A Winter Weather Warning was issued over the weekend. My plans for the weekend were to take a belly photo in front of the cows saying "at least I'm not as big as a cow! (yet)". But when Hubby and I woke up to find it 29 degrees outside we didn't want to get out of bed. Trying to be a good wife I woke up and made breakfast while Farmer J warmed up the truck. I was still set on getting some cow pictures so we headed out to the fields.
At the first field Farmer J left me in the truck and he walked out to a water tank for the cows. If I had went with him I would have had to jump over an electric fence which I probably couldn't do 6 months pregnant.
That green (above) isn't grass, it's wheat! The cows eat this throughout the winter and the wheat still grows back good and strong by spring for a nice harvest. The cows on this field were huddled in a corner too far for me to snap a photo. They looked so cold!
At the 2nd field, the cows were around the water tank but they ran away as soon as we pulled up. Last year's cows were much friendlier!
Here are a few who were a little interested in me. See the snow on their backs? I could never be a rancher, I felt too bad for the cows...even though hubby says they are fine. Gotta love that marbling (that's fat in restaurant language).
I'm sure you are wondering how a farmer makes money from a rancher by letting cows eat their crop. Well I was wondering and I found out how it's done out here. The cows are weighed! When the rancher picks up his cows in the spring they should weigh more than what they weighed when he dropped them off. So it's up to the farmer to keep them fed and watered if he wants a nice profit later. *Now you know!
Here is what Farmer J did Saturday. He broke up the ice that formed in the water tank over night. He ended up pulling out 3" thick slabs of ice. Heavy, cold and wet..not a fun job. He does have warm gloves under those plastic gloves, but still I couldn't even stand outside taking pictures the entire time he was out there.
Hubs dropped me off at home after these two fields. It had only been an hour but I was cold and had had enough. I'm such a baby! Oh that's right, I'm pregnant...I'll use that excuse. While I was home cleaning I could hear ice beginning to fall. It had been two hours since he left. The fields he went to were further from home, but the water tanks have heaters so he doesn't need to break ice - unless the heaters stop working. Turns out, the heaters did stop. He made it home for lunch with ice and snow hitting the ground as he walked in.
After lunch we looked out the window to find a winter wonderland! Complete with snow lined pine needles, the soft sound of falling snow and what I call a "collision of holidays" - my jack-o-lantern covered in snow.
I took these photos from inside my house. Love the snow but this city girl hasn't gone country yet! I'll stay inside with the heat on for now...
Grits,
P.S. As of 3:00 pm the snow had stopped. However there had not been a salt truck or plow by to clear the roads, everyone knows someone with a tractor or 4x4.
Labels: country living, farming, snow, weather
