Snowapocolypse 2011

Or snow-alpaca-lypse as it was on our farm.

Here is a picture I took Tuesday evening before the storm hit (I purposely cleared off the table so we could see the new snow accumulate):



Here is it after:





In order to get out to the patio, I had to go through the door:



Outside our garage:



My car wasn't getting out until the plow guy came, that is for sure! Our house sits back in the woods, deep in the snow (with a long private drive to the main road):



We didn't get near the snow that many places did, but we got more than enough. I measured 10.5 inches on our driveway (that is a ruler sticking out of the snow).



Others are telling me that isn't an accurate area because there is tree cover, they say we got closer to a foot. Either way, it was a lot of snow. While we have a plow guy who comes to plow our driveway (at .25 mile long, it's too long for us to shovel), I did have to get out our shovels to clear areas for the alpacas.

First Emma and I ventured up to the boy's barn. We trekked through the snow, with drifts up to my knees. Here are the tracks we left on the driveway:



That walk was a workout in itself. I decided to call it "cross training".

I cleared snow away from the gates, many of which I use when feeding grain. I like to separate out the heavy alpacas from the thin ones so that I can tailor their grain consumption to their needs. Some gates I had to clear just so I could get to the alpacas. I noticed, as I shoveled, how tall the piles were getting next to the fences. Suddenly our fences don't seem so tall.




The big boys hid in their barn all night. When they did venture out, the snow just outside their barn was deep:



Emma realized that the night before when she fed the little boys their grain, she had left their bowls outside. She had to dig through the snow to find the bowls. The little boys kept a close eye on her:



The girl's hay bin was almost buried in the snow:



They sure were glad when I got out there to clean it out and give them fresh hay. The snow and cold made them very hungry girls.

Snowy faces:





Snowy bodies:



Now today, while we didn't get any more snow, the cold has set in. It's -7*F at our farm this morning. I know those alpacas will be eating tons of hay to keep warm.