As Hard And Fast As It Came, It Left

 Spring has sprung. 

The alpaca coats fresh from the laundry, airing on the deck.

The Cold snap lasted 22, long, hard, miserable days. It was physically demanding, and draining on the soul. The alpacas were tired of hunkering down in the barn, fully unwilling to go out into the chill. They preferred to sit and chew their cud, toes tucked under their warm and toasty bellies, their warm winter coats helping with the chill, on a deep bed of straw.  

The hens, we didn't loose anyone, seemed to ride it out just fine. There was little moisture in the air and they were safely out of the wind. We had no cases of frostbite in the coop this year. By the end of day 22, they were more than ready to get out of that coop and into a lovely 32 degree, sunny day.  When I finally open the door, a great tidal wave of feathers poured from the chicken run. They didn't seem the least bit disappointed that their was no green grass to eat, or bugs to chase. They were just happy for the change of scenery and to be able to stretch their legs. With great leaps and bounds, with flapping of wings and singing of song, they bounded across the snow covered barnyard before finally settling down and looking for things to eat.

The temperature slowly crept above the freezing mark, and before we knew it we were in the 40s, the 50s, the 60s, OH MY the 70s!  Even the people went from being unrecognizable masses, bundled under layers upon layers, to being half naked, soaking up every photon from the great orb in the sky and letting it soak deeply, and warmly in to pale skin.  We all broke out shorts and shirt sleeves at about 50 degrees.

This increased, and much needed warmth, was rejuvenating.  If you looked ever so closely in the matted, flattened, straw colored thatch, you could spot the tiniest speck of green. Baby clover leaves reaching out to see if it was safe to come out.   The increases warmth causing rivers of water which had been previously trapped in the snow pack. You could actually hear it running under the thatch, finding it's way downhill. The large 4 foot drifts and plowed piles that framed every road and every driveway, didn't stand a chance.   

The winds then came, as they do in March. In Nebraska, and especially on this hilltop, they aren't subtle either. They begin as a whisper, then a yell, their howling becomes screams and while it did a wonderful job melting the snow and drying the sod, the winds made it nearly impossible to enjoy time outside. Tree limbs snapped, causing power to go out. Luckily we keep water banked for the animals if we loose power (no power=no well pump=no water). We also keep water banked for us, coffee and tea must be available.

Then came the deluge. I was joking with a fellow meteorologist last week, that since we've moved here, the records have fallen left and right. I'm starting to take it personally- record snows, drought, hail, cold snaps, low temperatures, high temperatures, dew points, air pressures, moisture in a day or for a single storm. It's becoming ridiculous. 

I've been keeping my eyes open for a couple of days of slow rain so that I could apply some nitrogen fertilizer on the hay field.  I saw it coming and drove out to pick up 500 pounds of nitrogen and 500 pounds of moisture retainer product to spread in the problem drought areas of the hay field. I hooked the rake to the tractor and thatched the whole field, keeping an eye out for invasive cedar as I went. Then I spread the products with the new broadcast spreader. Six hours later and the hay field was clean and fed, and just waiting for the rain. I managed it 5 days before the storm. Then the track changed. Our models increased the totals with each and every run. But the time the rains ended, we had managed 7.47 inches over less than two days. I'm hoping it came down slow enough the first 4 hours to dissolve the nitrogen in the soil. Time will tell. I'll either have a lush hay field, or the greenest drainage ditch in the county.

I have the fertilizer for around the house proper, but besides the ground being a bit too soggy for the tractor, the rain coming up with be another 3 inch fall in 24 hours. So I'll wait for another day on that project.

Also in the land of pleading for Spring, the potting shed is open and sprouting seeds. So far I've started the marigolds, horse radish, onions, and one variety of tomato, a new variety, cloudy day.  Now that those have sprouted, I will start the San Marzano tomatoes.

Which leads me to the next major project ~A greenhouse~

I purchased a hoop type greenhouse that a man down the road has. He has 4 of them and used to own a commercial nursery. Now in his spare time he starts plants, and gives them away for donation, and also has the most amazing tomato patch. I swear it's the annual planting process that is keeping him going. He's a dear soul and has the touch for sure. His greenhouses are in the village and between the garage and house and have never budged from their spot. He said he's never had a lick of trouble with them. So I purchased the same one. 

I actually bought it last June, and put it away for this Spring. I picked a lovely 75 degree WINDLESS day to put it up. It snapped together in the blink of an eye, with heavy steel tubes with push-pin to lock, male and female ends. The cover looked heavy enough and slid right on. Following online suggestions, I did make a large, heavy, wooden frame to sit around the outside edge to hold down the apron. I used their supplied tie down cords, which were little more than poly baling twine and cheap, short tent stakes. First thing the next morning I went out and purchased 18 inch long industrial stakes and used paracord with taught-line knots to secure their covering. That was on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday the wind picked up, just a little. Saturday, the winds really picked up. At 30 mph, which is nothing for here, she was just fine. Sunday morning we were gusting to 37. On a walk with the dog, Doc noticed that the cover was ripped, the green house cover was floating above the frame like a kite. All of my tie downs and cord were secure, but their seams had ripped. I packed it up and returned it. 

I've wanted a real one for years, but other projects came up. We fell in love with one from Kansas at a garden show. But they're backed up in ordered for MONTHS. I could design my own and build it, but quite frankly boards and sacks of concrete are getting heavier and heavier as time goes by. I could have the shed company that has done other work for me design and build one for me, but they're backed up as well.

So I opted for a you assemble it kit from a local hardware store. As nowhere on this property is level, I'll be building a platform frame for the base and then install and secure it to that. I have high hopes and yet none at all. 

We shall see. 

Cold Doesn't Even Begin To Describe It

 We knew it would be coming. You can't spend all of a Central Plains winter working and being outside in nothing but a T-shirt and windbreaker, or a sweatshirt. At some point you KNOW you're going to pay for that. Usually we get brutally cold for a few days, five at the most in mid to late January. Sometimes we get a warning shot across our bow for a couple days in December. But for the most part, as cold, miserable and windy as the storms are, they are quick to pass, and normal temperatures creep in and let us enjoy winter without considering moving the whole farm to a warmer climate, like Greenland.

The snowfall this year hasn't been funny either. Instead of coming down one or two inches at a time, melting off the roads shortly after we plow, and then off the grass a couple days later. This year it has  come down down by the mountain load. And it has stayed, in one case a dump of 14 heavy,wet inches.

Now has come the cold. It started a few days ago with temperatures dipping well below freezing and it's stayed there, day and night, and it will for at least the next 10 days. (17 days below freezing is what it ended up being.) In fact, our temperatures will be below 10'F as a HIGH temperature for the next 7 days. Wind chills will be dropping us to -40'F this weekend. Luckily, the animals are kept out of the wind and we spend as little time in it as possible. (Our lowest real temp was -31 and wind chill that night was -45'F.)

The alpacas can handle the cold out of the wind. They have thick rubber mats on their stall floors and a DEEP layer of hay/straw on top of that to snuggle into at night. They have full access to inside the barn, which does stay a few degrees warmer than outside. They get extra food rations, and have heated water at all times. Yesterday, I wrangled them and put their coats on them. That will make them even happier. They do get bored, and when the sun comes out, they do wander down the pasture and have some hay in the shed, wrestle, or just go for a run.

Don't fret. The hens are just fine too. Nights are brutal, but their well designed coop and run are draft free, and the clear panels allow heat to build on a sunny day. Today when the temperature was only 6 degrees at lunch, it was 24 in the coop. I'm sure we'll have a couple end up with frostbite on their combs, but that happens every winter. They too have heated water and get extra feed, to include warm veggies for breakfast and dinner.  They've been as low as -18'F before, so I'm not worried about them. Merriweather, at age 6.5, has been put in the 42 degree workshop. She's old and gets a pamper spa week. 

So if I'm not outside, what am I doing? Last week I had a ball being the weekly host at @smallholdingsUK on Twitter. If you twitter, check it out.  It is a group of small land holders, originally only in the UK, but now all over the world. We share what we do, where we are, and how we do things. It's a great way to travel and meet new people and get new ideas without stepping out the door. :::Waving to all my new friends.:::

I've also snuck down to the sewing room. I can't sew while Doc is working in his office, so my pile of work has been waiting for me. I had a small project I could work on while he was upstairs working on non-school things. 

A few weeks ago I found a yard of very high quality flannel at the local charity shop for only $1. At the time I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but it followed me home anyway. I found a list of things online that you can do with bits of flannel. I passed on the washable swifter type dusters and found someone that was making re-usable/washable 'paper' towels that snapped together and rolled up. What a great idea! I decided to forgot the cute snap idea and just went with the quilted rag idea.

I purchased a yard of grey terrycloth with my coupon for $5 and set to work.

I washed and dried both to mitigate shrinkage. I placed the flannel on the terry and pinned it all over. Wrong. Wrinkle planet. Wrinkles everywhere. That wouldn't do at all. I removed all the pins and put the flannel UNDER the terry and pinned- much better. 

Then I simply used the machine to sew a diagonal line across the whole thing and then mirrored that line about every 2.5 inches to quilt the two pieces together. Then I figured the best cut size to minimize waste, which turned out to be 11 inches square with only a tiny bit of loss to square the piece up.

I ended up with 12 quilted rags. They needed the diagonal that goes the other way which was faster and easier on an 11 inch piece than a giant panel. Then I simply finished off the edges with the serger. 12 nice mop up rags or dust cloths for only $5 and two hours at the machine!

Another treasure at the charity shop. a 12 ounce glass peanut butter jar full of pins, old sharp sewing pins and long hat pins, as well as tailor pins. The BEST treasure this time was a roll of pale lilac table cloth. It is 44 inches across and started as 100 foot long. There is at least 50 feet there as it almost filled it's original box. It feels like percale cotton. I'll test it. If nothing else it will be GREAT for pattern mock-up. If it's cotton, then a matching historic 1840 skirt/shirt set it is! How much was it. Well it was on half price sale. $2.50 yup. So check your charity shops !