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Cold and colder, back and forth...

Saturday, January 9, 2010

...want to warm up, we'd better head NORTH??? 
Have you ever had one of those days? You know the kind I mean: the ones that *cough* build character. It would seem I have decided (albeit unconsciously) to have an entire week of them. My character must be running a tad low. Living in south Alabama (as


in 13 miles from the Florida line) winters are cold, but nowhere near as cold as where I grew up (Pennsylvania).  This week, however, we have been matching record temps left and right which has caused quite a bit of trouble around here.... but I'm getting ahead of myself.
The first photo shows how my week began. As you can see, the T-Post between the Moo Crew and The Girls was mysteriously flattened and the fence wire broken up sometime during the night.  The only piece of evidence was a tiny tuft of red hair stuck to the post (and although all four of our red-headed miscreants were questioned, nobody was talking). 

 The temperatures (which I kinda thought were cold enough in the standard upper twenties/lower thirties) dropped further and froze just about everything. Of course the bright spot in this is that my new camera captured this tiny frozen trickle rather well, don't you think? (neat-O ;o)  While we started the week turning on the water in the afternoons (when the sun had thawed out the lines) to fill up the water trough for the girls, by Tuesday it had gotten so cold that the water wouldn't flow even at high noon.  Time for the bucket brigade to kick in (and wasn't that just the most fun? Not :oP

I have to admit it's extremely depressing (not to mention bizarre) to be watching the weather and see that not only Boston but Oregon (where my brother lives) were 10-20 degrees warmer than it was here in South Alabama... 
By midweek, the temps were in the teens at night and 30's during the day. I finally got the chance to dash to the barber shop for a haircut - I've been trying to find time to go since November. I know I said barber not salon, but it's only $10 for a haircut there (I fed all my beauty money to the horses, you see). Did I finally get my hair cut? Nope; can you believe they were frozen too??
Thursday came the predictions of snow and sleet on top of the cold. Now don't get me wrong, I like snow (just not here). Do you have any idea what happens in the south when it snows? Let me tell you, it is not a pretty sight (idiots abound). We've had schools and businesses close down, space heater fires, pipes bursting (thankfully not ours) and all manner of issues arise - along with much of the country - during this crazy snap.  Reason being that we are simply not equipped to deal with this kind of cold weather: It was eleven degrees yesterday morning with the wind chill, which is pretty doggone cold anywhere. The fact that temperatures have not been this cold in 15-20 years have caught nearly everyone ill prepared. Heck, I know I'm wishing I still had my Yankee Winter Wardrobe. Speaking of which...

Ratty, I've decided to include this part just for you after reading your matter-of-fact post about dressing appropriately for the great outdoors in the winter:




If you've never been there, please visit Ratty's blog (after you finish this post, of course :o)  It's  "The Everyday Adventurer", and it's terrific! 
And now (you hope) it's time for my grand finale. If you read last week's post, you know I went off the deep end and splurged on a new camera. I am happy to report that I absolutely LOVE it. 
I've had a grand time taking pictures this week, and (even cooler) shooting some video clips, which I've never done before. I played with it a bit, put some together, and added some music; hope you like it!

The bobble with the camera towards the end was compliments of Taya, who decided to give my sleeve, which was attached to the arm holding the camera, a nice big happy slurp (she loves me, what can I say?? :o) I'd love to hear what you think about Cinnamon and Max "squaring off" over the stump; I thought that was a hoot (looked like they'd rehearsed it).
Thanks for stopping by!



20 comments:

  1. Your camera is really nice. I really like your video. I'll have my daughter watch it later, because she's crazy about horses.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog the other day and commenting. :)

    Sounds like it's cold there.

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  2. Thank you Sue; I had guilt for a bit, but I'm definitely over it now (I'm having way too much fun to hang on to it - heh, heh :o) I hope your daughter likes the video; please tell her we just love horse crazy folks around here!

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  3. Um, just in case you have forgotten, when the "experts" recommend layering to keep warm, one must actually put the clothes on and not just have them folded and stacked in neat layers. Of course, that can crimp the style of a more fashionable L.A. person.

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  4. Trust me when I tell you, FishHawk, that they look much better piled up on the fireplace. All I can say is it's a mighty good thing the horses don't have an "in" with the Fashion Police *laugh* (else I'd be asking you to bake me a cake... ;o)

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  5. Being a Pennsylvania girl myself i can relate to the cold weather fashion. The layered look is a must.
    LOVE the video. How entertaining those girls are. I want to know who choreographed that, it was perfect. Great choice of songs too, took me back and I was singing right along

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  6. Wow your camera works terrific. I am so jealous. I would love a video camera. Your horses look like they are enjoying the cold weather. We are frozen here too in SC. I take warm water out to the critters at least twice a day. I am so glad you got the camera. Great post.

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  7. Woof! Woof! Happy New Year! We just got back on our long holiday break and we did not expect the cold and snowy weather we just had. LAYERS and more LAYERS!!! Thanks for sharing the video. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

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  8. Ann: Thank you so much *blush*. I must admit I thought it turned out fairly well considering it was my first try. Glad you liked the music; somehow that song seemed a perfect match for those two knotheads :oD
    Marg: Believe it or not, it's not a video camera just a regular digital one (it will shoot short video clips, though). Pretty cool, huh? The horses are enjoying the cold to a point; but they have been plenty miserable too (and I am already sick and tired of the "Bucket Brigade" :o)
    Sugar: Hello and welcome back; happy to see you again! I think the cold has hit just about everyone in the entire US of A by now (and all the peoples is f-f-f-froze BRRRRR :oP

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  9. I didn't know it could get that cold there, I hate the cold! It was 5 degrees here this morning, yuck. Can't wait till SUMMER!

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  10. That is pretty cold there! I'll keep our warmer Oregon temps any day but would gladly give up the daily fog we've been having. The video was great! The horses sure were having a fun and the music was perfect!

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  11. It looks like my message of dressing warmly got through to at least one person, but I know you already knew that information. I love the video of the horses. The little stump fight was funny. And you picked the perfect music for it all.

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  12. Florida started to get the cold and I wondered how I ever survived in Colorado. Here in Sunny St Pete, our whole condo building is without heat and no plans to fix it for 3 weeks. Time to find a new home!

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  13. Rebecca: It's not supposed to get this cold here - we've gone waaay past our normal wintertime temps. Not too sure about summer already, but I'd take a little spring in a heartbeat :o)
    BeadedTail: Thank you for your kind comments - I'm really glad you liked the video! I hope your weather clears up soon (although I think I spend most of my days "in a fog" Hee ;o)
    Ratty: *Laugh* I was wishing like crazy for those thin gloves you were talking about in Saturday's post - my fingers all but froze off getting those video clips. Can't shoot with mittens, dont'cha know (it was worth it in the end, though!) Max and Cinnamon were actually playing a game; they do it all the time (I just can't quite figure out the rules...)
    Fisher: No heat? Oh, how awful! I'm happy our heat pump is still working (our old one would have shut down the first time we dropped into the teens, BRRR). Sure hope they fix your heat soon!

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  14. Freeeeeezing in Florida, too! I have no clothes for this. Haha.

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  15. Oh the cold is really too much this year (global warming, what?) I'm sure the south is suffering aplenty! Come on Spring!

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  16. Oh my gosh that video was hilarious! The two of them nipping and rearing was hilarious (and kinda scary as I couldn't quite tell if they were playing or not, lol). Great quality video from a photo camera I must say! I hope it warms up down there, I can't believe it is so cold there! I am still wishing I was that far south though, as we are still winterlocked up here in the seems-like-Tundra of Ontario, Canada :)

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  17. YourDailyCute: None of us down here have the right clothes, and I think it's safe to say that we are all freezing our respective rumps off :o)
    Buggys: I'm with you about Spring (or at least a little warmer, will ya?) I don't buy into the global warming scare; follow the old Farmers Almanacs back far enough and you'll find the cyclical pattern to the weather (although methinks I'm ready to hit a slightly warmer part of the pattern ;o)
    Meghann: I'm scared to ask the actual temperature where you are girl, it'd probably just make me feel even colder! I'm glad you liked the video - don't sweat it though, those two lunkheads were definitely playing (Max used to play the same game with Shadow, but Shadow was always changing the rules so he could win :o)

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  18. We have given you an award if you want to come over to our blog and pick it up.

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  19. That was a great video, Jen! I love the way the horses squared up over the tree stump. You really get some insight into their personalities by watching them warm up and play.
    As well, great music selection for the video. I thought it was very fitting.

    I hope to see more videos in the future. It really is great just watching the horses have fun.

    Have a good day and stay warm (I believe the cold snap is over for you).

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  20. Marg: Thank you so much for the award! I'm off to collect it now (of course then I'll have to figure out exactly what I am supposed to do with it since I haven't a clue...*laugh*)
    Nathan: Thanks for your kind comments, I really appreciate them. I didn't actually realize how "choreographed" Max and Cinnamon looked until I watched the video clip later on (too funny, aren't they?) I hope to be able to shoot some more video again soon; after all, sharing the wonder and joy of horses is what we're all about around here :o)

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