50 degrees and rain
Not the usual weather for mid December in upstate New York at 6 am! It has melted most of the snow away, which the chickens, cows and sheep are enjoying, as well as created many sticky slippery mud puddles and super slick ice.
Have you even experienced super slick ice? No? Well that is what you get when you have an icy road covered with water and are attempting to walk about and do chores in muck boots, (apparently muck boots are not known for their grip). The worst part is right over the big bridge to the barn and in front of both sets of barn doors. No matter how hard I tried it was impossible to avoid.
Do to the warm weather I went out to do chores in jeans and a sweatshirt (and of course my muck boots) I made it over the bridge and up the hill to the top barn doors okay, but when I went to leave the barn I found an invisible patch of ice and slid like a cartoon, feet went flying out from under me, the milk bucket I was carrying flew out of my hand and landed several feet away and I slid part way down the hill on my back. That was fun ! After I milked the cows it was time to haul water for them, since we somehow got a hole in our trough the other day, I needed to haul quite a few trips. To get water this time of year we are using an old fashioned bucket pull (you know the kind attach a bucket to a rope, drop down into the creek from the bridge haul it up hand over fist and transport to another bucket to carry it back). Yes, I got the joy of standing on an icy bridge in my grip free muck boots and hauling up 7 buckets of water and then attempting to carry them back to the barn with out falling, injuring myself, or spilling he water. It was a very slow going frustrating feat. Needless to say by the time I came in I was covered with water. Aba took one look at me and said “What happened to you?” I had a wet back, a wet bottom, wet knees, splash marks of water on my legs, wet boots, as well as the usual wet sleeve cuffs and wet spot of milk on my thigh from milking, and an empty milk pail. The cats had helped themselves to the milk while I hauled water, and knocked it over in their attempt to drink quickly – so I had no milk to show for my trouble, but they were happy at least, maybe they thought they were helping, at least with an empty milk bucket I wouldn’t worry about spilling it on the way back to the house!
Where is the video camera when you need one?
Oh no!
It isn’t ice that is super slippery here, but mud. We have a lot of red clay and when that stuff is wet look out! It doesn’t help that nothing here is level ground either. Oh the joys!