Six inches of fresh snow on Friday. Although the calendar says spring, clearly winter hasn’t released its hold on New England. Ordinarily winter is a season I enjoy. This year’s impressive (record-breaking) snowfall amounts dampened my enthusiasm, however. While I hope we have seen the last snow of the season, I’m taking this chance to share some scenes and observations from earlier this winter.
On days when the sheep were reluctant to leave the barn, feeding hay on fresh snow was one way to get them outside for some exercise. Sheep love chasing a toboggan full of hay. I was able to feed them outside until an ice storm in February put a nasty glaze on all surfaces. Walking the fields became impossible and the sheep were then fed indoors.
The above was taken during one of the early storms, back in November. The Leicesters were still up in the high pasture, so I had to truck hay and water up the hill.
Frozen water buckets, gates that wouldn’t open, barn doors that wouldn’t close properly, never-ending shoveling and plowing . . . it’s amazing really that I haven’t relocated the flock to Florida.
Even with its hard edges, there were moments of rare beauty that seemed to make up for the punishing weather.
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copyright 2008, Barbara Parry, all rights reserved.