Baby Its Cold Outside...

Another blast of winter made its way through our area last night . . . with high winds and yes, more snow . . . This definitely has added to the chore load. The guys have been taking turns pushing snow around and wondering where they should put the next bucket of snow. Before they can bring a feed wagon into the feedlots, they first have to plow open a path. With sub-zero temperatures and extreme cold wind chills, the cattle and sheep are in need of extra straw for bedding. Animals tend to eat more when its cold outside in order to help maintain their core body temperatures and to keep their immune systems functioning properly; therefore, the guys will make feed adjustments when necessary.

On the 19th of December, three semi-trucks arrived in our yard a few days early due to the weather forecast of snow and high winds which are a bad combination for previously unstressed calves. The calves were loaded up to go to a Nebraska feedlot.

Sky Phenomenons

While Ty was finishing chores in the late afternoon on the 20th of December, he noticed a couple of "sun dogs" He phoned me to quick go outside to capture this atmospheric phenomenon for our hunting friends in Florida. The best time to see sun dogs is when the sun is low in the sky and the sunlight is shining through the cirrus clouds. Cirrus clouds are those very high thin wispy ones. Ice crystals associated with cirrus clouds, diamond dust and ice fog create the effect known as sun dogs. They appear on both the left and right sides of the sun and the ice crystals refract or reflect the sun's rays. The next time that the sun is low in the sky and there are cirrus clouds in the area, go look to see if you see any sun dogs.