The temperatures have stayed in the minus 20's for a long time, gong down to minus 32 and 34 at night. For the most part the sheep and the dogs, except of Harley, who has arthritis from being fed GMO grain based dog food when he was a pup, are pretty comfortable. Both the dogs and sheep can curl up on the snow and sleep there and not be cold. The dogs curl up and their bushy tails cover their noses. The sheep are well insulated and the alpacas seem to be too, more so than the llamas. Those poor goats run out to eat and shiver and run back to their barn, staying there until they have to eat again. They do not like the snow or cold and only travel on their paths, never venturing their little hoofies into the snow. The Angora goats were not shorn in the fall, so they have long thick warm coats that will be of little to no value other than insulation, because the fiber will mat and it is so full of vegetative matter from feeding alfalfa hay. It does make good insulation though. Some of the chickens only venture out to eat and drink and spend the rest of the day on their perches in the coop, trying to stay warm. The ducks and geese come out to eat and drink, but drop onto their downy bellies frequently tucking their toes into their feathers so their feet do not freeze. In their coop, they have a thick straw bedding that insulates their feet from the icy ground. Still, one duck froze in his sleep this winter.

The trees can be heard cracking loudly when it is crispy cold, freezing as they stand. In the winds, these weakened trees are blown over and up rooted or simply broken in two. No other living things are seen around the farm, no weasels, no coyotes, nothing, because of the pack of livestock guardian dogs that keep it safe. The lens on the camera continually fogs over because though it is very cold, there is also a mist in the air of ice particles. It has snowed non stop for the past three days, lightly, but non stop. One would wonder why anyone would choose to live in such a frigid area, and yet, further north, there are much colder regions where people also live. Just because winter is so hard here in northeastern Alberta, the anticipation of the beautiful summer is so looked forward to. But, darn, it is cold right now.

When farming was not yet a reality, I bought some purebred registered Canadian horses, 2 bred mares with foals at their sides. One foal was a filly and the other a colt. The future sire was also brought out, Ty, a magnificent specimen of the old type of the breed.  The mares were from the well known Ferme des Berges in Quebec, a long lived Canadian horse farm that was responsible for the continuance and conservation of this magnificent breed of horses, the Canadians. The animals were registered as The Eternal Herd under my name, and brought them out of Quebec in 2010 during October. I had come out of BC in the motorhome to the farm I originally purchased in Thorhild county, a small, poor county north of Edmonton about an hour. The first Fat Ewe Farm was boreal forest, simply beautiful, with 60 acres of native prairie pasture and 100 acres of pristine, untouched forest. Water and power was installed and my plan was to somehow make it through the winter in the motorhome. I wanted the farmer to place the large hay bales from my land as a makeshift garage for the motorhome, but he refused. This was based on never having done such a thing before, therefore not knowing if it would be successful and therefor unwilling to take the chance. So, when it got to be 20 below outside, the interior temperature of the motorhome was only 4 degrees. A temperature drop outside would mean frozen pipes and no water.

The brother of the lady that I bought the farm from owned a very large shop in Two Hills, about 3 hours from Thorhild and offered it to me for the winter. I accepted, and paid to have fencing put up and bought a livestock shelter and heated water trough for the horses. Within six weeks, we received an eviction notice from the county, saying livestock was not permitted on the acreages. We were forced to vacate. I tried to sell the horses, but winter is not a good time to sell. They were boarded for the cost of $700 per month for 10 months. I went home to White Rock in December and stayed there pondering the next step. My home in White Rock sold at the end of January and I had 28 days to move. I worked day and night packing and selling things. In the meantime, I found a farm in northeastern Alberta, flew out to see it, loved it and bought it and here we are. The other farm eventually sold. The reason is another tale.

The mares were sold, but Ty, the stallion bred the filly and Zeb was the baby she bore. The horses moved to Devon for a few months, since the new farm was not set up for horses. Zeb was born there and the border loved him dearly. They handled him well and taught him to halter and lead. At six months, Willa and Zeb came home, but Ty was fatally struck by lightening and never returned.

Zeb is a delight. I find, though, that I am not a horse person. I do love him, but my interest lies with the other animals and dogs comes first. Zeb would be best served in a new home where he can be trained and loved by a horse person. As much as I would hate to see him go, he deserves to be loved as only a horsey person can. My wish for him is that he has a home where he is center of attention and receives endless love. In the meantime, I am teaching him small things. He is learning to back up and can do it quite well. The next thing will be to harness him and hopefully teach him to drive. Then the saddle will come along, but I would need another person who is adept at breaking horses to ride. Somewhere along the way, maybe Zeb will find a new home. He is truly a beautiful horse.

Some days I have the luxury of sleeping late and not doing too much when I do wake up. Today was that sort of day. It was cold last night, minus 10, but the sun was shining this morning and the temperature quickly rose to 14. What a gorgeous day. I put plywood up on the lamb shelter to break the south east wind and enclosed a portion on that side as well. In winter, some of the most brutal winds come from the south east. The sheep do not go into their shelter much except when the wind is bitterly cold and when there is a blizzard. They hunker down in the snow and their wooly coats keep them warm and toasty. In the morning there is a depression in the snow where their bodies have melted the crystals enough to hollow out a portion. The lambs do not do this so much, unless they are by their mothers, but the mothers will be breeding in a month and the lambs are too young, so they will remain separated this year. Lambs and their mothers recognize each other two years after being apart and perhaps even longer. It is a delight to see them celebrate their reunion of love.

After that, I hung solar lights on the porch, and tiny ones on the arch way I created with a livestock panel earlier in the day. When the climbing rose is mature it will cover that arch, I am hoping. In between, the dogs got some raw liver, which they gobbled down, or at least Mikey and Joe did. The older dogs were not hungry at that time and lazed in the sun after working all night.

It was chicken catching day today because the roosters are scheduled to go to the processors tomorrow morning, but I could not bring myself to catch them. I called my neighbour Dale, a most wonderful man who actually practices what he preaches. He is a Mormon and is the pastor! I am glad to know him and his wonderful family and I know when in need, I can call for help. I try not to abuse that privilege, and would also assist him if he should ever ask. He brought his nephew along and the two men caught the roosters and put them in the large dog kennel for the night. It is in the smart car wagon because the transmission of the truck broke and I cannot afford to repair it at this time. I am grateful to have the smart car wagon for times like this for sure. Dale and his nephew also caught the last 7 chickens that were roosting in the tree and I stuffed them in the coop  to be imprisoned for the next 5 days until they know to come home to it at night. I would hate to lose those hens, those wonderful broody hens that raised wonderful chicks this summer. They were hard to catch too! Now they are safe and warm. Snow is not forecast until late November, yay!, a switch from last year, thank goodness, and temperatures are to remain mild until then too. Yahoo!

More chores were completed during the day, then the dishes were done when I came inside. I cooked Portabella mushrooms with kale for supper and then had a bowl of popcorn. The moon is stunning tonight, illuminating the sky and the Earth. Isn't life grand?

The Canadian horses are beautiful, smart and willing. Willa, the mare, is 4 and her son, gelded now, is 1. As much as my dreams involved keeping horses on the farm, having sleigh rides in winter and wagon rides in summer, the costs are prohibiting. A good sleigh and harness for 2 horses is over five thousand dollars. Some sleighs have interchangeable wheels to make a wagon. Training the horses is a long process, something I have precious little time for. It is not like training a dog, where the dog can be with me while I am doing chores. Training a horse is basically all one can do at one time. So, with the price of feed, the extra work to feed the horses and carry water, and the return, which is currently nil, they will be sold to a good home. There is no hurry to simply get rid of them. When the buyer who really wants them presents himself, then it will be right to sell them.
They are very beautiful and will be missed.

The Muscovy ducks are sunning themselves on the warm and humid afternoon. The weather brought the small mosquitoes out and they are vicious, biting right through jeans. 

Andy, the farm carpenter, has built a rain and sun shelter for the sheep. This will have a half plywood back for a wind break and a tarp over the entire structure except the front. The livestock panels have to be wired together to stabilize them, but the shape makes the structure wind resistant. Even when we had a near tornado last summer, none of these structures budged.

Andy also worked on the Tajmacoop, a three season chicken coop. The upper compartment has three perches for the birds and they are housed by plywood on all sides except the bottom.
For winter, bubble foil wrap insulation will cover the structure, straw bales will line the bottom and sides and two heat lamps will be installed. There is also an insulated chicken coop, but the floor is not insulated and the feet froze on some of the birds that did not perch.

The goats were allowed out in the main yard today. Yesterday several small poplars were felled with the skid steer and the ground was torn up for terraced gardens. The goats were out and the llamas thought they would visit too.

Zeb thought he would help me set the electric fence up, but got his hoof caught and broke three wires, of course.

You would think, that with the new found freedom, the goats would head for some of their favourites, like the caragana, lilac or poplar leaves that are just emerging, but nope. They head straight for the grain. Grain is like heroin to them. One taste and they are hooked and must have their fix. Fortunately, the bags were all tied with the anticipation of this episode.

I had to separate the male Llama from the male alpaca immediately. Stanley was hurting the alpaca quite badly, biting him and knocking him down. They are terrible in fights. The alpaca wanted nothing to do with the Stanley though. Stanley stood and spit at him for a while, just in case. Willa is in the foreground supervising. And that was today at the Fat Ewe Farm!

Zeb is a good looking little guy. Every horse person who has seen him has commented on him and a few have offered to buy him. As much as the horses bother me, I did have great plans for them when I bought them. Unfortunately, the market for horses disappeared and especially for Canadian horses, so the plans will go by the wayside.  I sold the original mares that were brought out. Willa, who lives on The Fat Ewe Farm, was a filly when the Canadians made the long trip from Quebec from the famous Du Couteau farm. Wakhan was a colt who also came along, but he was traded to the horse boarder for taking care of the horses for a few months. That left Ty, the old style stallion and Willa for a breeding pair. Alas, that was not meant to be.

Ty was fatally struck by lightening during a terrible storm with a near tornado accompanying it. Zeb is Ty's son, born to Willa, and he is a very tame sweet natured fellow, as is his mother. The horses are calm and friendly and willing. It won't take much to train Willa this summer. She will begin driving school and liberty training to bareback ride. I do not know how to train a horse, but I know how to train a dog. I understand that there is a huge difference between the two, but already I have accomplished feats with the horses that people said I wouldn't be able to do. Horses take a lot more patience to train than a smart dog, but it is doable. It is easier for me to train my big dog to pull a cart than to train Willa, for example.

Anyhow, young Zeb is going to be a year old in May and his mother will be three then. She was bred too early, but not intentionally and she has recovered to full health. Many visitors to the farm love the horses, so for now they stay. Zeb is gelded and there is no reason to breed his mother, because there are too many horses in Alberta already. Zeb and Willa are purebred registered Canadian horses. To read more about the Canadians, look here.

I love my little goaties, even though they pick through their hay and eat the best parts first. Then if they have stepped on the hay, they do not eat the rest, so lots is wasted. There are some sheep in with the goats and they are not quite as fussy, but will pick the best out too. I don't mind feeding the sheep and goats. It involves hauling toboggans of hay unrolled from large round bales at this time. Until the bale forks come for the skid steer (and that is a long story as to why they are not here), this is the method that I must use. There is no way to move those big bales, only to unroll them vertically and haul the hay. The little goaties get a lot of their hay on the other side of the fence along the fence line, because they can stick their heads through the fence and eat the good parts and NOT step on the rest. 

The problem is, when I felt sorry for the horses, I let them out, thinking they would run to the bush to eat the good things there, but no! They ran straight over to the llama's side and they now dominate them, not allowing them to eat at all. The llamas are going to starve if I do not get the horses out of there, but I cannot open the gate wide enough. They came on their own by traipsing through the deep snow all around the perimeter of the farm yard, but they won't go back. I want to lock them up again and force them to only eat their own hay. It was not as though they did not have enough, either. Their feeder was always full, but it was more work than eating it off the ground as the llamas do. Piggie horses. 

I am waiting for Willa to jump the fence into the goat's side, because the goats are pregnant and they get premium alfalfa hay in this last two months prior to delivery, while the horses get a taste of the good hay and then get standard grass hay. You know the old saying about the grass always being greener...? 

So, because there is so much waste feeding this way, I must do it twice a day, or the animals just walk on it, poo on it and waste it. Instead of 4 hours a day, yesterday, in the bitter cold of minus 20 with a windchill factor making it feel like minus 25, and snowing on top of that cold, I spent 6 hours out feeding and watering. I do need to get busy making soap for the farmer's market too. Tuesday is shearing day and the goats and sheep will be moved around. Hopefully some one will be able to open the gate by digging out the frozen snow and ice and the horses can go back home.