Snowvember

I didn't think up that cute term, our weatherman did because we set a record for snow in November, all I know is that it makes a heck of a lot of work for us!

Two weeks ago we got nearly a foot of very fluffy snow and spent a day at the farm cleaning yards, bedding and feeding cattle and hauling manure, a day in the life of a farmer. Then the sun gods came out later in the week and melted most of it and we cheered because we still had cattle to work and the weather had not been conducive.

We did manage to work cattle the day before Thanksgiving and woke up the next morning to sleet and then snow on top which made for a very slow trip to Paullina to eat with the Lundquists. We were glad we only had to travel 10 miles and not over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house.

The sun gods again came out on Saturday and melted most of it which we cheered because the weatherman was already saying we would get dumped on beginning early Monday morning and continuing through Tuesday at 6 PM.

The snow gods were not wrong and we awoke Monday morning to huge, marshmallow flakes floating gently to the ground. I decided to keep a photographic journal of the progress, here the tree has no snow stuck to it and you can see the size of the flakes.

It's beginning to pile up...

...Murphy loves it, she was out the entire day while Mollie holed up in the dog house on her heated bed. Mollie's my kind of dog.

The snow was heavy and wet, sticking to everything.....

....dragging branches to the ground.

Murphy is on the hunt for the elusive squirrel that taunts her from the tree tops.

Did I already say the snow stuck to everything?

These are the cranberries on the bush the squirrel loves.

Our huge evergreen, when Bruce and I got married, I put lights on this tree, not any more.

Did I already say the snow stuck to everything??

We lounged in the house all day Monday, there wasn't much we could do while it was snowing so we conserved our energy for the next day. Bruce was already gone when I finally got up and I knew this was no day to laze around in my PJ's but got dressed, did chores and headed to the farm where I knew there was plenty of work waiting me.

Bruce was moving snow and he had a parking place all plowed out for me in front of the garage and Lena came running and running her mouth, complaining that there was no food in her bowl yet! Bruce said when he got there, Ole was waiting also so I fed Lena and suddenly who should appear, but Ole! I was standing about 10 feet away but kept talking to him, he was wolfing down the cat chow as though he hadn't eaten in a week. I kept moving closer, he wanted to run but the food was just too tasty.

I ended up sitting on the steps, just inches from the pan, Ole moved back but he wanted to be petted. He rubbed against the garage, against the live trap that was there, he really, really wanted to be petted and he finally let me. It was a break through moment!

But I couldn't spend all day petting him, there was snow to move, Bruce filled my trusty skid loader with hydraulic fluid and away we went to the three bay cow pens. I pushed snow and poopy bedding out, into the alley for Bruce to haul away. He is trudging to the machine shed to get the tractor and manure spreader.

So that is how we spent our day, pushing snow and manure, loading and hauling manure back onto the fields, breaking for dinner and a nap before returning to the farm.

It's a lot of work but so satisfying to see our lovely bovine ladies hanging out in the clean bedding, if we could just convince them to step out of the shed when they have to go.

I wasn't even done in the barn when the fat cattle were checking it out, I'm sure they are all warm and cozy tonight in the fresh corn stalks.

I was finished, put my skidloader away and was walking to the barn to shut the door when Ole shot out, took one look at me and ran back into the barn. He was by the big bales, I'd call him and he would answer so I just sat down and waited. Just like this morning, he wanted to be petted but he'd been a wild cat for so long he just couldn't make up his mind.

Ole rubbed the bales, rubbed the posts, got so excited he peed a little bit, then rolled around on the ground, peed some more.

"Geez, Ole, get a grip!"

After thoroughly wetting everything around him, he came to me, and we had a love fest. Then I couldn't get away, he was all over me. Ole is not as heavy as he was when he came, he was a big boy but then he was kind of a couch potato. So I'm just hoping he will remember how good this felt and want to be around us when we are there.

Who knows, maybe he will be the next tractor cat, kind of picking up where Morris left off.