Right at this moment it’s -16 degrees Fahrenheit (-26.6 Celsius for the rest of the world) outside. I’ll be honest with you and say that I can’t really tell a lot of difference between -16 and -9 degrees except when I have to take my glove off for fine motor skill functions, then my hand gets dangerously cold just a little bit faster.
When it’s this cold out, most of my day is spent inside, trying to defrost from my last outing, making sure that the sheep and chickens have non-frozen water available to them and plenty of food. It takes a lot more energy for the sheep and chickens to stay warm in this weather even with wool and down. I take suet cakes to the chickens to give them energy boosts and the sheep get some of their “treat feed” at least once a day in this weather. The chickens are all inside all day as it’s just too dangerously cold for them to be free-ranging it today. They don’t seem to mind honestly. The sheep all have shelter from the wind and plenty of food and they all just cuddle-up with one another and sit in a sunny spot and chew their cud.
I took this photo of me for my friend Barbro because she made the scarf I am wearing and I thought that she would enjoy seeing it frost encrusted with pieces of hay stuck to it.
You see, most knitters love to see their knitted gifts being worn and used. Bonus if it’s being worn and used to feed other sheep that are going to go on to make nice wool for knitters to eventually use. So if you received a hand crafted gift this year and aren’t sure if you should use that scarf or save it for special, use it. Seriously. And maybe take a photo and send it to the crafter. It’s the best thank you that you could send us….
Sarah Jane Humke 