THE END IS NEAR

Yes, spring was spposed to be here on March 20th.  It's April and there seems to be no end in sight. Until yesterday!  It was a beautiful 45 degrees and the sun was shining!  I haven't been this happy in 6 months!

A few weeks ago I pulled into the driveway to find a new snowman in our yard.  I laughed hysterically for a moment after I read his sign:  "THE END IS NEAR!" Then I cried.  Because it was the end of March and there was still enough snow to build a snowman.  "Egads!  Will it ever end!" I sobbed.

Here is how it went:

then, I put this picture up on the Facebook page entitled, Meanwhile in Minnesota.  Next thing I know someone spent some Photoshop time with our snowman:

and enjoy the video:

Yesterday - it's felt like it was all over!  Well, until tomorrow when it snows again…. bah!  Humbug!

THE CHAT - THIS TIME I PUNCH PEOPLE IN THE FACE!

Yes, this winter is getting to me.  I wanna punch people in the face!  This statement came outta nowhere in this chat and it's still the funniest thing I've said in years.  I wonder though… is it really funny or is it one of those, "Guess you had to be there?"

Not sure.  Oh well!  Hope you find it amusing at least!  or that you can relate.

The Chat - they've got pet peeves up their sleeves!

IT'S SNOWING! GOOD THING WE GOT THAT TRACTOR!

See, I knew we were gonna need it!  Look at this baby go!

We got about 4-6 inches on Sunday and Bob was in his glory!  Plowing around he stopped and said to me, "This is fun!"   Then he had to call me while I was out and tell me, "That was a religious experience for me!"

 I think he's smitten!


a little blurry - my hands were shaking I was so excited!

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE....

I knew it was coming.  Ya know why?  Because Noon came inside.  Noon only comes inside when it becomes winter outside.  She came in the other day and I knew the snow was coming.  Animals are like that, they know things humans only wish they could possibly know.  Noon knew, so she came inside.

We had a slight dusting of snow last night, but it will start to accumulate and soon it will look like this:

and then i will cry....

But then get caught up with the blog because the long, hard winter will have set in and the only thing to do around here is nothing. Or blog, or play with Afro (the wig).

THE MELTDOWN IS TRAGIC!

Yes, this week we had a nice meltdown.  All week the temps were in the 40's:

 and the snow began to melt:

It was great!  i saw green things!:























I also saw the driveway, which wasn't around for gosh, what?  two months or has it been two years?
Hello driveway!

i saw the paths emerging from the white;

I also found the greatest sign of spring; the flowers peeking up through the leaves, emerging from their dormant winter nap.

Even the chickens and ducks were enjoying the meltdown, ducks after all are waterfowl - meaning they like water, not snow.  Even if it was a little muddy, they certainly seemed happier.

my tracks in the mud

but then it happened, again! A drop in temp and low and behold~

SNOW!

I could no longer see the driveway:

or the paths:

or the green grass.

The horses were a pretty mess of snowy mares and geldings.

But i have hope, because this happens every year.  We have a nice meltdown, then it will snow again, then maybe another meltdown, but another snow after that may not happen. At least i always have the greatest sunsets to watch around here!

Good news is the seeds arrived this week too!

Means the green house will be opening soon, a chance for us to watch produce start its life with the help of my two little hands, some great manure enhanced dirt, some artificial light and a warming coil.  Ahhhhh!  warm - i like that word.

POTSTICKERS, PILE OF HOUNDS AND PHOUL WEATHER

That's right - phoul - phor the phonetically challenged types (no- it just kept with all the p's in the previous words).
This was my sad, damn cold winter day today:

I am often challenged by breakfast, mainly because i now try to eat better then i ever have and because most breakfast foods are bad for you: sausage, bacon (although i really do love bacon), bread, sweet breads. All that stuff really isn't very good for you, well if you compare it to what is: like fresh fruit and vegetables.  And think about it:  a full plate of bleached white flour, with milk and some leavening = pancakes! Yuck, plus add that syrup and butter to the top just to make it edible, double yuck!  For me, anyway.  So i have to be quite creative in my food choices.  And as i am thinking about this, maybe potstickers were not the best example in comparing bad breakfast foods to good breakfast foods, but i regress.  So i had potstickers for breakfast.  and they tasted good! : )

Nummy potstickers frying the pan - grease almost hit my lens!

Then the next part of my day, as i settled into write on the blog and check my Facebook pages (when really i should be thinking of more important things i should be doing like getting the tax stuff together or replacing the tile in the foyer - but i regress), i found a PILE OF HOUNDS on the couch.  Now this is nothing new really for my girls but i thought i would share the beauty:

Now the next part of my day belongs outside because dear old mother nature has sought revenge on MN again this year and there are to be windchill factors of -25 to -30 degrees tonight.  Yes, your heard me right - NEGATIVE 30!  All this does is create more work for me, because i can't leave the horses out there in that kind of weather when they don't have a three sided shelter in which to stand under.  So i will be bringing them in to their stalls tonight.  Ahhhh.... life on the farm.

This is the weather forecast for the next 12 hours, and yes that is a FEELS LIKE of -29 at 11 pm tonight folks!

Weather Warnings
Thursday Jan 20
Time	Forecast	Temp	Feels Like	Wind	Humidity	Precip Chance	UV Index
12 PM	Blowing Snow	8°	-12°	22 mph NW	69%	40%	1
1 PM	Blowing Snow	7°	-14°	21 mph NW	69%	40%	1
2 PM	Blowing Snow	5°	-16°	21 mph NW	69%	40%	1
3 PM	Blowing Snow	4°	-17°	21 mph NW	69%	40%	1
4 PM	Partly Cloudy	2°	-19°	19 mph NW	70%	0%	0
5 PM	Partly Cloudy	-1°	-22°	18 mph NW	72%	0%	0
6 PM	Partly Cloudy	-3°	-24°	16 mph NW	74%	0%	0
7 PM	Partly Cloudy	-4°	-25°	15 mph NW	75%	0%	0
8 PM	Partly Cloudy	-6°	-26°	14 mph NW	76%	0%	0
9 PM	Partly Cloudy	-7°	-27°	13 mph NW	78%	0%	0
10 PM	Partly Cloudy	-9°	-28°	11 mph WNW	79%	0%	0
11 PM	Partly Cloudy	-11°	-29°	10 mph WNW	80%	0%	0

But at least the sun is shining~!