Forecast 1-3 inches starting at 7am

Well, thats how it was supposed to be, what really happened is that it started at 3AM and by 7AM there was 3 inches all ready on the ground and showing no signs of stopping anytime soon...So David was out sanding and plowing and Adam also, Chrystal woke me up at 6:00 with the kids so she could go to work...I tucked them all into bed with me, hoping we could all go back to sleep for a little while....that wasn't happening, so I turned my tv in my bedroom on to their kid shows and "rested my eyes" (Mom!!) for an hour, then we all got up..I sent them down to wake up Liz, so she could go feed the cows this morning and I bundled up to go feed the chickens. "Little Red" and I had a usual go around this morning, though I was yelling louder that I was going to put her in the pot and cook her!! She is a feisty one!! The snow continued all day and I noticed the cows were running back and forth, kicking up their heels and playing. I had been watching Clara- who I knew was going to be coming into heat and our bull, who we got 2 weeks ago was paying extra attention to her...so I was hopeful that she would be pregnant soon...The kids and I went over to Jenn and Marks to play with their Nintendo Wii, since they had gotten some new games. While we were there, Mark saw something go by the kitchen door and he looked out and said, " A cow just ran through our back yard!" My heart goes in my throat whenever I hear the phrase, "A cow is loose!". So as we are all getting dressed to go out, because it is not as easy as throwing your coat on, or just running out the door. There are boots and gloves to be put on...so finally I am the last (of course) to get out the door, but I have already called Liz who is at home, to tell her someone is loose. A white pickup truck has stopped in front of the house, probably just witness this steer running across Jenny's front yard, snow spraying up all around him, probably looked damn lovely!! He asked if we were going to need any help and i said, "No, I am sure he is not going to get far from the herd, but thank you." He said, "Ok" and drove away. Liz meanwhile had herded the rest of the herd into one paddock and Ike (the fugitive) was waiting near the fence line. Jenny and Mark had walked up behind him to block any escape route. Liz dropped the other fence board and he ran back in with the rest of the herd. We have this one place where we can slide the fence boards and corral the cows in a certain area and those are the ones that he had managed to knock down and escape. Thank God the whole herd hadn't decided to escape with him...He was snow white (and he is a black steer) He had been running everywhere, his hoof prints were throughout the woods and all through Jenny's backyard. I was so worried, because a few snowstorms ago a bull up the road had gotten loose and someone had hit it with their car and killed him..That is a scary thought for bull or driver!!! So now everyone is back where they belong for the day!! David just came home for a hour (7pm to 8pm) and it has started snowing again, so he was called back out!!! I didn't tell you about our bull story...no really... it is a real BULL story...
We haven't been able to catch our cows when they come into heat to have them artificially inseminated..the only one we did catch in heat was at Christmas Day, the only day they don't come out!! So we decided we would advertise for a bull, to lease one for a few months. We put a ad on Craigslist. We got a few answers, one person was a livestock dealer and he was going to pick up a red angus bull the next day, so he would rent him to us for a couple of hundred dollars for a month..but he didn't know what his temperment was and would let us know..Then we got reply from someone who had a 18 mo. old Hereford bull, who was in with pregnant cows and was related to them, so he was going to have to be sold or he was going to market..He needed to get $450. for him...(we were shocked, what a great price...then we thought,what was wrong with him...) So we made a date to go and look at him, their farm was in Woodstock, CT...a 25 minute ride..so we went and found ourselves at this huge farm with rolling fields and stone wall fences...beautiful..We had to walk through this big, old barn..built in the 1700's and it was as sturdy as every, full of dust webs..it smelled GREAT!! I just loved it!! So we walked throught the barn out this one door into a big field, where 3 horse and a Mule came to great us, then we trudged across the field, full of snow, to these four cows that were on the edge...One was the bull that we were coming to see, they were kind of down hill and when, Fred, (the farmer) approached the bull (his name is Eddie) he sniffed him and then just looked away, we were impressed..not aggressive at all...he said he knew he was a little small for a bull, but his Uncle was just like him and is now a big bull, would we like to see him, we said, "Yes", so we trudged back through the field, by the way, the wind was whipping across the field making it alot colder than 18 degrees...we walked to the back side of the barn, where Fred said, Uncle would be in the horse stalls stealing their hay..as we approached the opening in the back barn, someone yelled, "Watch Out, here he comes.." and this damn big, big bull came running around the corner and stopped short when he saw all of us...his head was so huge , in fact he was so huge...all our mouths just fell open...then he looked at all of us and calmly walked away...We made the deal to buy Eddie and made arrangements to pick him up in a week...So the week passed with rushing around to register our cattle trailer and getting ready for this bull. David was worried that he was to short and would not be able to fulfill his duties...Liz kept telling him, that he was looking at Eddie downhill and he was not that short..The Saturday came to pick him up and we had arranged to pick him up at 1pm..there was a snow storm coming in at 4pm and we wanted to get him and have him settled prior to David having to leave..So we get there and Fred says, you are going to have to drive through the field and down around the back where they have Eddie locked in a smaller corral...David looks at the field, with its new ice coat from the last storm and says that he needs to walk it, because he doesn't want to get stuck in there...so that should have been a clue, that this was not going to be a piece of cake!! So finally David comes back and says, "The only real icy part is the beginning, then the rest of it should be ok..there is plenty of manure and hay about for traction,if we cant break through the ice crust on top of the snow...so he put it in 4 wheel drive and we proceeded through the gate and into the field...all the cows wanted to know what we were doing, so they proceeded to get in our way and then there was the horses and the mule....all walking in front of us....what a nightmare!! and all the yelling from the cows, because they knew something was going on!! and Eddie was yelling back at them!!!..so we finally get around the barn and start to back up to where Eddie is and the truck starts slidding...I am praying with my head buried in the seat...and all the cows and horses are in the way!!! finally we are able to back up to the location...everyone gets out but me, I am staying in the truck!!! The mule has her head buried in the bed of our pickup because there is corn residue form the silage that David gets for the cows...and the others are all around the trailer and the fence line watching and yelling to Eddie, the corral they have him in is too big and gives him plenty of room to run away from them...we had put hay and grain in the trailer and finally that is what got him in ...it was at least 20 min. of trying to get him loaded...then we have to get out of there...the other guy is trying to move the cows and horses, so that we don't slide into them, but they keep running back in our direction, I am yelling for David to watch out for the horses and cows, David is asking me to quiet down (well, he didn't exactly ask me, nor did he use the words "quiet down") so that he can concentrate but he can't turn the truck around it is too slippery, he is sliding into a stone well cover in the ground which will ruin the tires, so he decides he will back out...so he is backing up and I am still hiding my head, my heart is pounding and I am thinking awful thoughts of what could happen!!! then Liz says, "Oh my god, Uncle is walking beside the truck and keeps getting closer, look at the size of his head!!" Meanwhile, Eddie is in the trailer, yelling to everyone...and Uncle is right next to the truck...I am asking myself, "Why did I want to come along? What possible reason did I have to think this was going to be fun? What the hell was wrong with me?" We finally get out the gate and then David stops the truck so he can pay Fred and get any necessary paperwork...again I stay in the truck because I feel like I can finally breathe, I am just not brave at all and I hate when David says Uh oh!!, I immediately go into panic mode, now everytime Eddie moves in the trailer, I can feel it in the truck..I am anxious just to get home and I look out and David and Liz are chatting away with Fred and the other guy...I can see Eddie pacing back and forth and yelling...finally David comes and we head off home...it seemed to take forever!! David keeps on saying, "Wow, I can't believe how big Eddie it, I really didn't think he was that big! I really thought he was smaller!!" Liz said, "I told you that you were looking down hill at him and he is not that small!!" I am just thinking, lets get home and get him unloaded...and hopefully it goes well. So, We finally get home and everyone is in the barn taking their afternoon nap...just as we pull in the driveway, Eddie lets out this big MOOOOO..and eveyone comes running from the barn...Mooing and running around...so now we have figured that we will pull up the driveway and open our gate and connect to the trailer and it will go perfectly...so we get all set up and open the trailer gate....and we wait....but Eddie is not getting off....so we wait...no more movement...Clara comes around the gate and looks in the trailer and we have to shoo her away...finally David gets a stick but before he can use it, Eddie decides to get off the trailer...Thank God!!! so we close up the gate and all the cows are sniffing and head butting and checking out the new additon...amazingly it all goes well!!! Eddie (who we now call Edward) is doing fine and he is not aggressive at all...not that we will every trust him completely, we don't turn our back on him and we never get in between him and his intended love...this had really worked out nicely...and even though we do not know if he is a proven sire...we have a few months to find out...and we can always send him to market if we want...but if all goes well we might keep him for a few years...either way it was a great price and he seems to working out real well..I think we feed more food than he is used to getting, in fact from talking with Chris, we seem to feed more than we need to...but it keeps them warm and happy...So that is all for tonight...it is still snowing we got about 7" already and are expecting another 4" so much for the forecast...Love to you all...