Not Much Done Around the Farm Today, Even So, it was a GOOD DAY!
Entry for: Sunday, 23 January 2011
Nope, not much done. I spent all my available time yesterday, and happier lad am I for doing all that yesterday. The temperature never rose above 15 degrees all day and that’s BEFORE computing the wind-chill that dropped the perceived temperature well below zero F. Tonight, it’s already -5F. I’m glad the horses are wearing their overcoats and have agreed to stay in the barn. The inside temperature (with still air is usually 10 to 15 degrees warmer than outside. That’s because the barn walls have some insulation beyond wood, and the hay in the loft adds more heat retention by insulating half the roof with five feet of haw - Serious R value in all that hay.
SO
I hung out with a working woodstove. I worked several crossword puzzles (I’m catching on to some of the regular clues) and played a bit with Assassin’s Creed - on the Xbox360. Inside house chores took some time. I had all day to get those done.
I’m on semi-vacation this coming week. That means that I work fours hours a day from home to help out the other group members that are working from the hospitals. This isn’t “Real Vacation” but being able to read studies in my sweat clothes with a cup of coffee in hand and dogs at my feet is a GOOD THING nevertheless.
I carved a “Pee Path” for the dogs that circumnavigates the house. It was cut through more than two feet of snow - in some places three. The mice have carved tunnels through the crustier snow in search of dropped sunflower seeds from the bird feeders. The dogs were immediately enlarging those mouse tunnels for hours yesterday and again (not for as long) today. I still find it hilarious to watch large black dogs “Snow Diving”. No single picture can capture the game - so a word image will have to suffice:
The dogs snuffle around for a bit. They stop and hold PERFECTLY STILL while moving their heads from side to side, then canting them until they have a fixed site in mind. They then leap straight up and come down on their noses with enough force to have their head and shoulders buried in the snow. With the faces still in the snow, they start digging with clods of snow flying back from their frantic efforts - all the while, their tails are wagging as fast and hard a possible - perhaps trying to drive their faces further into the snow. I haven’t seen them come up with anything - but they are surely trying hard.
My computer desktop cycles through my hiking pictures. They keep me focused on the upcoming hiking season. I am preparing for the trail by walking while wearing the loaded pack up and down the snow-filled driveway and town road. Summer is coming. I need to be ready. . . .
More later,
Doc
Nope, not much done. I spent all my available time yesterday, and happier lad am I for doing all that yesterday. The temperature never rose above 15 degrees all day and that’s BEFORE computing the wind-chill that dropped the perceived temperature well below zero F. Tonight, it’s already -5F. I’m glad the horses are wearing their overcoats and have agreed to stay in the barn. The inside temperature (with still air is usually 10 to 15 degrees warmer than outside. That’s because the barn walls have some insulation beyond wood, and the hay in the loft adds more heat retention by insulating half the roof with five feet of haw - Serious R value in all that hay.
SO
I hung out with a working woodstove. I worked several crossword puzzles (I’m catching on to some of the regular clues) and played a bit with Assassin’s Creed - on the Xbox360. Inside house chores took some time. I had all day to get those done.
I’m on semi-vacation this coming week. That means that I work fours hours a day from home to help out the other group members that are working from the hospitals. This isn’t “Real Vacation” but being able to read studies in my sweat clothes with a cup of coffee in hand and dogs at my feet is a GOOD THING nevertheless.
I carved a “Pee Path” for the dogs that circumnavigates the house. It was cut through more than two feet of snow - in some places three. The mice have carved tunnels through the crustier snow in search of dropped sunflower seeds from the bird feeders. The dogs were immediately enlarging those mouse tunnels for hours yesterday and again (not for as long) today. I still find it hilarious to watch large black dogs “Snow Diving”. No single picture can capture the game - so a word image will have to suffice:
The dogs snuffle around for a bit. They stop and hold PERFECTLY STILL while moving their heads from side to side, then canting them until they have a fixed site in mind. They then leap straight up and come down on their noses with enough force to have their head and shoulders buried in the snow. With the faces still in the snow, they start digging with clods of snow flying back from their frantic efforts - all the while, their tails are wagging as fast and hard a possible - perhaps trying to drive their faces further into the snow. I haven’t seen them come up with anything - but they are surely trying hard.
My computer desktop cycles through my hiking pictures. They keep me focused on the upcoming hiking season. I am preparing for the trail by walking while wearing the loaded pack up and down the snow-filled driveway and town road. Summer is coming. I need to be ready. . . .
More later,
Doc