Well, there is ONE good thing about winter....

Photo ops.

There is just something breathtaking about horses running through snow. Especially when the snow hides all the poo that had frozen to the ground. I also got some video but we rely on our internet for TV (netflix) now and our connection sucks (one bad thing about rural life, no good high speed options for internet, just mediocre options) so uploading will have to wait until we aren't trying to watch tv.

The ponies have been getting short shrift lately, at least as far as me talking about them and posting pictures of them. I'm afraid that OMGBABYGOATS took over my brain there for a while, hehe.



but really, it's hard to resist them, you know what I mean?





But as soon as i saw this face looking at me yesterday morning I knew I needed to get the camera and get some pony pictures.



and i did. Like... 65 of them plus some video, hehe.



I found this old pool toy to swing around to get them running, since they are pretty much used to everything else and just look at me like I'm boring them if I try to chase them with anything else.





Mary doesn't care much, hehe.



It sure got Brego riled up for a bit, though.







Man. I still have to pinch myself sometimes to believe he is really mine.



Of course then I let them play with the pool toy.



Brego was not amused.



Once he sniffed it out a bit he lost interest and went back to doing what he does best.

NOMNOMNOM

How do I love thee, let me count the ways...

I love you enough to drag myself out of my warm cozy bundle of blankets at 3 am when the temp outside is -15 actual temps in order to make sure none of you are shivering and to give you extra hay to make sure you can generate enough body heat to keep warm.



I love you enough to lay on my stomach in amniotic fluid at midnight with my arm up to my elbow in your backside to turn your kid around and help you get it out.



I love you enough to carry 100 pounds worth of frozen hose in to my house every 5 days to thaw it, then slog through knee deep snow to make sure you have fresh water at all times.



I love you enough hand knit you sweaters so you won't be cold.



I love you enough to rinse out your bucket when you have been sick.



I love you enough to find that gap in your teeth adorable and still laugh myself silly over the funny faces you make.





I love you enough to say goodbye when you are ready, even when every part of me wants to hang on.





I love you enough to let you be you.

Bitter.

It is so cold outside that my camera wouldn't work.

I woke up this morning at around 3 am. Checked my email and my weather add on for Firefox said it was -15 degrees. Tsu spent the night hanging with our "bestie" Jer since they are both currently somewhat "under employed" so I had the house almost to myself. Tiff had been feeling yucky all weekend so she was mostly huddled in her room at her computer with her space heater turned up, groaning a lot about how horrible she felt.

At any rate, when I saw how bitter cold it was out there I bundled up in my mid-70's snowmobile suit, knit hat, scarf, gloves and muck boots and headed out to toss all the herbivores some hay to light up the fire in their bellies to keep them warm.

My glasses immediately frosted over to the point that I couldn't see and even breathing through the scarf the cold froze my nose hairs. Everyone outside seemed toasty warm, though all the goats were crowded as close to the heat lamp as they could get. I made sure everyone had fresh water as well, then dashed back into the house and burrowed into my sleeping bag on the futon couch. Before long I was buried under a pile of living furballs and one coat wearing skin ball, lol. If there were a way to bring the hooved (hoofed?)family members inside to keep warm I'd do it in a heartbeat, hehe.

I woke up several hours later and headed out to do my actual chores. It had warmed up to a whopping -6, actual not wind chill. I took my camera thinking I could get some updated pictures of the babies, but the screen on the camera wouldn't even light up in the cold. After i fed and watered everyone I just sat in the stall with the goats for a while and let the babies climb all over me. They make me laugh so hard.

This cold is just sucking the energy right out of me.