Well, it got cold Monday night and there was supposed to be a
slight chance of precipitation, but they said the ground wasn’t cold enough for
any of it to stick. So we brought the water pail in from the peacocks like we do
each night when it freezes. Got up this morning and there was about a half inch
of snow on the ground, and it was still spitting snow. Mostly like little
pellets. Swept off the back porch. Let the birds out and got ready for work. The
road up to 65 was fresh and we got to make the first set of tracks. 65 was clear
with blowing snow in it. Travel was good all the way to I-44 and didn’t get bad
until we got off it in Springfield. The roads there were slushy and slick with
too many accidents to report on the radio. It took us about 15-25 minutes extra
to get where we were headed. Some people coming from the south said it took them
an hour and a half to two hours to get work. US-65 south down to Branson was
called the “65 Parking lot”. Traffic was just stopped.


The thing I can’t understand is we get snow every year, and it
shouldn’t be a big deal. So what makes it so difficult to drive in the snow? But
then again, maybe I’m lucky. Some guy in his truck lost control on the highway,
slid off the edge and down an embankment, rolled it and was stuck in the upside
down vehicle. For us we just cruised down the road at almost 65mph and no
problems.

But when we got off the highway, that was the first stop sign we didn’t stop at. We
were coming up to it and when I braked we started to slide, and it’s like either
keep trying to stop or let go of the brakes and steer. The light was getting
ready to change and we had a free lane to turn into so we just went for it. All
the problems were with trying to stop so we just kept some distance and tried to minimize it.
But we got thru it all safely and no issues here.

Well, guess the fall is here and winter is right behind it.
Today is the first day back to work and school after the long holiday weekend. And it has been COLD!!!!
Today didn't even make it to 40 degrees, and it is supposed to get down to 28 tonight and maybe hit 43 tomorrow. Wednesday could get as high as 51 degrees.
And there is a weather system moving from East to West bringing rain and possible snow to many areas. The thing here is that we don't get weather moving from East to West. Ours ALWAYS comes from the West. Maybe South West or North West. But not the EAST.
Today is November 28, in a few more days it will be December. The shortest day of the year is December 21st, and then the days start getting longer again. But we will keep getting colder for some time after that. Our real winter weather will be here in January and February. Just wondering how bad it is going to get. Have a feeling this winter will be one for the record books, just not sure exactly what that means.
I have decided to leave the pool up for the winter and see how it does. I'm thinking about using it to raise fish in and want to see how it handles the winter full of water. I still need to top find or purchase some plugs for the hose lines so I can take the pump off and put it away. I'm running the pump all night to keep it from freezing. That works for the cold at night, but when it stays below freezing for days at a time it won't. Once I got the leaves out of it, seems to have done well. The temps have kept any algae from growing and keeping the decaying material out has kept it clean.
And it is cold out, the  wind isn't helping much either. The peacocks should be fine, and I covered the chicken coop screens with feedsacks so that should keep some breeze out and maybe help keep heat in. Need to get some hay in the barn for using ont he floors and keep it replenished all winter long. Still don't have any kind of water heater or thawing device for the birds. Need to get one. Guess I have tried to prepare for winter as best I can, have a plan and thougth out as much as possible. Still don't like the cold and would rather not have to deal with it. But guess don't really have a choice.