Cold For the Cows

More cold weather came this week.  This time not in the single digits and no snow.  It was in the mid-20's for two days in a row, so we had ice.  The sun was out, and that was a plus, but both days it stayed below freezing for 12 hours in a row.  That means that there is no water for the cows, goats, and chickens.  All the water troughs are frozen over.  I know in the north they have heaters to keep them from freezing, but that makes no sense down here.  You can see how I have the pipes wrapped to hopefully avoid pipe breakage.  We will see if we were successful when we turn the water back on.

I have a pipe that I walk around to all the troughs and break the ice.  There are some tasks like popping the little air bubbles in packing wrap that no matter how old you get, it brings great joy to do.  Breaking ice is another one of those tasks.  For some reason it is cathartic.

See here's a big trough.  We had a game growing up called "Break the Ice."  You had hammers and you would try to knock out cubes taking turns with your opponent, without making the ice cubes fall.  Maybe that's what I'm thinking of that makes it so tempting to break.

The first hit breaks through...

And then it all shatters, allowing all the animals to drink water again.

For a special treat, we bring some root crops for the cows to eat.  Sometimes beets, sometimes turnips, but today Tricia had cut up some of our sweet potatoes that had bad spots.  Cows love them some sweet potatoes.

Here is LuLu begging for some sweet potatoes.  Cows have this super cool trick they do where they can stick their tongues in their nostrils.  Try it to see if you are that talented.  My tongue is not nearly long enough.

LuLu gobbled up many sweet potato chunks.  The other animals didn't get any.  Since LuLu is in milk, she gets special favors.

Now that the ice is broken and LuLu has eaten her fill of sweet potatoes, Mrs. Tricia and I will go inside and sit by the fire to warm up.