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Whoa-Whoa-WHOA...

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Whaddaya mean SNOW?!?!?
To call yesterday "Freaky Friday" would be a bit of an understatement. The fact that we are less than 10 miles from the Florida line should tell you how often it snows around here; almost never. The last time it snowed was 17 years ago and everything (including our heat pump) shut down; we left when the temperature inside the house hit 53 degrees. While we were in better shape this time (a wood stove with a blower and a generator), a snowstorm in the south always spells d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r. If you've never seen a Southerner try to drive in the snow, I can promise you it is NOT a pretty  sight.  Of course school was cancelled, and businesses were closing up shop left and right.  


Since I had a full day of testing scheduled at the hospital (and they called 3 different times to make sure I was still coming), Cassandra [DD] didn't get a whole lot of  playtime in before it was time to go. She was only two the last time it snowed, so she booked it outside to play in the white stuff until it was time to leave. Her first order of business was to write this terribly important piece of teenybopper information on the back of her dad's car before running around catching snowflakes on her tongue and making some snowballs :o) She managed to bean yours truly with the first one before dashing into the house to stick the other one in the freezer for posterity.
I have to say I had a good laugh upon leaving the hospital when I spotted this man-made decoration just outside the doors of Outpatient (and after almost 6 straight hours of tests, I needed a giggle or two :o) It's kind of hard to see in the photo, but there is a small (yet decorative) sprig of leaves sticking out of the top. The short story behind all the hospital testing has been an ongoing [and increasing] series of bizarre symptoms that have plagued me since February 2009 when I reluctantly got back on the medical merry-go-round. It seems, however, that we may have spent the past year chasing the wrong rabbit; and isn't that just special? With clear test results and puzzled physicians all the way to the Mayo Clinic a couple of weeks ago, I am pretty much to the point that I don't care what it is I just want to know. Hopefully, I will finally know something by next week's post (just in case you're interested ;o) Thankfully, we made it back home in one piece and before dark to feed everybody. Even as an official member of the worldwide organization of the SCC [that'd be "Scary Christian Chicks"] I don't mind telling you I was really worried and praying like crazy about the horses. With rain and sleet that started before daybreak, the horses were soaked to the skin before breakfast.  The sleet was followed by big fat flakes of snow that accumulated on the soggy ground, dropping temps and a biting wind. Fun for people maybe, but deadly for animals that live outside. While the Moo Crew usually heads up the hill and shelters in the trees, the girls' stalls are an open design, and shutting them in there would have prevented them from moving around to keep warm.  Here's what it looked like in the pasture late yesterday afternoon...Can you believe it?

That's Bella near the center, poor baby, with her legs together and tail tucked tightly against the wind. For those of you that are wondering why I didn't just slap horse blankets on everyone, it's a bit more complicated than you might think. Aside from the fact that we don't even have any blankets because the climate here doesn't warrant them (and it would cost between $700-$1,000 to buy them for everyone;  that's if we could even find them locally) individual measurements would have to be taken for specific  
sizes. Since most of the horses have never even seen a blanket (let alone worn one) the middle of a winter storm would probably not be the best time to try a training exercise times ten. With the horses soaked to the skin, the coming darkness, wind picking up and the temp dropping into the 20s, I went to bed and woke up on  a prayer. In all honesty, I was scared to death to go outside this morning, afraid of what I might actually find in the pasture. But...
Praise the Lordeveryone was fine! Even though the high today is only supposed to be 45, the sun is shining so hopefully my four-legged children can all get some much needed rest after such a miserable night. So...how's the weather at your house? 

18 comments:

  1. Glad to hear everyone made it through ok. It's a balmy 24 degrees here right now BUT, at least we're used to this kind of stuff. We may not like it but we're equipped to handle it.
    Best wishes on the test results. Hope they figure everything out for you soon

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  2. Do you want to know a secret? Our Heavenly Father doesn't mind us being scared as long as we come running to Him for help. Yeah, some would have us believe that fear is the absence of faith, but you proved your faith by turning to Him. In other words, you did good, girl!!!

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  3. Ann: Yep, it was one big WHEW! around here yesterday. I actually thought about you at one point while taking pictures; remembering how sick you were of the snow up there and thinking that now it wouldn't even do you any good to head south *laugh*. Thanks for the wishes on the test results (I am a terrible waiter :o)
    FishHawk: You are SO right! My mom and I used to butt heads over that one; her contention was that fear only meant my faith wasn't strong enough. It wasn't that I had any doubts about God getting me through a crisis, it was more along the lines of being afraid of exactly what He was going to want me to go through ('cause I'm a total weenie don'tcha know ;o) Thank you so much for your kind words!

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  4. Be assured that I am exactly like you in that regard, and it's good to know that He made at least one more gutless wonder like me. Um, sorry. That doesn't sound quite right--does it?

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  5. We are even shivering here in south Florida! I am curled up in my heated cat cup. I feel sorry that the horsies were chilly!

    I hope your test results show all good news.

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  6. Sure hope those tests tell you what is wrong with you. That is horrible not knowing. And glad your horses made it though the snow. We had some too but I am lucky enough to have a barn they can go into when it is bad weather. Now the donkeys don't care about rain but during that snow, they were in that barn. But I am glad they were all all right. Whenever I worry about my animals being out in the weather, I think about all the wild animals that dont have shelter and a lot of them don't have food and they all make it.

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  7. Hi Jen! Thanks for commenting on my blog, I had to pop over to yours. Marvellous illustrations - do you do them yourself?

    Lots of snow and low temperatures here, and not all horses are blanketed either (but then they get some time to adjust). Glad your horses were OK. And good luck with the tests, hope they find out what's wrong.

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  8. FishHawk: AHAHAHAHAHA... Well it may not exactly be politically correct, but it sure is accurate! ;o)
    Daisy: Hope your itty bitty paws thawed out (heard it got pretty nippy down your way!) Thanks for the well wishes girl!
    Marg: Thank you for your kind words, and you're right not knowing is the pits :o) Glad your guys had a nice barn to get snuggly in. You know, I thought about the wild critters around here too and wondered how they fared.
    HorseOfCourse: Hi, I'm so glad you stopped by! Yes, Shadow's toon is my doodling and thank you so much for the compliment (although I'm sure Shadow would tell you it only looks good because he's so darn handsome :o) I thought it was too funny that you started lessons at 6 - me too! I started asking my folks for them at age 4 (took me two years to wear 'em down *grin*). Thanks for the hope on the tests, after going round and round for a whole year I'm definitely ready for an answer.

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  9. Your horses are beautiful. Wow, that weather is horrendous. Our California horses are so spoiled. We put blankets on them if it drops below 60. In truth, your way is probably healthier.

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  10. It seems to be snowing just about everywhere right now. I think only our recent winter storm here in lower Michigan looked worse than the snow I see in your pictures.

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  11. Jayne: Thank you; we certainly think they are beautimous ;o) I did some research on blanketing and found that you should really just "pick one" (yay or nay). Since none of ours are clipped during the winter months, we have never put blankets on them. With the exception of last Friday, it's never been an issue. If you blanket frequently, it can trick a horse's system into thinking it's spring and cause them to shed out early. Champ is our resident hairball, and was the least bothered by last Friday's icky weather. Thanks so much for visiting!
    Ratty: Oh, I am sure your storm was much worse. The only reason ours was such a big deal was because we are waaay below the "snow zone". They shut down the roads throughout the entire county at 6p.m. Friday night (after about a gazillion fender benders 'cause Southerners cannot drive worth a flip in the snow :o)

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  12. The horses do look a little unaccustomed to the snow. Ours just act like same-old-same-old when it snows in Washington State.

    Hope all is well with you..sending my positive thoughts your way.

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  13. I sympathize with your health problems and it bothers me so much that doctors don't know what I think they are suppose to, but they aren't God. I'm so glad your horses made it through, we use to have some trotters and pacers, but they were use to the weather here in PA and had lots of blankets.

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  14. Carol: I think if the wind hadn't been biting, the snow had not been quite so wet and nasty (and the ground not so slick and dangerous) they might have played around some. I know they can really get going when it rains (and they're a blast to watch :o) Thanks for the positive thoughts!
    Jude: Thank you for your kind words. Between the cancer and Dermatomyositis (muscle disease), I would have said I'd had enough time on the medical merry-go-round, but apparently not :o) If we lived further north, everybody would have blankets. They're just not necessary down here unless you are showing and your horse is clipped, of course. Hopefully, it won't snow again for another 17 years!

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  15. Snow in the south is a disaster. We've driven home from Florida in snow storms through the Carolina's and I'm here to tell you. Southerners can't be expected to know how to drive in snow and they don't. No offense.

    Glad your herd made it through safe and sound. I'll take your weather in a hot minute. We're expecting more on Monday in the Northeast.

    Hope your tests come back with something conclusive and nothing bad. Good luck.

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  16. Is the snowball still in the freezer? Seriously, I'm glad everybody is fine and safe.
    I didn't know horse blankets cost that much...that seems kind of absurd.

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  17. GreyHorse: You aren't kidding about southerners and snow; and I'm not offended in the slightest ('cause I'm not from the south *grin* I originated in PA). Too bad you guys can't start shipping some of that white stuff to Canada...heard they were running a bit low; have you got cabin fever yet? I'm thinking I might be ready to hurt somebody about now with as much snow as you've had (ugh - wanna come hide in our spare room? :o) Thanks for the well wishes!
    Rebecca: That stupid snowball will probably stay in the freezer for at least a decade *laugh*. I opened our big freezer two weeks ago and found a huge 2" thick slab of ice from one of the water troughs in the pasture. DD's response to my yell was to tell me she thought it was too cool and did I notice how BIG it was? (yes, and it's hogging half the freezer- Get-it-OUT!). Probably should be happy with the snowball, eh? Hee. Thank you for your comments Rebecca, I was happy to see you again :o)

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  18. I am late in reading this post. It's water over the dam by now, but my heart goes out to your horses that are not used to ever wearing a blanket. Here in Sweden, all horses wear something when they are outside in the winter. But the climate demands it, and they learn to live with from an early age. Differences in climate really affect our lives.

    My heart goes out to you too, not just to your horses, for your visits to the clinic for tests. Not knowing is always hard.

    Thanks for booking a day on my EC-widget April 23rd! I've booked a day on your EC-widget now!

    Hugs,
    Anna

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