Welcome to Fern Valley

Here in central Alberta prime farm country,my husband Martin and I work together raising beef cattle and Appaloosa horses. Fern valley appaloosas have long been known for their quality of temperament conformation and color.I have recently rediscovered a love of writing and have published 2 collections of poetry. "Telling Tails" and Tails Trails and Campfire stories" . I look forward to a future spreading my wings as an author and as a horse woman .

Sunday 15 January 2012

careful what you wish for (be specific!)

So , I have said a few times , we needed more snow. and last night ...

we got it , along with blowing snow , and a serious drop in temp

I had commented too, that a little cooler would be better, the warmish season  seems to make colds and flus more prevalent and Quinn's wound is much harder to keep clean with the chronic melting . Guess I needed to be clearer about how much colder! We have gone from soup to nuts !
above zero last week to -21C dropping to as low as -37C over the next week . Too lazy to do the conversion right now , but suffice to say -40 C is the same as -40 Fahrenheit! 

the horses are fine, lots of feed , some straw (if it didn't blow away ) and fresh water 

Snow is staying on their backs , is a good sign 

took fresh bedding to Quinn and Comet (Or rather Quinn , who has claimed this bale as his!) 

"Hey hey ! What about meee?"

The ladies in waiting too are holding their own in this cold snap.
Guess it is just me and Skeeter who are  unhappy.
By the way , note to all , bored Border collie Blue heeler crosses are maniacal! Add a big old golden retriever to a housebound  Skeeter , and they will rearrange your furniture! 
Stay warm and safe! 

19 comments:

sally said...

Oh my gosh I just cant imagine weather that cold. The coldest we get in winter is just a few degrees below 0C. Glad the horses are all coping just fine and Dandy. As for dogs ....well I can imagine they would get bored. Stay safe and WARM!!!

Country Gal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Country Gal said...

It droped here to -17 C with the wind chill on Sat then yesterday it warmed up a bit. All last week and the week before it was spring like snow on and off and rain ,now we are warming up again and rain its crazy out there ! When I was kid - 22 C in the winters was normal ya know the kind of snap cold when ya entered outside your nostrils would instantly freeze and stick together those are the winters I remember not so much here now the climate has changed soo much ! Awesome photo , stay warm and safe !

GoLightly said...

LOL at Quin claiming his own bale:)
That's freakin' BRUTAL cold, FV! jeeesh, your nose will be drippin' icicles..

I kept the girls in this weekend too. We went from plus temps to minus 20 C temps, sooo.

My rug and couch will never be the same again.
Have a safe warm day!

Fantastyk Voyager said...

That's just too cold! Hope you can stay warm.

kden said...

Wow, I feel better about our balmy 14 this morning.

Nicole said...

Yes, I know what you mean about "be more specific". I've learned that the hard way many times!

Shirley said...

I guess the other shoe has dropped, huh?
Bored dogs indoors =trouble!
Skeeter looks quite stylish in his sweater.

Life on the Smushie Ranch said...

It's beautiful but definitely looks cold! We haven't got snow in our neck of the woods, in fact we've never been in the snow. Stay warm everyone!

Janice said...

Too cold...your're right you have to wish for things very specifically...we didn't have much snow and I said we aren't going to get any grass in the Spring.......Spring...longing .....so we got snow and now it's cold...a little of what you got not as cold though...I can surely live without that.-18 this morning, I hope it doesn't go any lower than that. Stay warm my friend and keep those things on your boots.

Wolfie said...

Where I am in Ontario, we had gorgeous weather all last week. Nice fluffy snow now coats the trails, but now it's a deep freeze. The high yesterday was -15C....too cold to ride, but was too beautifully sunny to stay inside! I bundled up and went out to the farm where my horse is boarded and spent time with horses....not a bad way to spend an afternoon, in spite of the cold! :-)

Crystal said...

We are only at -11 here, but still a shock compared to last year, but was looking at the weather network and it said Mar 14 last year was the lst time Calgary hit -20 so been a long time! I think it said Jan for Edmonton which seems crazy over a year!!

aurora said...

Love the additional snowcap blankets on nice warm coats!

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

Eekkk! That is just plain bitter cold. Don't care if it's Celsius or Fahrenheit.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Love the Quinn photo: "My Hay!" lol!
The ladies in waiting are the lucky ones. I have always been pregnant during the winter....the best time to have an extra body to heat up the inside of you, plus your metabolism is higher which also keeps you warm. Not so nice in the summer...but wonderful in the winter.

We've still got hard-packed ice and snow on the ground here from our past blizzards and snow storms over a month ago.
And the stuff that is finally melting is causing a huge greasy, slippery muddy mess!

Try to keep warm...Hot Buttered Rum Toddies are my fave for freezing cold winter days.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

I just reread my comment..lol! It sounds like I said I've been pregnant ever winter. lol!
What I meant to say was "When I was pregnant, it was always in the winter" lol!

~Lisa

Trainwreck said...

Brrrrr looks a little chilly here! I think you need to post pics of the "new arragement"! lol oh it sure feels good to be "visiting" again!!

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Yep girl, my daddy always said, "be careful what ya wish for!"

Good luck with the ladies in waitin'. Seems like the cattle give birth on the coldest of nights.

Have a fantastically blessed week sweetie!!! :o)

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

That's a good point about colds and flus and warmer weather. Last winter was loaded with snow and no one got sick. This year during the drought, we've had two viruses make the rounds already, and our hay farmer says there is an epidemic in Sacramento.