More Stuck In..side

 -18

The mules are officially out of water and today will be the high of zero, dammit.
I'll get it done though. I will carry them water this morning and put it in pans and this afternoon when the temps rise, I'll fill the large tank. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Yesterday I 'played' with the converted Full Spectrum camera. I found that I can get interesting colors that are slightly strange if I use the camera without the Infrared Spectrum filters. 

I did this photo with a 665nm Filter.

The shot below is where I took all the photos using just the light from the back door which faces north.

Behold the mess. Old antique boxes stacked with a piece of plywood and a lid to an antique box for the back stop. Paper for any textured back grounds.

My dear friend from Alabama sent me some darling little toys via Amazon. I can't wait to take them to the woods for some adventures. Charlie is perplexed with the wind up toys and will take his nose and tip them over while they are walking.

The shot below is with no filter on it. 

Okay. When converting a camera a clear filter replaces the one inside your camera that blocks IR light. A camera converted this way is also used often in Astrophotography as it picks up light differently. No, I haven't tried that yet, but I may  try it when the temperatures are much nicer outside!

The tiny fake flower in the little brown bottle is actually bright red and the colors in the paper below should be a bit more orange. If I put the 'hot' filter on the lens, the camera would see the light as any normal camera would.

Next up, my wooden toys sent to me by a childhood friend. 

The marbles in back are actually clear and the paper is black with white grunge markings on it.

Bored yet?

Infrared is considered an artsy, non traditional, and way out there type of photography. The scenes that can be shot are pretty neat. However there is a lot more work to the final product depending on how a person wants it to appear. Post processing can be hard. Everyone argues over white balances and RAW files along with how to channel swap...or not to. 
My take away is this. I consider Infrared to be a license to do odd and beautifully strange photography. 

This is a place I am comfortable with. I have so many trials and errors that I am grateful that I have a digital camera and not film.

On a good note. Tomorrow we are supposed to get UP to 12 degrees! I'm considering putting on shorts and flip flops.
Yeah.

I may even start the Subaru and go to town for some groceries. Meanwhile, stay warm and safe. 

~~~ 

Late afternoon Update: I laid out the hose on top of the snow and used the sled to transport about 50 gallons out to the tank. What a workout! 

Be Chilled My Heart

I don't do Valentine's Day. But that is okay, I don't have a grudge against it, I just don't buy into it anymore.

So everyone loves to talk about weather. -15F translates into -26C? I never understood why we don't all use the same measurements. But that is for another day.
I know others are much colder. And I looked at the forecast for us. -17 tonight and Monday? Oh bother.

I measured the temp in the shed yesterday, because it actually felt a bit colder. It wasn't but it was out of the sun so that made it feel so much colder inside.

This is how the girls spend their afternoons. I get obsessed by worrying if they are warm enough. 
Everyone gets about twice the amount of hay during this cold spell. And thankfully, no one is showing signs of cold. 

When I had a place in the flat lands of Kenosha, I had to have a run in for my horses. There was no place for the equine to get out of the wind. 

I am literally going stir crazy inside. It is too dangerous to go hiking even if I get out of the winds. I'm wearing a mask, over the glasses goggles, and a fur lined hat. The secret of keeping warm hands?

My Grandmother's hand made knit mittens with a pair of little knit gloves underneath.

Grandma's Secret Weapon
Knit Mittens

I tried the insulated gloves that are called HotShots and every other high tech glove. Nothing. works like mittens. I've even been able to open gates with them on. If I have to put a halter on someone, I do have to pull the mitten off.

Watering has become a nightmare. The hoses work well and drain from the top of the hill at the outside hydrant. In the past, when we had these cold temps, Rich would help me drain hoses after disconnecting them. With subzero temps and one person, the draining doesn't work as well.

[Yes, one time the outdoor hydrant froze up. That was once in 30+ years. A year when we had no ground cover but subzero temps for an extended period of time.]

Mittens crossed that I don't have to fill the tank until Monday afternoon? With a high of 3 degrees, I may be able to get 'er done. 

Oh and for the curious. The mailman DID show up! His huge Jeep with knobby snow/mud tires could handle just about anything thrown at him. So now that he knows where the house is, I wonder if he'll make deliveries next time. 

I spoke with him this summer at the post office and he told me he couldn't find our house. True Story.

So for those who celebrate, Happy Valentine's Day.

For me? Just a daily outdoor chore challenge and then a day of walking about this tiny cottage waiting for a chance to get out and hike.

Stir Crazy.

Stormy with a cold wind comin'

Here is one of my cold weather 'get ups'. No skin showing, no skin to get frostbitten. Or so I hope.

Here is the 'lame' skidsteer and the 'Ru parked up by the house. I normally park it by the horse trailer but neighbor Justin and I worked out that if I parked here, he could do the turn around for me.
It worked perfectly.

Charlie was not entirely sure about leaving the porch as the snow was over his head.
Later on he did some snow tunneling while I shoveled off the porch and made a path to the shed.

With all critters fed and extra hay laid out for mid day chores walked up the driveway to go check the mail.

I have to admit, Justin and Lauren are incredible neighbors. Hands down, country folk are the best. I stopped in with an invite for coffee from Lauren and she helped me brush up on my Excel Spreadsheet skills while we visited.
By the time I left, the temperatures were warm enough to use the outside hydrant.

With temps dropping to -32 on Wednesday morning, I didn't want to take a chance on filling the heated tank in that cold. I was afraid that the self drain would freeze and I'd have no outside water.
Mica and Dixie got tepid water as did Lil' Richard. I got that in the house and my new cold weather routine is to hand water them about 5 times a day. I wish I had heated buckets for their paddocks.

I had to stomp a trail down the hill so I could drain the hose after watering from the hydrant. 
With that done, I picked up the shovel and started making a wide path from the driveway to the porch.

I had help from the dogs....

If you could call it that...
I think Charlie had the upper hand even though he is much smaller. I let them play for as long as I could let them. No outings for the dogs for the next 3 days.

I'll finish up with Charlie and his snow snuffling.

It is pretty cute.

All in all, I got a lot accomplished and even laid out piles of feed for the cold spell. That way I can just grab it and toss it in the sled and go.
I'm hoping to be able to feed everyone at least 3 times a day.

I thought about a middle of the night feeding. But I have to admit it.
Dark?
Winds?
Dangerous Cold?
No, I'll have to do it at dawn and dusk and give them enough to last most of the night.

The thought of this cold really frightens me.
I wonder if some of these younger folk understand what this bitter and dangerous cold will do to them?

Anyway...the sun is coming up, time to wrap up and head out.
We are at our warmest for today at -7 according to the local website.

Dang. I forgot that thermometer once again!

Most schools will be closed in the surrounding area. Many local businesses have shortened their hours from 9am to 3pm. The Governor has declared a State of Emergency for all counties. I think he was wise.

Time to get out some items to practice Still Life Photography and perhaps work on my spreadsheets along with a few other indoor projects.

Stay warm.

Winter Skidsteer Polar Vortex Storm

Well, that should cover just about all of it. At least what I am thinking about this morning.
Winter.
Well there it is. Winter is here. I would have preferred the snows without the storms and predicted subzero temperatures.

It was -25 F and calm yesterday morning. The sunrise was beautiful with purples and pinks. By 9AM it was only 14 below [well, that is what my smarty pants phone said as we no longer have an outdoor thermometer...which I will fix today..]. I did chores and Charlie went with me for part of the time. I must say, he is a sturdy little dog. But he is young too.
Dixie didn't want to come out of her hay bale igloo in the shed. I poked my head in there and it was pretty warm. 

By mid afternoon I got a text from Justin. He said he wanted to come down and put the skid steer tire on. 
Well we got the tire on. However, in order to put the tracks on, we needed to start it and lift it with the bucket and set it down...well, I won't bore you with the details but all of the rest of the work hinged on starting the skidsteer. 

I had it plugged in. It wouldn't start. We figured it was the battery. I'd recalled that Rich had said at one point that he probably would need a new one? Rich didn't recall that. 
His memory is fuzzy about most things these days. The last time he was in the shed he was frustrated because 'something' wasn't there that he had put there. I found the items in his truck later and told him ... well, that didn't go so well either.

[I have to keep recalling that Rich's anger that get's directed at me is not really his normal. It is the frustration, the pain, the feeling of helplessness from all of his illnesses that he can only express his frustration in the tone of anger. He used to be able to stomp out to the shed and fix everything himself. Not any more.]

Anyway.

The conclusion was we'd have to wait for better weather. Justin could open the battery compartment and charge the battery and we could finish the job. But it would be a while. 

Justin promised to plow us out during the next storm. He wouldn't take any payment, relaying that when they needed help, I was always there and I took care of all of their chores when they went on vacations. Even up.

So the skidsteer is stuck right there in the way. I can't get the big old truck out to get small square bales, but I have the monster bales to use.

It looks like a very cold wintry week coming up. 

And the Vortex is coming!

The Skidsteer saga continues. I told Justin at this point I'd rather hire someone to plow this winter. I'd get the skidsteer parked and send it in come spring time to get overhauled or just sell it.

Next Saturday it looks like it may get up close to 30 degrees. That will be the day to start the skid steer, charge the battery and finish putting the tracks back on it. 

For today, I'm getting the usual things in town and then parking the 'Ru in a spot to make it easier for Justin to plow after the storm. 
One day at a time.