And the power is back!

Only out for 24 hours this time. Valery and Paul got a taste of generator living. And, no, I did not get any pictures........... )-:

Merry CHRISTmas and (again) no power

I thank God again today for allowing His Son to be born human in order to later die on the cross to take away our sins.
I thank God for our family, both here and far away.
I thank God for our life, home, jobs, and the farm, and for being able to worship Him as we wish and not in secret.
And today I thank God again for our generator.

3 am today the power went out. The wind has been howling strong enough to bend the largest of the pine trees. I called Public Service and the electric is out state wide, again. Please keep all of those workers in your prayers. As of yesterday's paper, there were still 2000 customers without electric from the ice storm.

Update-the last snow storms gave us a total of 22", and big snow banks (already!).

More snow

This is Sunday morning. I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband. On his days off, he lets me sleep in and he takes care of the animals.

The girls are wondering what Jerry is bringing them. Aha, hay!

I haven't measured it yet, but I think we have at least 6" so far. And it shows no signs of stopping.

From the Weatherbug...

Winter storm warning in effect until 5 AM est Monday.

Tonight
	Snow this evening...then a chance of snow showers after midnight. Areas of blowing snow. Snow may be heavy at times. Visibility one quarter mile or less at times. Total storm accumulation of snow 12 to 18 inches. Lows 10 to 16. West winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow near 100 percent. Wind chill values as low as 7 below after midnight.

Monday
	Mostly cloudy in the morning...then becoming partly sunny. Areas of blowing snow in the morning with visibility one quarter mile or less at times. Highs in the lower 20s. West winds 15 to 20 mph. Wind chill values as low as 7 below in the morning.

Monday Night
	Partly cloudy in the evening...then clearing. Cold with lows 2 below to 6 above zero. West winds 10 to 15 mph.

Heifer International donating-update

I want to thank all of our customers this past year. Ewe & I Farm has sent a check to Heifer for $120. That is enough to purchase a goat for a family in need. I was hoping for a sheep, but I do not see it in their brochures. I did mark on the sheet to purchase a sheep though.
But if it does go for a goat, it says in their brochure that goats can produce four quarts of milk a day and give birth to twins or triplets. So that will be fine also. The family will have milk and meat.
Next year I will put the donation jar back out at Farmer's Markets. I believe Heifer International is a great cause. And we may continue with the 5% of our sales to go to Heifer next year.

First big snow of December 2008

Friday afternoon it started to snow, and it did not stop until briefly this morning, Sunday. According to my yard stick on the front deck, we've gotten 11" of snow so far. They are calling for another 11-15" today, and then the wind is supposed to blow and the temperature drop to as low as 3 below with the wind chill.

The front yard before I started cleanup with the tractor. Jerry plowed Friday night before he went to work and again Saturday morning (4 am) before he went to work. I plowed and pushed until the tractor was low on diesel.

My holly bush and the Rosa Rugosa. The trash can with almost 11" on it. It was still snowing.

This is Psycho. She's not spoiled. Now say that 100 times and I might believe it. Not! I put a pillow near the wood furnace to dry after washing it. She claimed it as her own. So I asked Jerry to at least put a pillow case on it, in case we need to use it for a human. Since it is close to the furnace, that is where she spends most of her time. Unless of course there is a lap in the recliner with a blanket on it! This is one of his work benches. He just works around her. Not spoiled...

Ice storm damaged birches. Psycho Romney asks 'Where are you going? And where is breakfast?'

The girls followed me down the hill for their morning hay. Some of the older ones didn't want to trek that far and were headed back to be fed in the barn.

The front yard, after I plowed. If you blow up the photo on the left, you will see Shaun the Sheep, aka Butterfly (the survivor). He was ripping up and down the hill, thoroughly enjoying the snow. One of the few times I wished I had a video recorder...

cute!

http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/rpSlideshows?articleId=USRTXB20L#a=22

Monday, it was almost 50 degrees here during the day. Almost all of the ice melted off the trees and fortunately out of the driveway. Yesterday (Wednesday) we got easily 2" of snow. The snow and ice on a steep driveway would not have been a good combination.

We ran a couple of errands yesterday morning and when we came home we discovered that the turkeys had been in the yard 'messing up' the fresh snow.

White as Snow? Well, dirty snow. (o; But, you can bet it is white under that coat!

It's back!!

4 days 13 1/2 hours later, and our electric came back. Not that we were counting or anything. Just days before the power went out, I was grumbling about paying $100/month for electricity. We easily went through that much in gasoline. I will stop grumbling now. Thank you Lord.

Please continue to pray for our linemen and the highway workers. There are still 50,000 people without electricity and it may be a few more days before they get it back. And the weatherman is calling for serious snow accumulation tomorrow. Mainly where people are without power.

Off to the dye pot! Hopefully I can get up some pictures later.

The 2008 Ice Storm

In 1998, we in NH were hit by an ice storm. Everything was covered by a heavy glazing of ice. We were living in W. Springfield, NH at that point and one of NH Co-op's main power lines went through our front yard. At that point we were without electric for 5 days. Back in those days, we did not have a generator. We went to our friend, Kim Chartier's, house in Sunapee for water. We pushed the cover off her dug well and dipped a bucket in order to fill gallon jugs. We could then water our 3 sheep, and take care of things in the house. We used kerosene lanterns to read by, and to do other things until bedtime. Valery and I did a lot of reading those 5 days. Jerry went to bed early. (o;

10 years later. We are hit by another ice storm. But, this one is much wider spread than just NH. Jerry and I are much older and we now have a generator. We also have 35 sheep that need watering 2-3 times a day........I am writing this by the electric our generator creates. We are now on day 3, and patiently waiting. The following are some pictures of day 1 and day 3. I went to work yesterday and did not take the time to take pictures.

Day 1-The electric went out at 1 am. As of 5:30 am WOKQ reports 2000 out of 5000 PSNH customers are without electric, and that it could be a few days before we all get it back. (By day 2, this will be upped to more than 1/2 of their customers)
I, personally, applaud the highway crews for working through the night to keep the roads open. From downed trees, to icy roads, to clogged drains and culverts.
It was a little unnerving at 9 am to be out taking the following pictures. Trees are snapping and popping. Ice is falling from the trees and wires. I tried to stay away from any dangerous areas. I did walk up and down our driveway to take pictures, but I was fully aware of my surroundings.

Day 2-We awake to clear skies and a full moon. Praise God! I took Jerry to work for 5:30 am. 6 am finds me plying previously spun singles that I haven't had time to ply. Most likely these bobbins were spun at this past summer's Farmer's Markets. I needed to save the gas in the generator to water the sheep, so I am plying by kerosene lantern until 7 am when it starts to get light out.
By 9 am I am at work, and I don't get home until 4 pm. We get home, feed sheep, eat dinner and we are in bed by 8:30 pm.

Looking up and down the driveway.

Ice encrusted trees and weeds.

Weeds, a hemlock tree, and hay in the girls yard.

The pods on the lilac bush. The brook raging out behind the barn.

The holly bush, looking up at the barn. We had so much water, we had Lake Yeager at the bottom of the driveway.

The birches are all bent over. Our ornamental cherry tree in the front yard.

Under the porch with the generator looking out at Lake Yeager.

Looking through the rose and lilac bushes at the birches. Blow up the feeder line to see how the wind moved the bottles around. Some of the ice is facing down, some up and some out straight.

Day 3-The 'lake' has receded, but things are still encrusted in ice. The only thing I accomplished today was to ply a bobbin of wool, try to go to church, go get gas for the generator, and take a nap. Oh, and update my blog. :o) There was a sign outside of church that read-No power, no heat, no water, no service. I wish I thought to take out the camera. Oh, well!

Snow and ice crystals in the driveway. One of the utility poles at the end of our road. A branch hit the power line and the weight of it and the ice has started to snap this pole. Ice storms are just incredibly in the damage they can do.

I will update this again when I can. It is time for dinner and then most likely early to bed.