A snow event

You could see the front moving  from the southwest into our valley. It looked like a slow moving tide inching in to eclipse our sunny skies. It’s supposed to snow for the next 4 days. The weather guys are calling it “a snow event”. Whatever. It is winter, right?

The temperatures this morning are hovering in the single digits. The thermometer on our porch reads 7 degrees. And the animals are slow in stirring from their warm beds. When I peeked in on the chickens, they were all fluffed still sitting shoulder-to-shoulder to their sisters on the perches. No one is ready for breakfast. I sprinkled out some cracked corn onto the coop floor when they are ready for a warm up.  Then I buttoned up the coop door. The snow is blowing in from the west and I don’t want to chill the chickens anymore than necessary.

The pigs heaved their great mass from the hay bed when they saw me coming. They are covered in a large layer of lard which keeps them toasty even in the snow. They nose about their palace and yard completely unconcerned. I have a large 5 gallon bucket filled with food scraps from the kitchen for them and they nudge each other for the best morsels. Vincent gives me a quick “thank you” nod before plunging his face into his portion.

Over at the barn, I raked a huge pile of good green hay out for the cow girls which they can demolish through the day. And they also thanked me between mouthfuls.

Our town is having it’s annual Christmas party tonight. The streets are to be shut down for several blocks. Tents and tables are arranged so citizens and visitors can stroll between the booths sampling tempting sweet or savory tidbits or drinks. The snow is forecasted to be fairly heavy later so I’m sure hot chocolate and coffee will be popular items. At about 4:30 the kids and I will tuck all our sweet animals warmly into their prospective sleeping areas after copious amounts of supper for each. Then we will wrap ourselves tightly against the cold and venture out into the streets of our village. Then the Christmas season will begin!

What’s for supper: We will be taking in the Whitefish Christmas Stroll tonight and snacking in the streets. Yippee!

Weather:  A 50 percent chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 16. Wind chill values as low as -12. North northeast wind 7 to 10 mph. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than one inch possible. Tonight snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 10. Light north wind. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.