On October 8th it was 65 degrees and I was picking the last of our apples, amending the soil in my garden beds, and preparing our animals for a coming storm.
It dropped to 25 degrees in a matter of two hours, and then the snow came.
I love winter so it wasn’t a bad thing, just a hurry up and getting everything done kind of thing, and making sure our animals were safe, had good bedding, good food, and lots of water.
The first storm of the season wasn’t as devastating as they had predicted but we did get about 3-4 inches of snow and it did get down to 18 degrees, gratefully not into the single digits as they had hinted at. I kind of like to work into those lower numbers over months, not hours!
My Quail did awesome, their habitat allows them a green house wind-proof area with deep wood shavings and straw, and an outdoor screened in area to hang out in whatever weather they want. It is amazing how many of them wanted to be in the snow for a little while.
Our goats had the chance to be indoor or outdoor in their new chalet, and hangout on their ‘goatio’ with a nice roof over their head and watch the snow come down.
They surprised me in the fact that they wanted to be out in the pasture during the day, they seemed to like the snow much more than the rain!
This is my dogs weather, they love winter, especially Story! He loved hanging out with me and doing chores, and basically just doing his Highland Border Collie thing!
My ducks just don’t care, they are the bad-asses in the pasture! If there is an ounce of water or mud, they will find it and hang out there like it’s a beach party! They even broke the ice on the kiddy pool and hung out in there for awhile.
When I go to check on them, especially on the cold days, they always seem to shoot me a look like a moody teenager. They truly just want to do their duck things, no matter the weather!
Today we have sun, I believe the snow will melt, and I can get back to more of my fall chores, sans anymore harvesting, that for sure is now complete. But we still have quite a bit of fencing that needs to go up, and a few new gates, and a likely 100 other projects.
I hope you all are enjoying the season changing, for me it is magical, always, Nancy
Nancy Tanner 
This is so very unreal to me. It is still very HOT down here. I cannot even imagine, even tho’ I used to live in Montana and in Colorado with weather like you write about, I still cannot imagine it right now. Probably the same way that you can’t imagine the extreme heat that we experience. Crazy world! And my tortoise hasn’t even go into hibernation yet. Sticks to his schedule of the past 40 years that he has been living here of Nov. 11! Don’t know why
Thanks for the lovely winter pictures. My Iceland-born Border Collie loved the snow. Let’s see how this wimpy Standard Poodle does in Nebraska!
Glad all your animals are adjusting to the new season. Gabby is have a blast in the snow; I think she likes winter better than summer.