A Blizzard On Number Seven

Today is Knee Deep in Sheep's blogiversary - number seven to be precise. Wow, how did seven years slide by already?  It sounds like a big chunk of time but it doesn't feel that way.  That happens with a lot of numbers we talk about lately... years out of college, years we've had a vehicle, years since someone passed away.....eeesh.

Anyway, we'll remember this date as the Lucky Number Seven Blizzard.

Our power went out around 4:00 AM and Andy crawled out of bed to go fire up the generator.  Because it's wired to a load center pole instead of a house it doesn't have an auto on/off function.  The generator would run for 17 hours today while NYSEG dealt with the outages across the region. We couldn't be without it.

It was hard to tell how much snow we received since the wind blew it into crazy drifts with other areas scoured bare.  We're guessing over a foot - maybe fifteen inches?  We had waist-high drifts around the house which meant wading to get to the bird feeders.

By the ram barn there were big drifts and other areas where the wind had shifted and was chewing into the snow and taking it away again.

We had pulled the doors to the ram barn closed as much as possible but it IS a barn and the doors aren't tight.  One gap about six inches wide let the wind push the snow in all night long.  It looks like a huge mess but it's probably only half a bucket's worth of water when you think about it.

The bigger snow challenge was at the lower barn.  It hasn't happened in several years but Andy had to shovel to get the sheep OUT.  It was cozy as could be inside and the sheep hadn't stuck a hoof out all night.

He had to work his way all along that side of the barn to the other big sliding door and make two lanes out to the feed  bunk.

After that workout we could actually do chores - refill mangers in the barn and then take some hay to the 'picnic area' in the feed bunk.

The sheep were totally unconcerned by the storm and the snow although they didn't like trudging through anything over their knees.

Clem says.........

"I hates snow.  I is pretending to be an indoor kitty - indoors of the barn, that is."

Time To Come Clean

Somewhere during the summer I lost my blogging mojo.  No big disasters to blame, I just sort of got out of the habit and.... didn't.  I did have good intentions and have lots of pictures on the phone.  So many that it's telling me my storage capacity is at its limit so be prepared for posts from late spring and summer scattered among the more current ones.

First up is a current post.  I hate to think it but we'll be getting into cold weather soon and then winter.  (Boo, hiss)  I had vowed during the summer that I was going to wash all my good wool sweaters while the weather was warm and dry this year and it was an intention that I'm pleased to say I actually followed through on!

Spa Day for the sweaters.

I recently got turned on to Mrs. Meyer's products and can give two thumbs up to their laundry soap.  I was delighted to find it being carried by a local Ace Hardware.  I love the light lavender scent and it cleans well (as does the dish soap).

The other (or AN other) big cleaning type job I'm tackling is to wash all the sheep coats in preparation of hay feeding season.  I had a dedicated washing machine for super dirty items such as the coats, work coveralls and coats, dog beds, lambing towels and other filthy textiles.  Unfortunately, during the summer it sprung a fatal leak - the drum had rusted through.  Gee, and it was only forty years old.  ;-)

I thought about just using the washer in my shop which I use for fleece washing but it's not a heavy duty unit and I was afraid it would quickly get beaten to death.  I searched the internet and was getting pretty disturbed - the majority of the washers were front loaders (NO!), eco-friendly high efficiency/low water users (NO!), had electronic controls (NO!), had a safety locking lids (NO!) and either cost a fortune or were cheap, lightweight, and looked it.

Then...... (cue Heavenly chorus).... I found this one by Speed Queen.  All the stuff I wanted, none of the features I didn't want AND it's made in the US - win/win/WIN!  It wasn't cheap but it was exactly what I wanted and I expect it to last a looooong time.  I ordered it through the same Ace Hardware that carries the Mrs. Meyer's products and it was delivered a few days later.

Look at all that room!  I could nearly climb in there myself.  It holds six or seven sheep coats at a whack depending on the sizes with room for the water to slosh around the way it's supposed to.

The agitator goes all the way up - none of this low profile, barely there nub of an agitator nonsense as we have in the 'people clothes' washer that I stupidly bought before I knew how ineffective it would be.

Nice simple manual controls that won't die from a tiny electrical hiccup.

So the coat washing marathon is underway.  (I don't use the Mrs. Meyer's for that - good old Arm and Hammer laundry soap from Dollar General is doing a fine job.)  It's going to take a while but they're being sorted when they come off the line and either go to the storage tubs in the barn or into the pile for mending first.

Progress on all fronts!