Holy BRRRR

Oh South Dakota, why oh why do I live here?

Today Occasional flurries before noon. Partly sunny and cold, with a high near -2. Wind chill values as low as -31. Blustery, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around -9. Wind chill values as low as -25. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph becoming light and variable after midnight.

Friday A slight chance of snow after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 17. Wind chill values as low as -18. Light south wind increasing to 10 to 15 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Last night was C.O.L.D. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced that type of cold before. Of course, less than half way through I was perfectly warm thanks to my irritation. It’s amazing how quickly you can warm up when you’re steaming mad. I’m not sure if the horses were anxious because of the weather or my mood. Either way, they knew to get out of my way (well everyone except Ivan).

I rushed outside last night so that I could get as much of my chores done before the dark set in and before the temps dropped any more. Everyone was anxious for their supper.  I put everyone I could into the barn and then fed extra hay to those that stayed out. I swear the ponies are going to be a rolling ball by the time spring rolls around. I feed extra to Rabbit and Mayhem but I think the ponies are benefiting immensely from it too.

Today’s high is supposed to be two below and I have no idea what the wind chill is/will be. All I know is that it’ll be painfully cold. I’m not looking forward to tonight when I have to go back out into the cold to do chores. Luckily the horses cooperate for the most part going into the barn. Rain was a bit over zealous last night. He wanted IN NOW! But because I’ve had to move him into a different pen, it’s a bit more tricky. Maybe I’ll switch things up again and put Rain in one of the first stalls instead so that he’s not harassing everyone else. Oh what I would give for a big barn with big aisles and big stalls instead of the barn with makeshift stalls and cramped quarters. But on days like today, no one seems to complain.

Luckily the temps are supposed to back up this weekend. I’m not sure I can handle too many days of below zero temps with even colder wind chills. I also don’t think my hay supply will last if we keep having cold snaps like this.

I expect when I get in from doing chores tonight I’ll drop. So no working on the upcoming fundraiser. I’m sure you’ll all be tired of listening to me talk about the fundraiser, but maybe the more I gab about it, the more publicity we’ll get and a few more people will show up.