Everybody Needs a Pair of Muck Boots

It has been the craziest week for weather.  Thursday night started with snow, turned to sleet then torrential rain all night only to revert to snow Friday.  Today, we get blizzard conditions.

We went from squelching muck...

to squelching muck covered in snow and 60mph wind....

I took a short trip over to the next little village where there is a tire shop for farm vehicles.  You know you live in the country when the owner of said shop knows just what you want when you say you need an inner tube for a donkey's foot.

He led me out to a massive, truck-sized pile of dead inner tubes of every conceivable size, from tiny wheel barrow size to massive things that you could hide a large body in (you also know that it is a good thing we have made it to the solstice and the days are going to start getting longer when these are the kinds of analogies that spring to mind:).  I brought home several likely candidates and made Ramsey a muck boot...

I think it will work.  Lord knows the price was right, I could have hauled away as many dead inner tubes away as I could carry had I wanted to.  The tire shop was glad to be rid of them.  We didn't really get a chance to try it out because I couldn't convince either Emma or Ramsey (or the horses) to do more than poke their noses out of the barn.  

Instead, I gave them fresh, clean bedding  and a pile of straw to play with and keep warm in.  I also had to break down and put Emma's blanket on last night.  I was hoping to avoid blanketing her, but she was cold and is much happier now.   She is also oozing out of the blanket in every direction, I could barely get the front fastened and if it weren't for the tail flap, her hind end would be hanging out in the cold.  I guess she has really grown a lot since last winter, I am going to have to find a bigger size.  Maybe there will be some good after Christmas sales....

At least Tanner likes the snow (today is our 10th anniversary.  I brought him home as an 8 week old puppy ten years ago today) and the woods were pretty (just as long as you don't mind the occasional crashing limb, falling tree and the fear that you might not make it out un-squished)...