THE SNOW HAS STARTED - AND IT'S STILL COMING DOWN...

Our first full winter at the log cabin.  We moved from a hobby farm in Wisconsin to a 40-acre parcel with an old log cabin on it from the 1800's that had been abused as a 'camp' for the last 'many' years.  There were also two other old wooden buildings that each had held some hope of renovation.  This 40-acre parcel was beautiful...there was a lovely pond within view of the cabin, and it was surrounded by 100's of acres of state land.  

Our plan is to renovate the log cabin while we live in it.  This is not our first rodeo...we've done this before as we have renovated and lived in about 10 older homes.  In addition to our many renovations, my husband was a full-time contractor with a lot of work, and I worked full time in Social Services and Nursing.  We were now both retired and ready for our next move and that challenges it brought.  We have had a summer home in the UP for many years...in town.  But now, we were out in the woods, relatively alone...our nearest neighbor was about a mile away.  We had been moving up here for months.  Many truck loads, trailer loads, a container full that we had moved up here, a flatbed that we hired to bring up our heavy equipment.  And, the last trip, with an animal trailer with our llama, sheep, peacocks and chickens.  We pulled in when the snow began to fall.  We just sat there in the truck grateful for it waiting for us to finally be here...all of our stuff...we were home.  We wished the animals a good rest and went into the cabin, started a fire in the woodstove and laid down on our bed (that was in the main space) and fell fast asleep, dogs cuddled all around.

We have loved it all so far...the owls hooting at night...and hooting back to them.  The various critters coming up and eating the apples off of the many apple trees around the log cabin.  The frogs, the birds, all of it...we loved it.  But now it was time for the real UP winter weather...our first of many.  

The first 'real snow'. But not to worry, the guys at the Feed Mill told us that it won't last - it will melt - and be a muddy mess - too early for this heavy of a snowstorm......We picked up a lot of feed for the animals just in case we couldn't get out....

Before the predicted storm, we also drove into town where our Victorian home is located- to check on the house, grab a few things and also pick up some supplies and groceries.  We have a pretty big pile of split firewood at the cabin - so we knew would be good for a few days. Batteries for the flashlights and gasoline for the skid loader. We were told that our electric might go out - our cabin is the only one on this line - so we are probably not the first place that the linemen come out to fix.  We do need to be ready - and we are.  I can cook and boil water on top of the woodstove - kind of like camping out in your home.  

 I put extra hay in the coop and in the boxes, extra food, some greens, plugged in the electric bucket of water and ran the long extension cord from the shop to the coop.  I did the same thing in the machine shed for the peacocks.  So, everyone will be protected from the wind and snow and have plenty to eat and drink.  The llamas and sheep almost lay out in the snow.  Their fleeces are so thick that they don't even notice. I fluffed up the hay in the lean to for the lambs and their mama's. We filled all of the bird feeders to the top and threw seed around on the workhorses and boards that were set up on our deck for the work that my husband is doing in the cabin.  

Noticed that one of the twin lambs was laying off by itself - not a good sign.  So, I picked her up and she was kind of skinny - so she is coming with me into the cabin to be bottle fed.  Sometimes twins are too much for a younger ewe.  That's why we keep a close watch on the moms and the lambs.  Those first few days are the most important.  The lambs need to be cleaned and dried and up on their feet so that they can nurse.  My husband searched the trailer for the lamb replacer, and we emptied a pop bottle and fortunately we had kept nipples from previous feedings.  

She readily took the warm bottle of 'milk' and then took a long nap wrapped up in a blanket in front of the wood burner. Lambs are so sweet.  They hit the mom's bag of milk really hard to start the milk flowing and do the same thing with the bottle.   Almost knocks it out of your hand.  They stand and nurse and their little tails wagging wildly. She made herself at home pretty quickly and even took over one of the dog beds.   

   

All of the rest of the twins were well taken care of by their mama's.  They are something else - it never ceases to amaze me what mama animals will do for their young. We now have six sets of twins with possibly a few more to come.  It's hard to tell if they are pregnant - they have such heavy fleeces in the winter.  We will shear them in the spring and get onto a better breeding schedule after this season when we are not preoccupied with packing/moving, etc.  

So, with everyone ready for the predicted snow, I wished them all well - told them we'd be out to check on them and headed for the cabin.  My husband had a big fire burning in the woodstove and a pot of water boiling for some nice herbal tea with a squirt of honey - Bless His Heart.  He had just bottle fed our little lamb, her tummy was full and she was ready for a nap. 

Well, we are doing just fine, our first winter, with our first big snow in the beautiful woods of the UP.  We'll really will be just fine...and, as always, we are so grateful for our health, our love, our families and our new adventures in the deep woods of the Upper Peninsula.