This is my fault because I had my snow tyres removed, I thought as I watched the freezing rain through the window!
There is a savage beauty to this scary stuff and the way it coats everything and it can fell even the strongest tree. My thoughts usually turn to birds and making sure the feeder is topped up because it will be impossible for them to find food, until the ice thaws.
The power in our town went out for six hours but that was okay because it was night time and you could easily get cosy under the covers. We had a major storm in 2013 that took weeks to recover from, so this was not so bad I thought as we went to bed.
Ah yes, but things had changed in my life and while our power came back on by the following morning there was no power at the co-op barn…so no pump for the water well and 12 horses and 4 minis who had to stay in their stalls because it was treacherous underfoot and branches were falling everywhere…yikes!
A water brigade was formed and we painstakingly brought water from all our homes and we made do but 36 hours later and no power yet in sight, things were looking a little bleak. It started to thaw and mid-day today I had the pleasure of letting the herd out. I wish I’d taken photos but I was too busy laughing as they each did their happy dances. Racing around, kicking up heels, rolling and bucking – joyful to be out in the world again.
And the water? Still no power but as I listened to the melt all around me, I grabbed all the buckets and lined them up under the disappearing icicles and happily watched them fill with water – a simple solution for sure but I can tell you it gave me a sense of enormous satisfaction.
Womanseyeview's Blog 
Asome post. Once we were 18 hours without electricity in winter, but all went well.
A ‘cool’ post just the opposite to what I have experienced, 1200 km in from the Gold Coast.
Your photos are beautiful I will ,when time permits, do a post of the red hot Aussie in land.
Winter at this time is maybe not wanted, but it does make for some stunning photos. And of course you were challenging the weather gods when removing the snow tires….
Loved your photos. The snow and ice always looks so romantic, but the reality is obviously very different. I was in my twenties before I even saw snow, and I have never had to deal with a cold climate year-in year-out. Though one winter I was living in a small Slavic village, and the first job each morning was to smash the ice at the top of the hand-drawn well before I could drop the bucket 🙂 As I was reading I had it in the back of my mind “but what happens when it all melts?” I am glad to hear you came to the water catching solution 🙂
Love the image of you breaking the ice in a Slavic village and then dropping a bucket and hand drawing it from the well!! Great story.
I really should think to write some stories of my time there. I did one on the death of Tito, but have never got around to submitting it for any short story competitions.
Amazing photos of the icicles and how joyous it is to watch those ecstatic dances. I shiver just imagining the cold, I have not seen or experienced that for a long time, I think I would hibernate like a bear…
We may join the migrating snow birds ourselves for a few weeks next winter!
That sounds like a good idea. They call us grey nomads over here!!!
Wonderful! Maybe it’s just ice, but looks so amazing! ^_^
It’s weird to think of you having all that icy weather whilst we are so warm here. Great idea with the buckets. I’d have loved to be there to watch the happy dancers. 🙂
Enjoy your warmth – hopefully we’ll one day see some ourselves 🌧
Yes you will. 🙂
Beautiful photos, but nature does that puts on a thrilling gloss to what is a harsh, life-threatening blast. My mum always used to say remember the animals. Sounds like bright ideas and teamwork one the day. Joyful animals like laughing children – priceless. 😊
Yes nature can be beautifully deadly…after getting through this still not finished ( whatever the calendar says) winter, my appreciation of the sentiment behind ‘co-operative’ is enormous!
Your photos are gorgeous and captured the icy beauty perfectly. We also were heavily encrusted with ice for a few days but thankfully did not lose our power.
I have a friend who also has a barn full of horses. Her power was just restored late last night after being off for 4 days. Getting water to the barn for 8 horses was not a pretty job.
I won’t complain about the comparatively minor inconvenience to me the next time our power goes off.
No matter how tempting it might be, I don’t put any winter related items in storage until mid-April at the earliest. Mother Nature is just too unpredictable 🙂
I will be joining you in that tradition although maybe in Barrie it had better be the end of April!
hahaha – yeah, in Barrie, all bets are off 😉
Such clever solutions! Would have loved to have seen all the happy dances! But glad you got to enjoy them!
Seeing how fast those buckets filled up has inspired me to get rain buckets this summer! While it’s not our horses it seems a lot of animals do a happy dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onWzeDElz6w
I love that I get to experience an event like this without actually having to live in it. It’s such a foreign concept for me, it’s hard to imagine what it’s like but you’ve illustrated it beautifully, both in photographs and words.
Thank you! Changing seasons are wonderful but some of these extremes we could all (plant and animal) do without.
Snow tires away? What were you thinking? Ha ha ha !
Beautiful pictures but yet… Feeling for all your hard work through this all. I have experienced many a snowfall and many ice days. Those ice days are as bad as a snowfall.
Hoping all is going well by now. I bet watching the happy horses made it somewhat worth it. Hmmm… Hard work my friend, perhaps not.
Hugs to you!
You’re right – it feels like its been a long winter and part of the longing for Spring is that it means less work around the barn since the weather will be kinder and the horses will stay out more:-)
Beautiful pictures, but my first thought was, “What about the horses?” So glad things are looking better and I hope continue to improve.
I know you also love horses and thank goodness the ice storm is behind us now and the power to the barn is finally back on – phew!
We were visiting our daughter in the Guelph area yesterday & were surprised to see all of the ice. Thankfully they did not lose power but I know that some places close by did. Such a chore when there is no power & you are operating a barn! Yikes!
Yes you quickly realize how much we depend on all our conveniences! Glad you were able to have a safe trip to Guelph though.
Oh my goodness so beautiful and so awful all at the same time. It looks like you really used your creative thinking to solve the water issue. I hope all is back to normal now. I loved the description of the horses kicking up their heels with joy at being let out. I’m still smiling. 🙂
You know I was quite proud of my solution but now I’m thinking that reflects more on how unusual it is for me to have to deal with these problems;-) The following video showing cows getting out of their winter enclosure is a favourite of mine and has a lot of kicking up of heels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onWzeDElz6w
Living in a warm climate we never experienced this. We just canceled a camping trip during the grandkids spring break because it was going to be in the high 50s! I don’t often think about the animals and how difficult that would be to keep them warm, safe, and comfortable much less fed! A lot of hard work but again, a labor of love. Big hugs! Good to hear from you!
We’re dreaming of when we get to the high 50’s! It’s been really amazing helping to run the barn and learning all that entails. Thanks for the hugs!
I went for a walk Saturday when the sun was finally melting the ice which encrusted the trees and their branches. The sight was beautiful but “oh the sound”. It was ice rain and in parts of the forest it sounded like thousands of birds taking flight. Don’t want to end on a downer but can’t help but think “climate change”.
Well it’s hard to escape being on a downer when it comes to climate change these days…with the wild swings in the weather describing exactly the kind of extremes we were told to expect:-(
Gosh that must have been hard work bringing in the water. I bet those horses lived getting outdoors. Great shots .. And bucket positioning 😄
I somehow imagine you wouldn’t have missed the happy horses shots though!
Goodness. Here’s a post I simply couldn’t have written this mild winter. It made me quite nostalgic till I thought about how much work it’s caused you. Still, if you WILL remove those snow tyres too early……….
Yes that will teach me – they’re on until May from now on!
Whew, I can’t even begin to imagine how much work it must have been for you and the others to bring enough water from your homes for the horses. Thank goodness all turned out okay.
It was a big task and managing to find containers that still had a little water left by the time we got there was a challenge!
Ingenious solution to the water problem! 🙂 Beautiful photos of the ice but I’m glad we haven’t got it here! I hope your power comes back soon.
Thank you and it seems that all power is finally back on. Watching those buckets fill up so quickly that way has convinced me that I must get a water barrel for the garden!
Water barrels are great. We have three so far and will be getting another couple this year.
Great solution to the water problem! Ice storms are both beautiful and terrifying, and leave quite a mess behind.
We lost power here yesterday when a car hit two telephone/power poles about 4:00 AM and ended up in the horse pasture across the street. Driver nowhere to be found.
That’s too bad – hope the horses were out of the way! It’s funny but it should have been obvious but I so rarely have to problem solve with farm type things.
Fortunately no horses in that section of field at the time. It was quite the mess.
Glad things worked out. Amazing how something so visually beautiful can be so dangerous! Herman
For sure! Nice to hear from you.
Good grief! I’d have to make like a tortoise and hibernate 😦 But that first icy close up is fabulous! Happy Easter 🙂
Nature can compose some beautiful scenes.