Been mourning the demise of the Houston Texans.

Nothing to do but wait on next year...again!
Spent about 5 hours outside yesterday finishing up winter preps. Thought it would only take an hour or so, lol. I was overly optimistic. However - I am about as ready as I can be for whatever winter can throw at me. Emphasis on "as ready as I can be." Might be some things I didn't think about or plan for.
Extra hay racks inside the big barn. The round bale sits outside under a lean to. In high winds and or rain they don't love standing out there to eat. Now they don't have to. Also closed the big door on the northeast side to block the wind. Makes the barn so much cozier. LGD's have several deep hay piles they can snuggle down into.
I filled up three more gas cans in case the generator is needed. It's hungry and eats a lot of gas, but under these circumstances I don't even care! Water is turned off out to the animal pens so I shouldn't have to worry about broken pipes out there. I'll be hauling water for them. My garden cart will carry four 5-gallon buckets so it's not too hard on me. Just have to go slow so I don't splash it out everywhere. Don't have lids for those buckets.
If the bigger generator breaks down I have a smaller back up generator. It won't give us all the power we need - but it'll still run the water well. If that one breaks down I have water drawn up for animals, flushing and drinking. If I run out of that I'll have to pull water from the pond. I won't be drinking that. LOL!
Moved the English Shepherd crates back inside the breezeway so they can be more comfortable. Their crates generally sit on the back porch which faces north. Not a good situation for them in this kind of weather. They feel special coming inside again.
I've got full hay racks in the small barn for the smaller Myotonic goats and another cart full of hay ready to replace what they eat. They get fresh warm water delivered to them also.
Quail pens are bedded with hay so they can hide in it and not only be warmer but feel safe. The opening to the shed they live under has a new tarp hanging to block the wind. They enjoyed their warm water this morning. With their weather protection and lights they're still laying fairly well.
I'll be doing any dirty laundry I can find today too. I'd like to have everything caught up "just because." Plenty of home canned heat and eat meals in the pantry. Need to use up some fresh cabbage too. Cutting more today.
Hope I didn't do all this for nothing. We better get some snow dammit!
