"Marching" In Like a Lion...

March has come roaring in like a lion here...

The winds started early this morning, and are picking up as the morning progresses.  We're supposed to have gusts of up to 50-60 mph all day and through the night. 

The dogs all "helped' me feed the calves this morning as usual, and the rain didn't stop Phoebe from begging to play ball on the way to the hutches.  You can see the path the wagon has made through the grass this winter. This morning I was slipping in the mud as I pulled it back to the barn...                                                               

We've had lots of puddles like this, this winter.  February on average around here, brings about 2.5" of rain.  We've had over 5"!

 

It's pretty difficult to see in this picture taken out the dining room window, but snow flurries are now blowing sideways!  They're melting as soon as they hit the ground, but it's snowing! 

I for one am thankful that it's not freezing cold and blowing like this.  The mud is a mess, yes, but a lot less trouble than a cold west wind, frozen water lines and plowing the driveway!

I'm hoping that if March is blowing in like a lion, that it will go out like a lamb! 

Wind Damage...

Yesterday started out to be a gorgeous day!

We said good bye to our last puppy...headed off to Church...had lunch...and relaxed a little before going to Jenna's orchestra concert...in the MGB with the top down...

But when we came out from the concert, the sky was black.  Hmmm...this was unexpected!  We hurried home, put the top up on the MGB and got ready for evening milking.

Suddenly out of the west, the wind began to blow...and blow...harder and harder.  Jenna and I watched from the kitchen window as an empty hay wagon rolled seemingly effortlessly across the yard, across the road and into the neighbor's yard, coming to rest against a tree, thankfully without doing any damage.

There wasn't much thunder, lightening, or rain...just about 15-20 minutes of strong winds.

After it was over, we looked to the west, up in the field where Jim finished baling corn fodder on Saturday afternoon...

We've never had anything happen like this before.  It looks like the side of the green wagon might have a little damage where it hit the ground, but Jim will look it over closely later today when he uprights it again.

Thankfully nothing worse happened.

There's a lot of power in the wind!

Oops...Minor Wind Damage...

Years ago, our neighbors had a shed they didn't want anymore.  So...Jim hooked a chain to it and pulled it up the road into an awkward section of the meadow.

We then put a fence around it...and put a porch on it.

We also bartered with a friend...some beef for some landscaping work.  Win-win situation!  One thing we had him do, was to plant two trees in the chicken yard to provide some shade...a Honey Locust and a Zelkova.  Both trees have thrived and grown, until last fall I noticed that the Zelkova was getting a lot of brown leaves before it should've.

Then came the wind last night, and when I went to give the chickens water this morning, I was surprised...

It wasn't uprooted, as you can see, but it simply broke off at the ground!

Luckily it didn't hit the chicken shed or the porch...

...and the Honey Locust is still doing well.  It should provide plenty of shade for the chickens and even for the calf hutches as it grows...

Bummer.  But it could have been worse.  Lots worse.  Last week a tornado touched down about 20-25 minutes from here and did some major damage to barns and homes.  No one was injured, but there was about eight million dollars in damage.

This was just a minor inconvenience.

Friday's Hunt #7 (just a little behind schedule!)...

I know, it's not Friday...and I'm a day late for Friday's Hunt with Teresa at Eden Hills!

It's been a busy couple of days, and I wasn't sure if I'd get a post finished or not, but finally there's time to sit and relax, so here goes.  I'm also going to go a little out of order this week, which goes against my grain, but oh well.

First up is "in my kitchen".  There's been a lot of hot tea consumed lately around here, and the tea box just got refilled.  It sits on my kitchen counter right beside the stove.  What's your favorite flavor?

Next up is "week's favorite"...

Tonight was the county orchestra concert, and Jenna played in the Sinfonietta.  We were sitting in the balcony, which gave us a nice view of the whole group.  They're warming up here, waiting for the concert to begin...

Last but not least is "starts with G...

I'm tired, so I chose "good night" for this one.  This picture was taken last night, just as the sun was about to go down.  The last couple of days have been long and hard.  We've been blasted with some frigid air and strong winds, and finally we are in the warm house and ready to say good night!

Check out some of the other blogs with the link at the top of the post!