Lovably Wovel-able Snow

Another 3 inches of snow this morning.  Rog didn't have time to clear snow before leaving for work, but he used the wovel (shovel on a wheel) to  make two tire tread paths out to the road. He came in and said the snow was perfectly wovelable today.  So, after chores and coffee, I went back out to deal with the snow and I decided to wovel rather than snowblow.

Most of our snowfalls this year have been too deep, densely-packed, or icy   for easy woveling or the weather has been bitterly cold and we wanted the fastest result, so we have resorted to the snowblower. To use the wovel, you wheel the blade along the ground scooping up snow, then push the handle down to flick the snow off.  Today's snow is a bit heavier than powder and our tall snowbanks have receded enough that it is now easy to flip the snow up onto them.

I bought the wovel because shoveling is so hard on my back. The wovel is comparatively effortless, altho of course doesn't work on the steps.  It took me about  45 minutes to wovel out our long driveway and parking areas--maybe 10-15minutes longer than snowblowing would have, but the wovel is quiet, you don't have to wrestle a heavy snowblower around, it uses no gasoline and emits no carbon, and best of all, does not  make snow blow in your face and down your neck.  Plus, it is an aesthetically pleasing tool to use.

If you are a more obsessive person who desires machine-perfect snowbank edges, the wovel is not for you. A driveway  cleared by a wovel is a bit more handcrafted, like a sweater made with hand-spun yarn.

When I got this wovel I loved it so much I interviewed the guy who invented it for a newspaper story.  I told him they needed to invent a wovel-rake (a wrake?), and he said they were working on it.  Now if only he could invent a wovel-manure-fork, my back would be so happy.

Blast o' Winter

We are in the midst of a blizzard. Wind is blowing at 35 mph with gusts of 50 mph and overnight we got about a foot of snow (hard to tell exactly because it is drifted in mounds, not evenly distributed.) Snow is still falling (blasting, really) in a sideways manner--we are forecast to get 16 or more inches by this afternoon. I have always loved storms like this -especially when I can be inside, drinking tea, watching the weather, but now I have more to worry about --the animals being cold...or the power going out...their water freezing...and what about the poor bees?
We had a couple days' notice that this storm was coming, so plenty of time to prepare. We fired up the snowblower and got the wovel out of the garage rafters. I stocked up on groceries, holiday baking ingredients, and big bags of seed and lots of suet for the wild birds braving the cold. As the storm was picking up yesterday I discovered my camera was not working--so had to make an icy trip back to town. It turned out that the memory card was messed up -an easy replacement, allowing me to document our first big winter storm of the year.
On Monday I got a load of hay, straw and corn. Cadence and I constructed a better strawbale shelter within the barn for the geese and ducks. Ordinarily they seem to enjoy being out in the snow, but we decided to close them inside today. I doubt they could navigate the deep drifts very well (but it might be entertaining to watch them try).
The chickens are closed inside the coop today. I debated about whether to turn on an infrared heat lamp last night or not (there seem to be contradictory theories about whether it is necessary or not), but ultimately I decided to do it. It's still on this morning and the chickens seem to be basking under its warmth, so I am glad I turned it on. I hope they don't become too wimpy!
The coop is fairly tight, especially since we replaced the broken window sashes last fall, but it isn't insulated. On some nicer day I should install the leftover scraps of insulation from the granary between the studs of the coop, at least on the windiest west side.
The cows and two chickens who refused to go in the coop are hanging out in the loafing shed today. The south side is open to the weather, but I closed the double door on the north side to shut out the arctic wind. There is a deep layer of straw on the floor. Inside, out of the wind, with the bodyheat of the three cows it is considerably warmer than outside. I did have to break a crust of ice on their water this morning, despite having a stock tank heater, though.

As you can see in the photo, the wind has kindly blown snow clear of the door of the loafing shed. The chicken coop and norht side barn doors were also blown clear, so even though I had to traipse through thigh-deep drifts, I didn't have to shovel to open them when I fed the critters this morning. Sweet.
However, we will have to shovel out the door on the front of the barn. Our ill-conceived placement of the rabbit hutch must have caused that drift.

The trusty wovel is waiting and Rog is already firing up the snowblower, so I guess I have to go remove snow now. Seems to me like a losing battle to clear snow when it's still falling and blowing like crazy, but Rog's theory is that if you don't clear away 3-foot snowdrifts now, they will be 6-foot drifts later. Plus, he probably just wants to play in the snow.

Inside Looking Out

I apologize for posting so many sunrise photos, but our farmhouse has a sweeping view of the east and when I wake up to these glorious sunrises, my heart sings.
It was a brisk -18 degrees F this morning, with supposedly -35 degrees wind chill. Rog and I did bundle up and go out to wovel the driveway this morning, but I wimped out and took photos through the windows. A vase of pampas grass glowed on the kitchen window sill.
Morning is just beginning to creep into the farmyard, but looking out the south-facing kitchen window we can admire our woveling job on the driveway. A large icicle hangs from some twinkly Christmas lights I haven't taken down yet.
In the dining room, frost layered another landscape over the view.
A xmas ornament hanging in the upstairs bathroom window creates a blue sunrise.

Wovel-Snowblower Face-off

Our snowstorm only dropped about 6 inches of snow - although it's hard to tell exactly because it blows and drifts to such varying depths.
Rog and I had a Wovel-Snowblower competition in the driveway and parking area, and I hate to admit, the snowblower won(but only by a small margin). Each technology has its pros and cons: the snowblower does better on our very long stretch of driveway because it is fenced on both sides with hardly any room to pile the snow. And it leaves such perfect, tidy edges.The wovel is much more maneuverable near the house, doesn't blow snow back in your face and is quiet so it doesn't wake up the daughter who is still lazily still sleeping at 6 a.m. In a city setting, facing off with a smaller snowblower, I think the wovel would have the advantage.
The snowstorm has ended but it was still very gray and cold out today and I wasn't inspired to take photos, so I will post a few I took last weekend when it was sunny and warm enough that icicles formed along the roof of the barn.

Snowstorm

It has been quite windy the last few days and the little 3-foot lighted tree I planted in the top of my big concrete head sculpture blew over. Now he bears an uncanny resemblance to Lyle Lovett.
We are in the midst of a snowstorm tonight and may have as much as 11 inches of snow tomorrow morning. Rog will get to really put his (new used)snowblower to the test. I'll get out my wovel and we'll have a snow removal face-off!

Wovel Love

Finally! During the night we got enough snow so I could try out the Wovel this morning! First I had to add the "gravel wheels"--they raise the shovel part above the ground slightly for use on gravel driveway or paved patios. Admittedly, there wasn't a lot of snow- under two inches - but it was that heavy, sticky, wet kind of snow that is especially annoying and tiring to shovel, and the wovel performed great.

The wovel is a large shovel scoop that pivots on a lever on a wheel - you wheel along scooping up the snow and push downward on the handle to flip the snow off. We woveled our long driveway (I paced it off -it's about 335 feet from patio to road), the parking area by the garage and the patio in under 45 minutes. Ordinarily after shoveling my back is wincing--but no problem at all this time. I did get warm, though- woveling is not entirely effortless, but it was fun. And quiet. And fast. And created zero carbon emissions.

This photo depicts the two ingenious wheels of our farm--the windmill and the wovel. Rog conceded that if we don't get an unusually heavy snow this winter, we could probably get by without a snowblower at all, just a wovel (or two, so we don't have to take turns!) He was so impressed he said maybe we should see if we can invest in the company.

If any friends are interested in trying a wovel, feel free to stop out whenever we have snow, we'll let you test drive it. If you decide to buy one, please let us refer you and we will get a $15 reward from the Wovel company (which we can put toward wovel #2.)

I was anticipating the usual freezing drizzle and blustery, blasting wind that begins around Halloween, but it was a gorgeous Indian Summer weekend. The ladybugs and box elder bugs that had finally dispersed with first frost reappeared. Even grasshoppers revived, hopping around the pasture. It was our chance to tackle the deep carpet of leaves that covered our lawn, driveway and pasture.

The lawnmower, lawn sweeper and I worked in partnership all Sunday. I started out thinking I needed to sweep the leaves before mowing, which took forever because the sweeper filled up so fast and then the leaves blew out. Then I figured out it was MUCH more effective to just mow through the layer of leaves and sweep them and the grass clippings up. Plus, this way, the leaves and grass clippings are automatically blended (green + brown) for my garden. I am a bit stiff today from bumping along on the mower for 6 hours and emptying umpteen loads from the sweeper, but it was satisfying. And fun. And now the entire farm looks civilized and ready for winter...

All except for a little unmowed patch by where the Willys truck was parked, where some gasoline spilled while Rog was siphoning out the fuel tank and we didn't want to risk any sparks nearby. Rog worked on the truck all weekend. He cleaned out what seemed to be a clogged fuel line, so maybe that will do the trick - we will find out tonight.

When we bought this place, the little garage was totally lacking garage doors, which we deemed a necessity. Last Monday (a cold, snow-flurry day), the garage doors were installed. It was quite challenge for the installer; nothing was square or level or standard or consistent. But the new doors look great - they have the look of carriage house doors but are economical, overhead doors. One of my weekend accomplishments was to prime and paint the trim. I decided to also paint the adjacent doghouse to match. Now, if I can just convince Nutmeg or Cocoa to use it.

The other key thing on my To Do list was to assemble the Wovel, a crazy shovel on a wheel that is supposed to be three times faster than a regular shovel and save your back. It took about an hour to assemble; afterwards I tested it out in the house on crumpled paper towels. Something about this tool tickles me--I cannot wait to try it in the snow! It was kind of pricey ($169, including the optional attachemnt for using on a gravel driveway) but I intend to write a newspaper review about it so that will cover part of the investment. Rog insists we still need a snowblower, so when we get that, I will challenge him to a contest. I bet when the snowblower won't start or runs out of gas, my wovel will save the day.

Rog taught Sara how to make his sourdough bread and they baked two loaves of yummy whole wheat sourdough in the pizza oven. We also roasted half of a gi-normous hubbard squash in there. It was quite dark, now that daylight savings time ended, but warm enough with the firepit to dine on the patio last night.

Our final accomplishment last week was to get the invisible dog fence hooked up. Rog had an ingenious idea, to hook up the dog fence wires to the existing electric horse fence wire that was strung around half of our property. It worked! We don't have all the wires buried yet but we are already using it with dogs. I hated to resort to these zapping collars, but the dogs had become more and more naughty, going into the woods and not coming when called, and risking encounters with skunks or hunters, or getting onto the road. We tested the collars on ourselves and we found them to be very startling and uncomfortable(but not cruel)--they would certainly deter me! It is hard to see the little warning flags because of all the leaves along the woods, so we are teaching them the word "fence" as a reminder. A couple of times they have suddenly bolted toward the woods, maybe after a deer or other animal, and when we yelled "fence!" they veered away and stayed in the yard. Whew!