Really Cold

 I woke up twice during the night to throw logs in the wood burner and when we got up at 5:00 am it was still burning nicely. The wind is quite strong so the first job of the day was to bring in more wood from the woodshed so we could get 2 fires going. One wasn't doing the job and the house felt cold. Mark would fill the cart and bring it to the Patio door.

I would open the door and take some to the rec room wood burner and some to the living room wood burner and Mark piled the rest on a chair in front of the door. That way we could shut the door quickly to keep at least some of the cold out.  He brought in 3 loads then hiked up to feed the cat. We kept both wood burners burning all day and was able to heat the house to 72 degrees without using the furnace.  Mike and Diane went out to Middle Grove to check the herd. I asked them to check on Lily as she is the first mare due this year and is due March 20th.  That is Lily at the right of the picture. Yep she is still pregnant. Lily will be 22 years old this on May 4th. I hesitate to brag on her but she really is my best brood mare expecting her 19th foal. That is almost unheard of but Lily produced her first foal at the age of 4 and has never skipped a year raising a foal each year for us. I have 2 of her daughters, Rosalie born in 2013 and her 2022 filly Valerie and am so glad I kept them both.

that is Lily in the middle of the picture below. I think that is her daughter Rosalie standing next to her. Rosalie is due April 20th. 

In the picture below  to the right is Lily's daughter Valerie standing next to the other 2022 filly we kept, Tessa, out of Rosaleigh by Evan.  Lily is in the middle and Mika the chestnut is the only gelding and the oldest horse out there (we think he was born in 1998). Mika was born here out of our Thoroughbred mare Grace (Jewel's dam) and as we were keeping him a gelding I did not register him believing I would never forget his birthday, HA. Mika is the reason we always register all of our horses. Mika and Lily stick together.

Mika is a grand old gelding and a favorite. He is Mike's horse and a fun ride. The other reason Mike and Diane went out was to check if the natural spring was still running. Diane reported it is and there were hoof prints around it so they are drinking from it. That has been such a blessing. Here at the farm the waterers were all checked but I had to slog through deep snow drifts to get to them to check. They are all working. Below are Lea and Thalia. They were perfectly content eating at the round bale. Thalia's leg was checked and all is well. I wasn't sure if it would need to be wrapped with this cold but it looked fine.  

Evan came out of his shelter to see why I was coming over and followed me all the way to the waterer. 

I am so thankful for the down filled coat mom found at a garage sale for 50 cents. It is my best barn coat for the winter. It is long so covers most of my legs and has a down filled hood. I almost don't notice the cold when wearing it. Today was a good day to make a big pot of chili.

I made 2 and a half gallons. We each ate a bowl for a late lunch then once it cooled it was put in the fridge for tomorrow's lunch at the barn. I'll haul it over there, put it in a crock pot and we will have it after church.  I have an 8 pound boneless glazed spiral sliced ham for Sunday dinner and will serve that with macaroni and cheese, salad, rolls with brownies and ice cream for dessert. Both lunch and dinner will be served as Peoria church is called off. We are now expecting actual temps on Sunday morning of -13. Sure hope the wind dies down. It is still blowing hard and we are already down to 0.