No big snow

[altivo]

It did snow, just not as much as they said it would. We got somewhere between four and five inches of new powder here at the farm. At work, there was somewhat less, maybe three inches. Instead of continuing with heavy snow all day and into the night, things had pretty much dropped back to light flurries by noon time. Sorta disappointing, really. No doubt we'll still get the bitter cold over the weekend, without even having received the snow to make it worthwhile.

I noticed one interesting aspect of the snow today, though. We use a Rubbermaid wheelbarrow for lots of chores around here. If you aren't familiar with those, they have two large wheels on the sides, like a wheelchair, rather than a single fat but small diameter wheel at the front. They are easier to push with a heavy load and less likely to tip accidentally, but also more difficult to steer than the more traditional single wheel design.

Since the first snows three or four weeks ago, we've been developing packed trails where the wheelbarrow goes every day. When the snow melts and refreezes, these ruts develop something of the character of railroad tracks. You can't easily change your route, and are more or less limited to the paths already laid out for you. We have "tracks" all over, but when you look at them, they have "switches" and "wyes" and "diamonds" just like a rail yard. Since there is only one wheelbarrow, no traffic control is required. However, derailment is in fact possible, and with a heavy load, one must necessarily exercise some caution. Once derailed, getting back onto the track without spilling the load is quite an energy-consuming task.

Oh, and the knitted "horseshoe" hat is completed. I'm thinking about knitting some stuffed animal dolls next. I saw a design for an anthro sheep yesterday that could easily be improved a bit and would look quite cute.

Comments

[frith]

We have those big yellow two-wheeled wheelbarows too. I avoid using them unless I'm removing copious quantities of soiled straw and woodshavings. I prefer the sturdy metal one wheeled model, they're a lot easier to push through the snow and up the ramp to the dung trailer. We also have a four wheeled model and an electric wheelbarrow (for the rhino dung). I avoid using the electic wheelbarrow when at all possible. I prefer to make two trips with a regular wheelbarow than to operate that monstrosity.