Full on

I was back in BC for seven days.  Glenn worked hard to take care of the animals and keep working on winterizing coops and runs.  It's a good thing he did, because it was -10 C on many nights.  Of course now that I am home winter has actually arrived early, and we have 5 inches of snow that fell in 24 hours.

All of a sudden bringing water to all of the animals becomes an issue, I am soaking more hay for the horses because the pasture is covered in snow, and they can only find so much by digging. Water is crucial for the horses and sheep to prevent gut problems and potentially colic, and for the birds they need more water than they have in the summer, since they eat more to stay warm, and need the water for digestion.  The horses will drink more when the water is a good temperature, so that's why we use the heated waterers.  I still have a few more extension cords to find and then I can make sure the backyard chickens and ducks have warmer water too.  

I am definitely not in 'winter shape' yet. Yesterday I moved three hundred pounds of feed on my sled, and bucketing water and carrying it out to the chook palace was a bit too much apparently, I've already strained my shoulder.  We just seem to have gone from a balmy comfortable autumn, to 'it's time to get serious about survival' early winter. Most of our to-do list isn't comprised of strenous activities, they are just all time consuming. 

But the house is cozy now that we are running the wood stove pretty much all day.  It's a comfort that is much needed and appreciated, especially now that seed catalogs are arriving in the mail almost every day! Some light reading and heavy dreaming by the fire....