Wordless Wednesday - At least somebody enjoys the snow

Another Productive Day at the Carder!

Yesterday I carded up several more Custom Fiber Blend batts to list in our Etsy store. I recently sorted through a ton of boxes and bags of fiber that I had stashed in our soaking tub in the master bath (I know it sounds crazy but the tub is freaking ginormous and the water heater runs out of hot water when the tub is only half full so what's the point?) Anyway, I sorted out fibers that will work well blended together and filled a huge plastic bin with bags of blending fibers. Yesterday I had a blast going through that bin and picking out all kinds of fibers that went well together. Following are three of the batts: The top one is Lilacs, the middle one is Hydrangeas and the bottom one is Bahama Bay

I also made this - Glacier Bay - a blend of custom dyed merino/silk, tussah silk, mohair and bamboo. This reminds me of the colors of a glacier with that eerie seafoam green glow under the white snow and ice.

And while we're on the subject of snow and ice - guess what we got (yet again) last night?!

Yep, more snow! They predicted that snow would start Tuesday night and go into Wednesday but all we got Tuesday night was a fireworks show complete with tons of lightning and thunder but not a drop of moisture. Then yesterday evening I looked out the office window and it was snowing like crazy so I grabbed my handy camera and snapped several shots. Can you see the thermometer on the deck railing? I think it says about 30 degrees F. And it is mid-May. Ahhh, Springtime in the Rockies - you gotta love it! Not really...

I have a ton of flowers I need to get planted but I obviously don't dare put them out just yet. I have Hollyhocks, Columbine, Lupine, Hosta, Iris and Pansies. I uncovered the rose bushes and I think they made it through the winter but there is no new growth on them yet. It appears that the raspberry bush didn't make it through the winter but the lilac bush I planted last Fall is showing new sprouts so I mulched that day before yesterday with an old llama fleece to keep the buds from getting frostbit. The catnip plant is coming up - I already cut that back to the ground last week and I'm hoping it doesn't get frostbit either, except I think it has a much better chance of coming back than most of the other plants since its pretty hardy. I am going to go buy several straw bales and put them together out in the front flower garden where I can't seem to get things to grow very well and I'll fill in the "straw container" with composted llama manure and try making a raised bed this year. I used to garden a lot at our old house in Colorado Springs. We turned most of the front yard into a terraced flower garden and we had people stopping all the time to take pictures of it. It was a real show stopper! The decomposed granite soils, the short growing season (i.e., two whole days of real summer) and the hungry deer make gardening extremely challenging here but I'm struggling each year to get at least one more decent tree, bush, plant or garden area growing.

Wordless Wednesday

The weather outside is frightful.....let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

We are under a Winter Storm Warning here until 6 PM MDT Thursday and they are predicting 8 to 15 inches of snow for our area. Last night we hauled in a big load of firewood and topped off all the water tanks for the animals.

I just got back in from feeding the llamas and horses. I fed extra and put the blanket on our 29 year old POA Mare, Puff. She's now enjoying a hot mash for breakfast and will belly up to the hay bale when she's done, I'm sure.

The wood stove is cranked up and we're nice and toasty, enjoying a freshly brewed pot of spiced coffee. I might even bake a cake or something to have an excuse to turn the oven on and warm things up just a bit more.

Just for grins, here is a link to the cams in Woodland Park, which is 23 miles to the northeast of us:

Ute Pass Cams

There are two cams in town. The one that says Woodland Park is on the northwest end of town and is frequently not the best viewing because of the snow. The Pikes Peak cam is on the southeast side of town and will give you a better idea of what is actually going on. Woodland Park isn't that big - maybe a mile and a half to two miles from one end of town to the other and the highway runs through it like a big horseshoe; when you get to the west end and are leaving town you can look down at where you came from to get into town at the east end.

I'll try to get photos of the snow later. Right now we only have about an inch but it is snowing and blowing pretty hard out. I got too chilled this morning to go back out to take photos.

Do you know how to tell it's the last day of Summer in the Rockies?

Do you know how to tell when it is the last day of Summer in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado?

Any guesses?

Okay, I'll give you a hint - it is white.

Okay, another hint - it is cold.

Last hint - if it comes down hard enough it is called a Blizzard.

But since it is the last day of Summer, we're getting thunder with it.

Go figure.

Global warming...yeah....right.

Colorado - April Snows Bring May Flowers

We got some heavy wet snow today - almost a foot of the white stuff. It should help the grass grow in the pastures when it melts. We really need the moisture because we haven't gotten much precip all winter long and we were very worried about a high fire danger summer again. This will help raise the levels of water in the lake and give us some badly needed moisture. Above is a picture of the lake. I wish I would have brought the camera out sooner because when I first went out to feed, the lake was a gorgeous teal blue color but by the time I was done with chores it started to cloud up and got darker and the color was this deep dark gray.

Here are the weanling llamas with Uncle Nimbus chowing down on hay that I took out after the snow stopped.

Merry Christmas! - No wait, its Happy Easter!

I woke up this morning at shortly after 6 AM to the sound of something being batted around in the kitchen. I decided to get up and check it out - put on my robe and slippers and looked out the sliding glass door and thought, "Oh man, its really foggy out". I opened the front door to put the dogs out and GASP there were several inches of SNOW on the deck and what I thought was fog was SNOW! We had two inches of snow already and it was coming down lightly, almost like a mist. Two hours later we had four inches of snow and it shows no signs of letting up. We are under a Winter Weather Advisory until 6 PM tonight. We were supposed to go down the mountain to my parent's house in Colorado Springs today to celebrate Easter and hubby's birthday but that isn't looking promising. We could most likely make it in the truck - it is 4 wheel drive with good tires on it and very high clearance. But, from listening to the ham radio and scanner this morning traffic accidents in the county are one right after the other. So, we're waiting a bit to see if it would be safe to go or if we should stay home.

After doing chores this morning I got the camera and took some photos to share. The snow is wet and heavy so it is compacting down quickly and you can't really tell how much we actually got. But take a look at the branches on the pine trees and it will give you an idea of how heavy this stuff is. The poor little birdies were chirping on the deck looking for something to eat. Their food dishes were buried in several inches of snow. So, I brushed snow off strategic locations and refilled several more dishes so they'll have plenty to eat so they can stay warm today.

Oh, I got sidetracked, didn't I?! The batting sound was a plastic clamshell container that had strawberries in it. There was one green berry in the batch of strawberries that I just left in the container and left it on the counter last night. The cats had knocked it down and were playing "try to get the berry". Who needs to spend money on cat toys when everyday household items provide so much entertainment at no additional cost whatsoever!

Winter Storm Warning Today into Tomorrow

Our area is under a Winter Storm Warning from 10 AM this morning until Noon tomorrow (Friday). We can expect from 1 to 2 feet of snow! Last night Jim brought in lots of firewood (we heat the house exclusively with a wood stove). Today I fed extra to the weanling llamas and the horses and raked up all the loose hay under the trees and into feeding boxes to reduce the amount of hay that gets covered with snow and gets wet (cuz then, eeewwww, its gross and the llamas don't wanna eat it!) This is what Springtime in the Rockies of Colorado can be like. We can set record breaking high temps one day, followed by record setting blizzard conditions and snowfall the next. Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes...it'll change. That's a frequent saying around here. We need the moisture though, so we won't complain (much - we were really enjoying those record high temps!) Several years ago we were snowed in for four days because there was so much snow the plows didn't get out to us for that length of time. There were four to six foot drifts in the road in front of the house. At the time, we didn't have a tractor so we just hunkered down and waited for help to arrive. Now we have a big tractor so Jim is all excited about being able to get the tractor out and do some snow plowing this weekend. Boys and their toys!

Hopefully we'll still have power and internet service throughout this storm - or we'll be playing poker and backgammon by firelight. So, til next time, stay warm and dry, wherever you are!

UPDATE:

The snow has started and is coming down horizontally. We could have up to 50 mph winds this afternoon and 16 below zero wind chills tonight and tomorrow morning. I dread the thought of going out to feed the horses this afternoon! I put the blanket on Puff, our 29 year old mare, and hope she rides this storm out okay.

Here's a link to the cams in Woodland Park (the closest major town to us - 25 miles away): www.utepasscams.com. On one of them you can't even see anything right now because it is snowing so hard.