Purplequeenvt in 2026

[Finnie]

I’m considering writing up the hat pattern and publishing it on a knitting site.

You should!! I will be your first customer! I’m learning to knit, but I have not learned how to do color changes yet. But I would buy these patterns for my sister to knit, because she is an amazing knitter! And then she could make them for me!

They truly are beautiful!

 

[purplequeenvt]

I think I’m more or less ready for the storm. It started snowing around noon, but I don’t think we’ve gotten more than an inch so far. The experts are saying 12-18” by Monday. Hopefully not much ice mixed in.

I’ve got a couple round bales in the barn which will get me through 10 days or so. I finally broke down and got tank heaters. I’ve done without for the last 5 years, but we’re looking at almost 2 weeks of below freezing temps and I just don’t have it in me to dump ice and refill tanks everyday. I made enough space in the barn so I could get my car in there too.

I had to make a trip to Rural King this morning to shop for a new barn coat. My coat chose this week to die. Problem is that I’m really picky about my coats. I don’t do thick and bulky. I found a nice waterproof windbreaker jacket (uninsulated) with a good hood. I got it a couple sizes too big so that I can layer. I then found an extra big/long sweatshirt to wear underneath. I wore both over my normal tshirt/sweatshirt to do chores today and it worked really well. There’s enough room in the jacket that I could wear a 3rd sweatshirt if I needed it.

I’m mostly recovered from the virus/pneumonia. I went to urgent care on Wednesday for a chest X-ray. Lungs were ok, but I was prescribed some stronger cough medicine. That finally knocked the cough out. My ribs and back were so sore from all the hacking.

 

[fuzzi]

I think I’m more or less ready for the storm. It started snowing around noon, but I don’t think we’ve gotten more than an inch so far. The experts are saying 12-18” by Monday. Hopefully not much ice mixed in.

I’ve got a couple round bales in the barn which will get me through 10 days or so. I finally broke down and got tank heaters. I’ve done without for the last 5 years, but we’re looking at almost 2 weeks of below freezing temps and I just don’t have it in me to dump ice and refill tanks everyday. I made enough space in the barn so I could get my car in there too.

I had to make a trip to Rural King this morning to shop for a new barn coat. My coat chose this week to die. Problem is that I’m really picky about my coats. I don’t do thick and bulky. I found a nice waterproof windbreaker jacket (uninsulated) with a good hood. I got it a couple sizes too big so that I can layer. I then found an extra big/long sweatshirt to wear underneath. I wore both over my normal tshirt/sweatshirt to do chores today and it worked really well. There’s enough room in the jacket that I could wear a 3rd sweatshirt if I needed it.

I’m mostly recovered from the virus/pneumonia. I went to urgent care on Wednesday for a chest X-ray. Lungs were ok, but I was prescribed some stronger cough medicine. That finally knocked the cough out. My ribs and back were so sore from all the hacking.

is for finding a new barn coat, AND being mostly recovered!

 

[Baymule]

I'm glad you finally kicked the cough. That is a major improvement.

You are getting more of this storm than I am, Frozen water is no fun at all. Good for you for getting a tank heater.

 

[purplequeenvt]

We survived the storm. Never lost power.

The sheep don’t care about the weather. The chickens don’t care about the temp, but they aren’t pleased about the snow.

We started clearing snow on Sunday which was smart because by Monday, things had frozen up so we would have been moving huge blocks of ice instead. There’s lots of people that are still “stuck” because they didn’t clear things out before it froze and they can’t get their vehicles over the frozen sludge. I’ve also learned that a lot of people that don’t own some kind of shovel.

I took a couple coworkers home on Monday night. They couldn’t get their cars out of their parking spots. I helped get one of the girl’s car cleared out and moved to a plowed parking spot when I dropped her off. I offered to pick her up yesterday if she wasn’t comfortable driving, but she made it in on her own.

There were definitely a few people in my department that took advantage of the “no fault” inclement weather call-in policy.

Honestly, the roads could have been worse. I wouldn’t have been able to get out on Sunday, but they were passable by Monday. The roads that weren’t plowed well at first got a nice snow pack that was fine to drive on. The main roads that they did plow were actually less pleasant to navigate. Too much slushy ice and only about 1 and 1/2 lanes cleared.

I’d forgotten how much I like driving in the snow.

Little Corduroy with a snowy face.


Our road on Sunday. We plowed out our corner and the neighbor took a few passes with his snow plow.


My front field looking towards the road


I’m about ready to commit mass murder against the starling population. They’re usually in and out of the barn and don’t cause a lot of problems, but they moved in during the storm and now they are coating everything in ****. One of the feeders I’ve been feeding a couple rams in has an inch of bird poop in it that I won’t be able to clean until we thaw a bit. 2 days in a row, they perched on and unplugged the 1 camera in the barn that I needed to have access to during this weather.

This is the ram’s water tank (obviously the heater isn’t quite powerful enough to keep the ice away completely). The starlings have pooped all over it and the water. Makes me so angry!

 

[SteepedInSheep]

We survived the storm. Never lost power.

The sheep don’t care about the weather. The chickens don’t care about the temp, but they aren’t pleased about the snow.

We started clearing snow on Sunday which was smart because by Monday, things had frozen up so we would have been moving huge blocks of ice instead. There’s lots of people that are still “stuck” because they didn’t clear things out before it froze and they can’t get their vehicles over the frozen sludge. I’ve also learned that a lot of people that don’t own some kind of shovel.

I took a couple coworkers home on Monday night. They couldn’t get their cars out of their parking spots. I helped get one of the girl’s car cleared out and moved to a plowed parking spot when I dropped her off. I offered to pick her up yesterday if she wasn’t comfortable driving, but she made it in on her own.

There were definitely a few people in my department that took advantage of the “no fault” inclement weather call-in policy.

Honestly, the roads could have been worse. I wouldn’t have been able to get out on Sunday, but they were passable by Monday. The roads that weren’t plowed well at first got a nice snow pack that was fine to drive on. The main roads that they did plow were actually less pleasant to navigate. Too much slushy ice and only about 1 and 1/2 lanes cleared.

I’d forgotten how much I like driving in the snow.

Little Corduroy with a snowy face.


Our road on Sunday. We plowed out our corner and the neighbor took a few passes with his snow plow.


My front field looking towards the road


I’m about ready to commit mass murder against the starling population. They’re usually in and out of the barn and don’t cause a lot of problems, but they moved in during the storm and now they are coating everything in ****. One of the feeders I’ve been feeding a couple rams in has an inch of bird poop in it that I won’t be able to clean until we thaw a bit. 2 days in a row, they perched on and unplugged the 1 camera in the barn that I needed to have access to during this weather.

This is the ram’s water tank (obviously the heater isn’t quite powerful enough to keep the ice away completely). The starlings have pooped all over it and the water. Makes me so angry!

Ugh! Gross. I hate starlings. They try to steal the chicken food and crap all over everything. I've kept the chickens and ducks locked up the past couple days because i didn't want to deal with it. Chickens don't want to go out in the snow, anyway.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Turns out that Biteyface will dispatch Sky Rats. He got an extra “good boy” from me today when I found the body.

 

[farmerjan]

Sorry, I have no good solutions for you and the mess...
Dairy farmers battle those sorry things too in the bad winter weather and them moving in, crapping in the silage in the feed troughs... they carry diseases and are just filthy disgusting birds...

Congrats on the dog dispatching at least one...

I don't have any good suggestions for them in the barn and the sh!t all over everything...

 

[Baymule]

Whatever happened to a good ol' barn owl? That sounds disgusting.

"Sky rats"

 

[Mini Horses]

My cats tear up rafter nests....