The first chore of the day at this time of year!

With winter in full swing, the first chore of the day here is cleaning out the ash and stoking the woodstove. When temperatures are in their teens (fahrenheit), the woodstove keeps the house warm all night. HOWEVER when the temps drop into the the single digits  (-15 to 18 Celsius) where it has been this week, then we need to refill it once during the middle of the night. Last night I awoke at 3am so up I got. (No we do not set an alarm but I am usually awake at some point each night so easy to get up.) By this morning, it was ‘hungry’ for more wood again but at least the house was still in the 60’s.

Following that chore, it is time to check on the sheep (no lambs yet) and feed all the animals along with carrying out water. We have always LOVED the black rubber bowls for the animals. Not only are they cheap but they do not break/crack in this cold weather, they are easy to upturn, stamp on to get the ice out and refill. Although we have tried heated waterers in the past we have never had much success. The pigs were just plain mischievous when it came to waterers and loved to play with them i.e destroy them SO even when we were in Montana we got into the habit of watering the animals twice a day during the cold season. The animals learned to drink when the water was fresh. Here in Missouri where it is not so cold for so long we can get away with watering just once a day as the water doesn’t freeze as quickly. Although we have a faucet out in the barn, we do not have heat tape on it so have to carry water from the house. No big deal as we do not have that many animals here now.

Blessings,

Liz