Look Ma! No DOG! - Saturday 2-6-10

uh. Did someone mention snow?

Friday 
8 pm -  The last time we went out for a potty run, the snow was already too deep to walk a tall dog and the wind smelled peculiar - apparently there is a major thunderstorm and we are smelling the ozone.  Kinda fun. Even the dog's are sniffing the wind.  Then again, with the winds coming up this could be air smells from middle Ohio... great farm smells and such.

midnight  - The winds started howling and the log house is shifting - and we're on the the lee side of the mountain so we don't usually feel the wind at all.  I'm hoping it blows the gnats out of the county for the next several summers...

3 am -  Gigi is whining and there is NO way I'm going to entertain any outdoor action. So I offered her water - that seemed to appease her.  We're weaning her off the anti-inflammatory stuff and today was her "on" day, so I'm guessing it makes her very thirsty.  She was equally thirsty when we brought her home from surgery. 

Saturday
6 am - The cat wants out.  And in. And out. And in. The snow is packed against the windows - it looks lacey and not too high.  Then again, it is a second floor window. It is too dark to see much more.  Probably would be lighter if I opened my eyes, but I'm no fool.

Gigi is resting comfortably and I'm relieved.  Friday afternoon she got a bit wild while we were out shoveling snow (the first 5 inches). I heard her barking and came in, expecting to see her sequestered in her "quiet space".  She had expanded her quiet space a bit.  The chairs, the barricades - all  moved out of her way.  Fortunately, the floor was under carpeting, so if she bounced at least she didn't slip.  Nonetheless, I'm watching her for any sign of damage.  And wondering what we could possibly do given that we cannot get out to get to the vet's, and the vet can't even get to the vet's.

8 am - People in the city don't have a clue what people in the country do for fun.  Well, let me clue you in...first on the agenda is digging out the sheep.

The snow is deeper than the sheep are high.  The snow is actually up to the llamas' bellies.  Now one would think that given a choice, everyone would stay under shelter, which happens to mean under the deck since we didn't have a flat enough place to put a barn.  But BooBoo, the antique sheep, was not content under the deck and apparently made her way to the sheep shed sometime during the night.  It makes some sense - it's not as tall a space so it probably feels more snug, and the hay bedding that we didn't clear out this summer is probably composting - a heating pad for antique hips. 

However, she is now trapped in the shed and the llamas are humming with anxiety.  So this makes for the first shoveling excursion of the day...Two shovels wide and 5 shovels deep to make a path so she can navigate from the shed to the deck, where breakfast is served... It takes me about 30 minutes to create the 40 foot channel.  BooBoo waits patiently until I break through that last little bit of snow and clear the channel of all vestiges of loose snow.  Not that these sheep are spoiled or anything like that.

Meanwhile, Ken is shoveling out the kitchen door. Literally.  Forget fancy, the goal is to create enough space for the ramp down and a turnaround space once Gigi gets to the end of the ramp.  We're on an austerity program today.  If you have to go, go there.  In fact, she can't go anywhere else because the snow is now higher than her back. 

Gigi makes her way down the ramp with enthusiasm and then comes to the reality that there isn't anywhere to go.  The pleading eyes - "Could you just shovel a teensy bit in that direction?" Nope. Get over it.

It will take us a day to get the tractor dug out.  The carsophagus will take another day to clear.  And then we'll tackle the other 1/3 mile of driveway down the mountain.

Meanwhile, I'll redesign the "quiet area" to include tie-down straps.