It has gone, almost as quickly as it arrived, leaving me with a sigh of relief, and everybody in the paddock – humans, cats, dog and alpacas with the joy of seeing green again.
As a snowy week went, it was pretty good. We had two big snowfalls, one right at the beginning and one two days before the end, and though it lay deep – in places a foot or more, at no point were we snowed in, nor did we suffer from the serious ice problems that we have had in past years. We had some concern about our hay supplies – it did catch us unawares, but we were able to get out to Alpacas of Wales on the Monday and snaffle a couple of bales from there.
There is a lot more work for us when it snows, the alpacas get through a lot more hay, and consequently they drink more water. Amazingly this time the water supplies in the field remained usable, so I only had to do the dreaded water-by-bucket a couple of times.
Gwen discovered frisbee. We soon realised that throwing sticks was hopeless as they would just sink and disappear without trace, but I dug out an old frisbee that worked a treat and lasted at least two days before the ancient plastic succumbed to the cold. Something else for the shopping list!
It stayed picturesque throughout. Yesterday as the thaw kicked in it certainly wasn’t looking as good, but all the really slushy action happened overnight, last night, and we arose today to clear fields, clear paths, and animals wandering about freely.
More to come? Who knows. We are almost through January. Whilst I am not a fan of the winter or the snow I have to say that it is better than having year round slugs!