OK, that's enough of the white stuff.....

So we still have snow. It doesn't usually last more than a day here, but seriously sub zero temperatures all week have meant it's all still with us.

This in turn means I've had the kids at home all week as the buses aren't running and the schools are closed. They have now had enough of bracing walks in the cold and snowball fights etc.

Worst of all though, we haven't had any water in the house since yesterday morning, all the pipes out the back are frozen solid and not responding to the hairdryer treatment either.....So I've been melting snow to water the animals, which is hard work, you need a lot of snow just for one bucketful!

Today, after one more of those bracing walks, during which Sky did some skating.....

...but was otherwise happy to get out and about...

...we piled into the car and did a very careful 20kms an hour over to Tanya's, so we could all have a shower and I could fill up some bidons of water for the horses! Then we helped with sledding some water down to her horses....

....and when the farmer arrived with new hay we spent rather a long time stretching the new big bale haynet over it to hopefully slow down consumption a bit! Horses none too impressed with it.....

You can lead a horse to water......

Taking advantage of the girls living near the river at the moment, I decided to see whether they'd be prepared to go for a paddle -  Gandalf isn't too keen on walking through water, in fact the first time we came across a big puddle in the woods, he jumped it from a standstill rather that get his feet wet, took me by surprise!

Last week I look Kinna down to the river, she followed me straight in and started splashing with a foreleg - and I stupidly took a step back to avoid the splashing and got water in over the top of my boots......

She was quite happy to be in the water, and did indeed have a drink......

Such a good girl, as usual.....

Today it was Sky's turn. We didn't have so far to go to get to the river, given the amount of rain we've had in the last few days! She wasn't quite so keen, spent a while sniffing and checking it out before taking the plunge....

....but she went in eventually

and I didn't get water in me wellies this time!

The girls get wet....

As the sun was shining this afternoon I decided to see how the girls would react to a bit of water. Got the hose out and washed their legs a bit, they weren't too sure at first but soon settled down......

When it warms up properly they can both have a bath, Kinna especially is filthy......They're starting to lose their winter coats now, Skyfaxa's spots are really showing up !