A Winter Not for the Faint of Heart
This winter has been brutal—the kind of season that feels pulled straight from old‑time Michigan weather tales. We’ve been hit with everything: dramatic temperature swings, pounding rains, snow that melts as fast as it falls, and winds that seem determined to rearrange our entire property.
Because of the warmer days mixed into the cold, the snow has melted quickly, leaving us with extremely high-water levels. Spring, at this rate, is going to be messy. Our property has transformed into a full‑blown swamp. The pond is overflowing, water is pooling everywhere, and the areas where the well was worked on—and where the power company buried the new lines—have turned into true quick‑mud.
From a distance, the ground looks solid. But step on it? Down you go. I found myself waist‑deep at one point and had to use a nearby pallet to pull myself out because no one could hear me. Even the port‑a‑potty guys have been skipping us because their trucks kept getting stuck. On the days they did come, they still needed to be pulled out. And of course, I nearly buried my Jeep in the same mess. There's just no avoiding it until the weather finally dries out what winter left behind.
When Winter Isn’t Kind to Animals
Our animals have had their fair share of hardship, too. We lost two kittens that ran off, and heartbreakingly, one passed away for reasons we still don’t know. Only one of our kittens made it through the chaos.
The pig area has been a complete disaster. Honestly, when processing day came, it felt like a mercy for everyone involved. We learned a lot this season and will be making some much‑needed improvements once the warm weather arrives.
Water has been its own battle—frozen solid most days, except when it warms up just enough to pour rain on us again. A Catch‑22: rain hydrates the animals, but floods everything else.
We also lost a large number of chickens to a predator, including our only rooster. This spring, we’ll need to rebuild our flock and find a new rooster. To add to the chaos, the net roofing over the coop run completely collapsed under the weather conditions.
Even our little egg stand didn’t survive the windstorms. It was blown across the property—along with our return‑carton tote, brick included. Not that it mattered much at that point; we had no eggs left anyway.
A Blessing in the Storm
In the middle of all this, we are incredibly thankful to have finally moved into the new build. We hadn’t planned to stay in the campers for as long as we did, and things were getting dicey—financially and weather‑wise. Being indoors now is a blessing we don’t take lightly.
Looking Ahead
We’re praying for an early spring that dries up the land and gives us a fresh start. Once the beautiful weather arrives, we’ll jump into:
- Landscaping projects
- Garden planning
- Rebuilding and improving the livestock areas
- And hopefully constructing a sturdier, better farm stand
I have high hopes for the stand this year. My husband is excited to get started on the landscaping, and—God willing—we’ll even get the balcony built.
Stay tuned… the fun is just getting started!
No comments:
Post a Comment