her horns in cookies.
On December 8, 2010 at 11:22 am
Miss Mae says:
Awww, they are so adorable! I know, I feel just like them — who cares about the snow and cold??? Just give me heat and something to eat! lol
On December 8, 2010 at 12:00 pm
marymac says:
It’s gona be a LONG WINTER…….
On December 8, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Anita says:
I have a special hose that I pull into and out of the heated tack room so I can fill up the water tank, which has a heater. Wasn’t always so easy, so I bless electricity each time I use it.
On December 8, 2010 at 1:16 pm
patrice says:
We keep our hoses in the greenhouse on the black plastic flooring. However, we got up this morning and found an ice skating rink in the horse pasture. The spigot had burst! Hubby was able to repair it so all is well again!
On December 8, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Bev says:
Burrrr… How can it be that there is snow in West Virginia and I am here in Colorado basking in 50 degree weather and not a snow flake to be found????
Actually I have not even worn a jacket yet this fall!!!
(secretly Clover is my personal favorite out of your menagerie)
gotta love that Prima donna…..
On December 8, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Jim in Colorado says:
I love the snow, and again, I love your pictures.
I was just wondering, how much hay and feed do you go through in a winter? My parents use to buy several hundred bales of extra hay, when they had the farm in Arkansas. Also I think I know why we do not have snow here in Denver. I bought a snow blower. And I want to use it real bad. You know, a guy and his toys.
On December 8, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Barbee' says:
Suzanne, our plumber scolded me when he saw our garden hose still connected to the faucet in cold weather. He said if the water in it froze it would expand… and expand up into the faucet (which might burst), and maybe the faucet’s pipe under the house which it might burst. He said he had made many emergency calls where that had happened. I appreciated his advice. You surely have a challenge there. Good luck. :hug:
On December 9, 2010 at 2:49 pm
mother of a ROCKSTAR says:
I don’t know if this helps out or not but I fill plactic jugs and carrie them down when everything freezes here. My well froze two days ago a 35 ft hand dug over 100 years old sometimes gets funny like that. I place them in a cooler that sits on a tobogan and go on down the hills. So far that works for me. Tell Clover I still love her…. hay in the hair and all.
On December 9, 2010 at 6:46 pm
mother of a ROCKSTAR says:
Gosh, that’s what I get for taking a call while doing something. I place the jugs in the sled and down I go.
On December 9, 2010 at 6:48 pm
wkf says:
Hey :wave: – I keep a hose ,that will reach the farthest trough, in the crawl space under my house. It’s warm under there. Also my husband put an outside faucette in the hot water heater line (so I could wash the dogs in the yard instead of the bath tub). It is under the house too so it won’t freeze. It’s great to get warm water to the livestock. We have been having an early hard freeze and I hadn’t put the hose under there yet, I almost cried thinking about filling up a 100 gallon tank with a 5 gallon bucket(7 horses drink out of it.) Luckily the last hose I checked wasn’t frozen. There was some serious :snoopy: going on!
On December 10, 2010 at 6:36 am
wkf says:
https://www.wildangelcozy.com/
Check this out
On December 10, 2010 at 6:48 am
Hallowes says:
Suzanne,
You just need to drain the hoses every day. You can get quick connects at a farm supply store that makes it easy to disconnect the hose from the spigot. Drag one end uphill, and if you’re going to get a lot of snow, put it away after you drain it so you can find it the next day. But as long as there’s no water in it, it won’t freeze.
On December 13, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Monique says:
If you have electricity in the barn they make a new hose that is heated and will never freeze. It’s worth investing in.
On February 23, 2011 at 3:05 pm