Mashed potatoes from the sky

6" of mashed potatoes took a couple of hours and 1 new fuse to plow this morning. Gambol ran along side the RTV as I plowed.  He hopped on at the property line (when I called) to drive down to the cul-de-sac and hopped off again when I returned to the electric box at our corner.  He was wet but not apparently tired after helping.
Reading Peony in Love (Lisa See) Chinese culture in 17th century; feet binding and women's duties *****

The Girls are paying their rent!

3 eggs this afternoon plus the one this morning. Wahoo! They are using both nest boxes.
Gambol and I will probably have to plow tonight and it's going to be ugly. Forecast is for -5 and windchill to -25 but the driveway already has some small drifts and I'll be in trouble tomorrow morning if I let it go. Been there; done that. I'll just put my full body Carhardt's on and my squirrel bomber hat, maybe some goggles and plow on.

4 + 1

We plowed 4" this morning at 0530; Gambol rode in the RTV with me for a while; he still didn't care much for the noise but didn't like the dark either, and wasn't too keen on the chest high (for him) snow in the meadow. So he rode hanging on to my back. We probably looked pretty silly to the few eyeballs that might have been out at that hour. It's cold (7 deg); the snow is almost over for now. I can see crisp snow sparkles in the 3/4 moonlight. It was a 2 round trip plow job. The drive is wide and clear but the Toy Shed and garage aprons are another story. They'll take more work.
Another rent paid; we are up to 4 eggs. This one was in the other nest box so I don't know if another pullet laying now or if the first one is just testing her options.

More snow

2" yesterday and 4 more predicted for tonight. High of about 16 today. We (Gambol and I) made 2 runs with the plow to widen and clean up a few small drifts. He didn't like the noisy diesel so he ran up the hill as I went down. He had a good long run around so I hope he'll sleep well again in his squishy bed. He has a vet appt on Friday for rabies (etc) shots, worming, a micro chip. I'd like recommendations on obedience classes too.
There was one frozen egg for me this afternoon. The shell wasn't cracked though so I'll have it for dinner.

Thanksgiving 2008

We started the day by cleaning up from yesterday: I couldn't get my car up the hill in the snow. We only had about 5" but by 5:00 it was mashed potatoes, thick and icy. I left the car at our first electric box and walked up the hill grumbling (I'm not allowed to say harping or grousing) all the way. Luckily I didn't have anything to carry; even more luckily, I had thought ahead and put boots and warm socks in my emergency kit in the car.
So first thing this morning we put the plow on the RTV and cleared the road. It's 40degrees now so plowing up the black rock has cleared away the problem. We'll have to redo the driveway next year for sure...unless we have big building trucks destroying it even more.

We decided that the day was nice enough and the girls have been pent up in the winter quarters for a week so we opened their door and ...nothing! They looked out but decided not to get their feet cold. Even a box of sunflower seeds and scratch didn't entice them.

and more to be thankful for...
3 Hardwicks and 3 Puris for 2009! It's great to be Oma and Opa x2.

Drifting

I should have plowed before I left. Instead I packed boots and mittens. I was able to drive to just below the ToyShed with no trouble, clear to the stones. Then the drifts overwhelmed the all-wheel drive. I wintered up and hiked the hill to retrieve the trusty RTV and plow. It took an hour (remember it's midnight and the stars are beautiful when not blotted by wind-blown snow) to clear 200 feet from the ToyShed to halfway up the hill. Drifts were 2+ feet deep, the limit for the RTV even in 4-wheel drive. I had to ram the snow by driving across the road to clear a path just wide enough for the car, a job probably better suited for a tractor and bucket. That done and feet frozen, I put the RTV away to begin my hike back down to get the car and hoped I did a good enough job. As I left the house I noticed big tracks, seeming fresh or at least not covered by the drifts, so I immediately thought "BEAR, and I'm going to be eaten before I get to the car." Ha! The only place the wind drifted snow is across the meadow. The tracks were my snowshoes from feeding the birds.