It is coming. Winter is coming and I can't stop it. I must admit that I am okay with winter weather. I would never consider leaving Indiana and I do like the different seasons. I would think even the most anti-winter person would enjoy snuggling up by the fire watching the snow fall on the pastures. Top it off with a good movie and a cup of hot chocolate and it is a slice of heaven. Besides, the dogs love it.
Winter also allows us to be a little more lazy. We don't have near as many outdoor chores to do during the winter. This is also the first year with the new water line to the barn.
To give a little background, when we bought the property in October we loved the fact that there was a water line in the heated tack room to use in the winter. Well in January the water line froze so we had to haul buckets from the house in the winter to keep the horses watered. I thought no big deal. I will look at in the spring and find where it is freezing and solve the problem. In the spring I discovered that the water line "swooped" up at the barn. No big deal, dug that portion deeper and insulated. The next year - same problem. Water line froze. Again, I thought no problem. I will find another high spot and solve it. In the spring the water line ended up bursting IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RUN. It was only 12" deep - IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RUN. Whomever ran the line only put it in 12 - 16" the entire way. Needless to say, I ran a new much deeper water line a few months ago so this will be the first winter on it. If it freezes this year - I will be renting a back-hoe and putting the line in to the depth of about six feet!!!
To prepare for winter we have to do a lot of tasks and really the process starts about in October. We start by making sure the hay loft is full of hay for the winter. We also start filling the dairy barn with round bales. We are lucky because we can get hay year round, but we don't like throwing hay when it is -20 out, so we try to stock up.
We also have to blow out the outside water spigots and the water line that feeds the open dairy barn. That means we loose the Little Giant Poultry Auto Waterer for the winter, but you can see below how we deal with that. We also install all the livestock tank heaters and change the horse stall water buckets out to heated buckets.
The house is much easier. We make sure the storm windows are installed, the wood pellets are stocked, and the outside spigots are off. I have the upstairs demolished for the remodel, so I did block of the attic vents until we get insulated and drywalled. I hope that will happen soon (and by soon, I mean within the next 2 years, but don't tell my lovely bride).
So I guess bring on winter. We are ready. No matter what is thrown at us, we will always have fun. Heck, riding in the snow covered fields is a blast!
In fact, I don't think there is much better. Well maybe there are some things better...
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