Snow Day!

The forecast said maybe an inch Monday. I told my classes not to get their hopes up.

Tuesday morning, 5:30 AM: School was cancelled.

The time of the snow had been moved further back in the day, but the forecast now said between 1-3" mixed with rain were possible. 

The day started off like any other. The biggest change was I made Shane come out to work with me.

Maddy kept an eye on him for me. He did a good job!

It started to snow in earnest a couple hours later (10 PMish). It was really coming down, too! Shane and I went outside with Loki to let him run off some energy pacing snow plows. 

Loki showed a few seconds hesitation about stepping on the snow, but once his paws hit it he took off flying. He knew where we were going.

Shane immediately started to make snowballs to throw at Loki as he zoomed past.

The snow was sticking a little bit to the roads, but it didn't seem to be stopping anyone. Enough cars and plows were out to keep us entertained.

Shane didn't have much success hitting Loki with any snowballs. He's a fast moving, small target!

Carrie said the forecast shifted to 3-5". when we went in later. It was certainly coming down consistently while we were out. I caught a snowflake perfectly on camera!

It's not a good snow day unless you go out in the snow!

Shane wanted to make a snowman. I wanted to wait a little bit until the snow was thicker, but he couldn't be dissuaded.

He went right to it! He was worried about crossing the electric fence-line to get into the pasture, but got over it (the kid was decked out in snow gear for insulation!).

"Look, Dad! I made a maze!"

His maze picked up some accessories at one corner. I guess that's a potential hazard when making a snowman in a horse pasture!

The only horse who showed any interest in what we were up to was Annie. She came to the entrance to the pasture for a little bit to watch before going back to her hay.

I continued to play amateur photographer while Shane worked.

A UPS truck drove up and all of the horses started panicking and spinning in place. I got a video of them running around like crazy for a couple of minutes. I don't know if it was the UPS truck, the sound of snow plows, or some sort of combination of everything in the snow that set them off.

There was one moment where Annie and Maddy looked like they were about to run off into the field we were in and I called for Shane to get close to me, but they turned around. The mini-panic stayed up by the barn.

It only lasted five minutes tops. Made for some neat footage, at least.

I'd brought a couple of balls out to see if I could get Loki to play catch in the snow. 

I figured that the snow would make it way easier for me to spot the ball in case he didn't track it.

It didn't work out well. The purple ball didn't fly well in the wind and filled with snow upon impact. The passing cars continued to call to Loki and his head was forever snapping around whenever a new car cruised by.

Shane made his snowman while I played around and I offered to take a picture.

He gave it bunny ears and then got inspired.

Why use your fingers for bunny ears when you can make a snow pair?

Some of the first attempts fell, but Shane figured it out!

I'm surprised Loki hung around to supervise.

The ears blurred into the skyline in my first pictures, so I had Shane move to where his coat emphasized the gap!

Shane would have stayed out longer, but I wanted to take a break. I didn't see the snow as stopping any time soon.

Indeed, the flakes got bigger.

It eventually turned to rain and it wasn't really piling up, but the county made the right call. 

Shane and I tried to get his coding wand gift working in between our outside trips. It wasn't working right, so I'll have to fiddle with it more later.

Shane really wanted to visit the neighbors. It didn't look like any of their lights were on, but I wanted to say hi, as well. 

Loki saw us getting ready and didn't want to be left in! He wanted to go back out, too!

We went out in the gator. I took a quick picture while I opened the fenceline that led onto our neighbors driveway.

I took one quick picture of me while Shane ran up to the front door. I'm partial to the minion hat. It keeps me warm and stylish.

Shelby was just as excited as Shane at the thought of playing. "We could have a sleepover!" she said.

She wanted us to come into the garage to meet her kitten while she got her snow gear on.

We hadn't met Shelby's older brother, Shawn, yet. He's in 6th grade and came out to play, too. The kids ran to look at the trampoline, but it was dripping constantly with melting snow.

We attempted to use a kiddie pool, the gator, and some rope to make a sled ride. Results were mixed. The snow wasn't as thick as it could have been and was rapidly melting. The ground underneath was mud, mud, mud!

Deana and Sawyer joined us for the sled riding and came with us on a tour through the woods. Sawyer made her carry him while I kept up with the older kid.

Shane showed off his balance skills on a log over water. Shelby and Shawn both looked at me to see if it was okay. "If he falls, he won't like it," I shrugged. "I'll be his butt that's cold."

Shawn made it across after, but it was a close call! It's not like we were far from home if Shane needed to go in. A little risk makes things more fun.

The trio tromped through a bunch of thorns and found a deer skull. Shawn and Shelby wanted to bring it home as a trophy, but Deana passed!

Shane and Shawn ran ahead through the woods and looped out while Deana and Sawyer backed out the way we came in. Shelby wanted to follow the boys, but was worried about thorns, so I helped her make it through.

We all headed back up to Deana's house. The kids ran in, but I had Loki with me. I asked if it was okay to come back in a few and drove him home. Carrie was snuggled up on the couch with a blanket and a cat on her lap. I interrupted an imminent nap! Oops!

I left Loki in his pen and headed back to collect Shane before he wore out his welcome. The weather had already started to clear up and Shane's snowman/bunny was falling to pieces.

I needn't have worried about Shane overstaying his welcome. The kids were having a ball. Deana was used to a loud house and lots of visitors. Shelby put Woody Woodpecker (the movie) on and Shane was completely zoned in. She was running around and talking to me, her mom, Shane, and he just sat there drooling. Shelby made them hot chocolate (with motherly help) and Shane might not have even realized what she was handing him!

Shelby, Shawn, and Sawyer's dad worked for UPS and was out on the roads all this time. He reported the roads were awful further north.

"Growing up, my best friend's dad was a UPS driver," I said after Shawn told me.

He got back just as Shane and I were saying out goodbyes (amidst "PLEASE NOT YET!" and "A LITTLE LONGER!"). He was supposed to drive out towards Crozet, but he gave up. Hwy 250 was a mess.

"Maybe we won't have school tomorrow then," I said. "We can come back then!"

Prowler

It was a good Sunday. Shane helped me with barn chores. We went to church. Henry came and played for a little before going home. Carrie opened a bunch of windows to let in some fresh air.

Carrie and I were sitting at the kitchen table when we heard voices through the open window. Our neighbor had stopped in their driveway. The windows were down and they had to be yelling for us to  hear them from so far away.

But why were they yelling?

Carrie saw it first. A coyote slinked through our pasture and ducked under the fence line.

I wasn't quick enough with the camera, but I caught the tail end. 

Carrie saw a coyote along our west fence line a few days ago. She'd been inside and saw it prowling. She had an "Oh no..." moment and ran out the front door to grab Loki who was on his line.

Turns out it wasn't an isolated incident. The neighbors reversed their car and drove out over their fields tracking/shooing the coyote.

I caught another picture of it as it exited through our horse arena.

Coyotes are normally nocturnal. It's odd for one to be out in the day, alone, and easily visible. There's been howling at night, so there's a pack somewhere. Perhaps this one is sick? Horses are large, so it's not like they're a desirable target.

I've got a bow, but it might be time to upgrade to a pellet gun or air rifle of some sort. Maybe a crossbow? I've avoided having a gun with Shane around, but coyotes that wander in midday may be a larger concern. A lot of barns have a guard donkey or llama, but I don't want to own another animal.

It was fun talking to our neighbor! Her name was pronounced Dee-nah. Her husband came rolling out in his truck a few minutes later. She'd been yelling and calling for him to do something about the coyote. They've been seeing them frequently outside their backyard. One was lounging around and it spooked her enough to send their dog to live at her parents until the coyotes situation was sorted out. Her husband hinted he'd thought about sitting up on the roof at some point as a giant tree stand to eliminate the problem (And that'd be the way to do it, too. Any missed shots would hit the ground and coyotes are too smart for traps most of the time). 

I've done some reading on coyotes in VA since. They're a problem around farms and it's always open season on them.

Shane came out while Carrie and I were talking and he was thrilled to meet Shelby and her younger brother!

I can't remember little guy's name, but all of the kids ran among the harvest soybeans playing (some of which are sharp, by the way!). I stood further out by the tree line just in case to discourage anything lurking.

Shane desperately wanted to show Shelby Loki and Shelby wanted to see all of our animals. She walked over with us while her mom and brother drove around in the car.

Shane hammed it up, of course.

The kids ran all over the front yard with Loki chasing them. Loki is pretty good about pacing the kids and not nipping....much.

I took the fence line position again, just in case.

Shane loved having other kids around.

He wanted them to visit again. Soon. Preferably now. "Do you want to have dinner with us?"

Our neighbors went on their way to the grocery store after a little while. We calmed down and Shane helped me with the night's barn chores. 

Carrie's having us put out four flakes of the mixed grass and one flake of the orchard grass now (that's the good stuff!). I have been putting the orchard grass in the middle of the stack, but I put it on the bottom to see if the horses noticed.

They noticed! Sam and Nibs were trying to eat only from the bottom as we walked off.

The coyote didn't spook the horses at all. Hopefully, we won't see a coyote again and/or our neighbor will call us over for a bonfire to celebrate a successful hunt.