Horses and bunnies in the snow

First, I feed the horses. They are wet from the constant snow fall, and Wynter is shivering.  She HATES weather like this.

Even though Dakota is the Senior Citizen at 25 yrs. old, she handles this storm better than Wynter. 

I give all three of them extra hay.  I feel so sorry for them.

Then, it's time to head up the hill to feed the bunnies.

The bunny coop is almost completely buried in the snow.

But the bunnies don't mind one bit. They are living in the tunnels they excavated last Summer.

They DO appreciate the food, however.

Major Snow storm

They are saying this is the 6th largest snowstorm in Montana's history.  I guess it's because of the amount of snow dumped in ONE storm (which lasted over 2 days, by the way).  It's certainly not because of the amount of snow accumulated over the Winter season- because we definitely saw this much snow last Winter and the Winter before that.

 However you figure it, we got A LOT of snow between Tuesday and Friday morning.  A LOT!

and of course, I was out there, documenting the entire thing with my camera :)

So- sit back, and look at some of my Winter photos- and remember, you can click on any of them to view them in a larger size.

this is out near the barn...

This tall berm, where Bruce dumped some of the snow accumulated by plowing, looks like a perfect sledding hill!  I may have to try that out.

This is in the horse pasture. We feed under the trees, because the snow is less deep there, and there's more protection from the wind, etc.

This is what I saw when I woke up Thursday morning. :)  I declared a SNOW DAY! 

It snowed HARD! All Thursday!

The Shelties had a terrible time getting around, so they stuck to the shoveled areas.

But as fast as we'd shovel, the snow would cover the paths.

Bruce had to keep plowing, to keep the driveway open.

After awhile, the snow couldn't support it's own weight. I call this "lazy snow", :)

Bruce said the entire bed of his truck was filled with snow- clear to the top! Crazy!

I LOVE it! :) Perfect day to curl up and read a book.... once you come in from shoveling, that is.

and the snow keeps piling up

It started Tuesday while I was driving into work.

A past-preschool Dad was already at the church plowing the parking lot for me when I arrived.  Trout Creek had a couple of inches and the snow was coming down fast and furious. Later that morning, we were notified that Noxon had let out school. They had close to 18 inches, and there was no sign that the snow was going to stop.  I canceled my tutoring session after preschool, and made my way home while it was still light.  The next morning, I woke to find our back patio desperately in need of shoveling.

It still wasn't stopping, and as the day went by, I measured how much snow we were getting by the fountain on the back patio.

Thursday morning, it was STILL snowing! and I declared a snow day, even though Thompson Falls, Trout Creek and Noxon all kept school open. For the record, I think they were CRAZY! the roads were slick, many were unplowed (like Blue Slide), and the snow didn't stop until Friday noon.

I think our snow peaked by Friday morning.

Unfortunately, Friday night we got freezing rain, so now, everything is covered with a layer of ice.

YUK!

We have more snow predicted for Tuesday....

just in time for preschool. *sighs*

tooting Chelsey's horn

I have to toot Chelsey's horn because she'll never do it. ;)

For Christmas, I gave the kids (including Chelsey- whom I hope never really grows up) rainbow glasses. They are so wonderful. When you put them on, and look at lights, the light is refracted so you see all these rainbows. I love them! they are MAGIC!  Chelsey took hers back to Children's Hospital so she could let children look through them for awhile, before sharing them with another child.  She liked the idea that one pair of glasses touched so many lives.  Chelsey got to one room where a little girl, maybe 6, named Emily, was being treated for something horrible. She'd lost all her hair, and had been in the hospital for weeks and weeks. She was frowning, and wouldn't talk. She was so obviously so sad, and so sick, and so disgruntled. Her mother said they hadn't seen her smile in weeks.  That's when Chelsey brought out the magic rainbow glasses, and handed them to Emily. She put them on, and suddenly started to smile! and then, to giggle! Her Aunt started to cry! and so, of course, Chelsey had to leave them with the child.  And Chelsey was actually APOLOGIZING to me when she told me this story!!! because she'd given the glasses away.

But I got to thinking.....  These children- feeling poorly, overwhelmed, scared and alone... they don't see the rainbows anymore. There are rainbows everywhere there is light- but we lose sight of that fact, just as we lose sight of the wonder and magic of the world.  And that's when we're in danger of losing our hope.  1 Corinthians 13:13 tells us "Faith, Hope, Love. These three. But the greatest of these is Love."  And I firmly believe this... HOWEVER- I do believe that HOPE is right up there with Love, side by side- linking arms, because Life cannot be sustained without it. Hope. And the symbol for hope is the rainbow. 

So, of course, I got on my computer and made another order- sending 12 pairs of rainbow glasses directly to Chelsey. I know she'll use them wisely- sharing them with numerous children- giving them to the ones who need to be reminded that the world IS full of rainbows even when you can't see them. 

Home

Our rancher neighbor finally moved the cows, which means, we can keep our gate open. But more importantly, especially to the Shelties, we can finally walk up to get the mail, and paper again!

Piper and Selkie are ALWAYS up for a nice, long walk.

They race ahead

then, turn back to make sure we're coming.

If we're really slow, they have to come back to get us

 before starting the process all over again.

Of course, there's always pets, and treats periodically along the way.

It was once we'd headed back to the house, that I decided to try my hand at a couple more panoramic photos.  My brother-in-law, Ed, has been encouraging me. You'll have to click on them to open them up. They won't look like much in the blog.

(this is where I rode Journey two days ago :)

If you open this up, way on the far right, you can barely see our house! The white/cream building is our barn.

and once again, through the gate, to home.

Home.

Isolated, yes.

But incredibly wild, beautiful, and certainly, the only place I'd ever want to live out my days.

The Shelties agree.

Wildlife show du jour

I first noticed her way out in the horse pasture. See her out there? 

A young, small coyote looking for a meal. 

I called to Bruce, and as we watched, we got to see her PLAY!

She would bite at a tall weed, then, play bow to it, run around it in circles, jump, frisk, and dart in to snap at it.  Bruce thinks she's this year's pup- inquisitive, playful and precious.

She even came into our yard to sniff around, and nose up some old leaves.

I noticed she had blood on her hip (if you open the photo, you'll be able to see it) but Bruce says no matter what the blood is from- a bite from another animal, a stick that poked her, a grazing bullet- it's not life threatening, as she was not, in the least, effected by it.

At one point, she spied Journey, and Journey spied her. They stretched towards each other, sniffing. The coyote gathered her courage and shot past the horse, whipping around to see the mare's reaction- which was nothing. I'm sure Journey thought the coyote was just another, quieter, Sheltie.  The little coyote, then, tried to play with Journey. More play bows, more tearing around in circles before she got tired, and flopped down in the pasture for a little nap.  

Bruce and I must have watched her for an hour. 

And of course, I fell in love with her.

And of course, I named her. :)

Vita

because she is so full of life.

I DO hope we will see her again.

I just hope the dogs and cats are inside when she comes to visit.