Wednesday, February 22, 2023 We are currently buried under a new foot of snow on top of what we had and the fencing is threatening to disappear. But luckily for us we are not leaving here today and I’m sure we’ll find a way to get to the animals. I can see on the cams that they have plenty of hay and are doing fine. In the summer months, our hay barn works out just fine, but there are days I wish we had a hay loft in the barn. When we built the barn and considered that, we were told our insurance rates would double because of a fire risk with storing hay that way. And because the current hay barn was already there and empty it seemed like a good idea to just use that one. Except for days like today! Thsi too shall pass. Be careful if you’re driving today, and know that there are only 26 days til spring, not that I’m counting. lol Happy Wednesday!
Photo of the day: This was yesterday afternoon, add at least one more foot to the top of this for current conditions. 
This is the camera view that allows me to see the driveway and barn yard. We’ll have fun getting hay from the hay barn today!
Gigi Caito
Winter certainly has its challenges, but you seem to have it figured out. I understand about the hay lofts and the fire hazards. The last barn we boarded our Bandit at, not only had a hayloft but had a bat colony up there. Baby bat season was delightful as the little ones tried to learn independence. They would often slide down the hay chute and nap. It never bothered Bandit since they weren’t interested in his hay. Between the bats and the nesting barn swallow nests, we were practically insect free! The only thing missing was a resident owl to take care of the rodents! Suer beats insecticides and other varmint control!
Linda
I love it when natural methods work out for all. I’ve done everything i can think of to attract barn swallows here. They visit, but don’t stay. Love those insect eating birds!
Lana
We have lofts in our big barn, but no bats. They sound wonderful! We have barn swallows for the time it takes for them to nest and hatch out and then they are gone. The lofts are convenient for hay storage. The middle one that is above the two on the sides has become a storage place for stuff Dick’s daughter squirrels away while she is up working in Alaska. We laugh that someday it will all go in to a dumpster after the mice get done with it all…
Linda
I have hay loft envy!
We used to have tree swallows that would nest in houses I put up on the back deck. They were such fun to watch! I often wondered if they didn’t tell the barn swallows to find another place to catch bugs.