03/13/2010
Goodbye Snow Hello Rain

Well, we've had a week of mild weather followed by a couple of days of rain, so the snow is just about all gone. But the river is high. That narrow island in the middle of the river is usually the opposite river bank. Real-time and historical Cacapon River data 30 miles downstream from us is available from the USGS National Water Information System.

A large (639KB) version of this panoramic picture from our upper vernada this morning is avaiable here: Riversdell_Riverfront.jpg.

02/10/2010
Snowmageddon

Yesterday, Eric slogged down to the billy pen, dragging a bale of hay using a small tarp as a sledge. Here are the anxious billies who were quite grateful for the feed. Amazingly and happily, their shipping-pallet hut with 2x4 rafters is withstanding the snowload.

02/10/2010
Snowmageddon

Well, true to our suspicions, a few minutes after the post below went up, our power went out, and stayed out for 3 days. As for snow totals, it is hard to get a precise measurement, but we have 26+" in the clear areas with drifting up to 3 feet or so against fences and rises. We amused ourselves by hand-shoveling 230 feet of trails to the woodshed, to the chickens, to the goats/dog/barn-cat, and to the driveway. Unfortunately, they are now partially re-filled with snow from the six additional inches we got since yesterday and the 30 mph winds we are now experiencing.

02/06/2010
Snowmageddon

This time, the storm lived up to its hype. We have 26" on the ground and it is still coming down at 11am. We like the "gnome hats" on the fence posts in this picture. Our power has blinked a few times, but looking at the snow on the power lines, we would not be surprised if it went out later today when the winds pick up. The firewood we brought in before the storm is still holding up. This, and the snow pictures that follow, were taken from various windows in our house.

02/06/2010
Snowmageddon

Somewhere under there are the stone steps leading up to the driveway. We are waiting until our neighbor comes with his plow-equipped tractor to clear the upper and lower driveways before we start shoveling.

02/06/2010
Snowmageddon

Glad we stocked up the chicken feeder in their shed -- they are on their own for the next day or two! If you look closely you can see some chickens just inside the doorway eating snow for water -- in weather like this, eating snow is the best they can hope for. It is forecast to get down near 10°F for the next couple of nights.

02/06/2010
Snowmageddon

We also filled up our bird feeder before the storm, making this a pretty popular stop for the avian wildlife in these parts.