My boss did not seem to believe me when I told him that I could not get to work because the truck was stuck in the driveway.

For some reason this year, I am NOT doing well driving in the snow.

I got ALMOST  to the top, within 6-10' and hit ice on the passenger side.

I tried to back down, in the semi-dark mind you at 6:30 in the morning,

and backed in the snow bank. And, BURIED IT...

All of these pictures are AFTER I took the tractor up and dug it out the 

best I could, plus pushing back the snow banks each time I took a bucket

load down to the bottom of the driveway.

I pulled with the tractor. It was not coming out.

I picked up the back end and tried to lift it out.

That was not happening either.

I had to work on digging the snow out from under the truck,

without hurting my back, in order to finally get it out at 2 pm!!

The snow is simply packed in too tight to get it to move anywhere!

Other than disconnecting one of the mufflers from its hanger,

I did not hurt my husband's truck.

Not like I did my van on Saturday....

I know my boss at the Post Office is not happy with me,

AND, that he did not believe me...

But, here you go Chuck.

I was stuck and not going anywhere.

Another day after ANOTHER snow storm

Up the driveway where the truck HAD been stuck...

Looking down the driveway

The chickens all snug in their 'greenhouse'.

At least that is what we originally built it for.

Then, I got more chickens and they no longer fit in their original house...

The dog kennel for the chickens.

It has since been shoveled out more to encourage them to come out.

Yes, that is an OLD blanket. I did not want to plastic them in, and this keeps the wind,

and any birds (owls, sparrows, etc.) that don't belong, out.

We do have a few brave souls. These are a few of the youngest girls at 2 years old.

Inside the barn with some of the boys. 

Front and center is Cloud.

He is an OLD Romney wether.

Bummer. Horned Dorset ram.

We lost his mother within 48 hours of his birth to a massive

vaginal prolapse. Another mother took him on as her own with

her other (1) lamb. When he moved into general population,

he 'bummed' from other mothers that had lots of milk.

So far, he is a very gentle soul. Just like his father.

That is an extremely good thing with rams. 

Especially those with horns!!!

To the far right is Trouble. Another Romney wether. 1 year old.

I know! I have cobwebs in my barn!

This is Nea, the llama with NO guard hair,

and Noggen, the alpaca.

They belong to my friend Shari Mead.

She is in Florida staying warm. 

They are here hanging out with my girls.

It is a win-win for all!!

You can see by the Jeep parked in front of the house how much snow we've gotten.

The sheep in the back with the colored face belongs to our neighbor

Pebbles. She came down the hill to be bred to Stormy Weather.

Since she is a single sheep on the farm, she will stay until Pebbles

can't stand to be without her. Hopefully when she goes home she

will take another sheep with her!

Noggen is like, 'Take my picture!! Not theirs!'

Stormy Weather

Happy birthday Maggie!! (Far right)

She was born in February of 1999.

She is still going strong!!

Work on the barn that need to be finished before we put the house

on the market. I also plan to paint it barn red with white trim.

Not a good day for me or my car

When I can get the phone (new to me!) to connect to my Wi-Fi, or the computer, I will upload pictures.

First, I pull up to a mailbox to deliver. Should have skipped it because I knew I'd have to back away... When I backed up, the passenger front wheel slipped into the ditch and left me stuck. Fortunately the home owner and a neighbor pulled me out before AAA got there.

That was less than an hour into the mail route.

Fast forward to 4 pm. Drive up a LONG steep driveway to deliver a package. Check. No place to turn around. (Was afraid of that when I started.) Back down on the snow covered driveway slowly. Pull into the connecting driveway to deliver another package. Leave at front door when no one answers knock. Get in car. Start to back up believing I am lined up with the garage when POW!!! It feels and sounds like a gun shot. I hit a snow covered dumpster with my rear lift gate and blow out the back window. I was using my mirrors and NEVER even saw it.

Call 911, USPS and my insurance company. Then I call my husband.

The rescue squad shows up, the police show up with lights & SIREN which brings out the home owner and a crying child (7-8 yr old) because of the commotion in their yard. Everyone has to see what happened. License and registration please. Insurance company?

Nothing hurt but my car and my pride. I needed some more humbling I guess.

Meet up with Jean, one of the city carriers who takes back the out going mail.

Go back to the Post Office with my newly ventilated car. Yes. Police Chief Richard Lee said I could drive it like that. Proceed to recase the mail I could not deliver. NO! I am not delivering mail, in the snow, with no back window. I am sorry!! You will get it Monday!! The boss wants me to take out an LLV. No. It is 5 pm, snowing, and I am ready to quit my job. That is what I told him. Give him the run down of what happened.

Get home, go out for dinner with friends. Come home and go to bed.  I am SO THANKFUL that I managed to get enough of the garage cleaned out for the car to go in there.

We are now in the midst of a storm that is supposed to drop up to 18" in the next couple of days.... I was SUPPOSED  to deliver on that same route Monday and Tuesday. Not happening.

Not sure what is happening until I talk to my insurance company. I will most likely call the salvage company in Claremont and see if they have another lift gate. I think I put enough of a dent in it that the new window might not seal properly.

And, I need to be less nice and not deliver mail if I think I might get stuck or hurt. It is not be to be that way. But, I guess I will have to learn!!

And, how is your weekend going?

TTFN

Hobby Farms. com

Another website worth following if you have any interest in gardening, bee keeping, animal husbandry or just good recipes!!

Right now I am re-learning how to write a farm business plan. If we are seriously going to buy a bigger farm, and hopefully have a shop on the property to sell what we raise/grow/produce/bake, then I need to get it on paper to see what property suits our needs. And, to let a bank know that we are serious about the entire venture.

http://www.hobbyfarms.com/farm-marketing-and-management/how-to-write-farm-business-plan.aspx



http://www.hobbyfarms.com/

Hobby Farms has a great newsletter to keep you up to date on what is going on in the agricultural world, and very informative magazines and books!! Even after farming as long as we have, I still subscribe to a number of their magazines and buy a new soft cover book occasionally.

A website worth spending time at for information we should all know!!

http://www.naturallivingideas.com/50-things-to-stop-buying/

But you don't look sick.com

I know I've shared this before, but I am going to share it again. And, they now have a Face Book page that you can follow.

https://www.facebook.com/bydls

http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/

The spoon theory.  http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/