2/26/14

It's not the heat OR the humidity

It’s the @#$%&! cold and snow!
Masochists that we are up North, we’re celebrating a few records broken during this coldest winter in 35 years.  On Feb 10 we surpassed the old record for consecutive days below zero
and then on Feb 16 we scored the record number of days below zero in one season (60) – and we’re adding to that record day by day.
Lake Superior is almost completely iced over for the first time since 1996 (NASA photo).  Pretty soon the goats will be able to walk across the lake to visit their friends and former barn-mates at Summer Solstice Farm in Michigan.
It will be a while before nearby Sandy Lake thaws
and the swimming beach opens.
Roads are ice-caked
and a crazy person hangs out in a small shack on Spring Lake.
We presume he’s fishing,
but according to the National Drug Intelligence Center’s Minnesota Drug Threat Assessment,
“Methamphetamine laboratories can be set up virtually anywhere. They have been discovered in settings ranging from farms, homes, and motels to abandoned cars. One was even discovered in an ice-fishing house.”
We may have a local version of Walter White cooking away just down the road.
We aren’t setting any records for snowfall
but the white stuff has been coming down since November and because of the cold it’s not going away.
On Feb 20-21 we enjoyed another 13.5 inches
(graphic from the Perfect Duluth Day Facebook page).
According to the Duluth News-Tribune,
“Duluth now has seen about 85 inches of snow this winter, the usual amount for an entire season, and we still have a month or more of snow potential to go. Much of our December bounty of snow is still around, thanks to the very few melting days we’ve had, and February has added more than 30 inches of new snow on its own.
Now, another round of bitter cold is on the way in a winter that has already set the record for most below-zero days.”
Blizzard-force winds heaped up some impressive drifts.
The poor snowman who tops the snow-depth gauge was buried completely.
The storm made for pleasant viewing from the living room
but then mountains of snow had to be removed from the driveway so the Farmers could reach the goat barn and free their vehicles
with the help of an overmatched snowthrower that was designed for lesser challenges.
As we’ve noted before, one disadvantage of metal roofs on the house and barn is that just after the driveway is cleared
more snow comes thundering down from above
and the shoveling starts all over again.
The deep snow is hard on the deer;
this poor youngster tries to find something nourishing from a Halloween cornstalk decoration that has already been picked over many times.
When asked to comment on the winter so far, Dustin offered his "ucky" face.
He has made himself completely at home, surveying his kingdom from the tower
trying out all the cozy beds
pursuing his catnip mouse from room to room
and basking in the sunlight.
The goats are confined to the barn on snowy days; for exercise they destroy precious hay bales 
and bob for spilled grain.
In between snow storms
they enjoy outings on the driveway.
Barb suffers from acute baby goat envy as her friends post photos of new arrivals on Facebook.
She's getting ready for the MeadowWild birthing season by updating her girl's shots, preparing a delivery pen in the barn
and providing a new armoire for supplies
assembled from a billion pieces that fit into one very slim and dusty box retrieved from a shelf high in the rafters of Menards.
It now hold an impressive collection of medicines, syringes, tubes and emergency items.
She has to wait until mid-March for Momo to present the first cuties of the year

followed by Eclipse and Cheeky two weeks later.
Meanwhile, here are some sweeties from birthings past.
What's that strange green stuff that these two are walking through?