Farming and Snow

I love snow. It transforms the landscape for a time, features you may not have noticed can suddenly stand proud and become rediscovered to your eye. As well as its beauty Snow reminds me of its potential difficulties and hardships. We have had to manage 3 months without electricity in one particularly snowy winter. Then our water froze in -15 temperatures.We pulled visitors out of snow drifts and have had to cope with lambing in snowdrifts. Where I can recollect wandering the moonlit hills listening for the bleating of lambs on the hills. Our food was kept in a dustbin in the yard to keep the food frozen as the freezer could not get the electricity and we had to get water from the spout at the back of the house..... it was like returning 50 years ago and adapting and coping the best you can. It made me realise how one other property in the Valley in the 1947 snow storm used all their wood in the house (floorboards and furniture) to provide fuel for a fire. I have tasted real snow here, but those years is still told in the hills by the older gents. Below i have added some photos of good snow times and stock yesterday, before it had all melted. I haven't put the settings.... i need to get out now and sort out some of the jobs on the list! All taken of the dogs playing with a canon 100 - 400 lens on 5D3. x

Taff in the snow

You can`t see me !

Herdwick girls waiting for food

King of the Castle, Herdwick Tup

I think I look pretty wearing the mountains

Necklace of moss, bracken and snow.

The Wolf

Taff has style.

Jusy the Beardie

Why oh why white! happiest little scruffy Dog

The Fox - Sky

Jess

Jim the Huntaway, does not work but guards                                                                     hens - very important!

Herdwick Girl

www.facebook.com/ElanValleyMidWales