Monday, December 15, 2008

Giveaway number three commences!
After some random ramblings and pictures.

The old barn didn't fall down after the first snow:

We had a lot of birdie visitors today. I love the sky here:

Finnegan acting rather strange. I think he's been eating too many little birdies.

This was the bravest of the birds eating seeds in the barn.
Brave, or catfood? It's a fine line, I suspect...

Here's Tonka's frozen stiff halter. This reminded me of when I was a kid. My grandma had this dog leash that had a wire in the middle, with a dog collar dangling from the end. We used to love walking our invisible dog. Now I have an invisible horse.

Tonka's soaking spot. He thinks gremlins lurk behind him.
(And when my son is around, they do...)

I've been having a bit of a problem with my gloves. My fleece lined goatskin gloves were far too cold, and my ski gloves were so bulky I was constantly taking them off so I could work, then my fingers would get wet and stick to anything metal. I was going to ask you all how you dress your hands for work in the cold. Then today I found some that are working GREAT so far. Tonight I wore them for over a half hour in 5 degree weather and my fingers didn't get frigid. And I didn't have to take them off to open gates, dose my horse, put his halter on, tie him up, etc.

This is where our hobbit friends live.
Well, really it's only inhabited by wasps in the summertime... Creepy story about this building - One day when I was out in the field below the the front door of "the igloo" I was convinced there was something in the doorway staring down at me. A coyote? Something... I couldn't tell what, but it was definitely watching me. My hair was standing on end, I was heading toward the cusp of decision, "fight or flight?" It's a long ways back to the house, nowhere to hide. Then I kept slowly walking, trying not to alarm the thing, and I realized it was just light coming through the door from the back window. I was laughing with relief, feeling kinda stupid, all full of adrenaline for nothing.

Okay, for giveaway number three the prize will be something horse related that is made by me, but it's not a halter. To enter leave me a comment. I'd love to hear what kind of gloves you wear to work around the farm when it's frigidly (is that a word?) cold out. I was thinking of buying some of those silk glove liners before I found these gloves today. Have any of you tried them? Do they add warmth? I'm confused about silk and whether it's supposed to be warm or just wick away moisture. Oh, and if you wear a "base layer" (I've been told that's the new term for long johns or long underwear) do you prefer polypropylene or silk or something else, and why?

8 comments:

Jessie said...

You don't have to enter me in the contest, because I already won one, but I like leather gloves lined with insulation for the winter. Suede gloves are also a favorite of mine.

As for long underwear, I don't really think silk is too terribly warm. I've heard flannel lined jeans work great though, but I've never tried those...

Lea and her Mustangs said...

I don't have a warm pair of gloves. Well I have a pair that keep one hand warm but the other really doesn't. It seems a bit tight. A good pair are on my Santa list. I got the Flapjack mix today. Thank you very much. I will try it soon.

Kara said...

I have these really thick fleece gloves with leather grippy fingers and palms. They work well, but they are not good for if you have your hands in the snow because they are not waterproof.

For long underwear, I like wool blended stuff. I think it's the warmest, the softest, and wicks moisture away well.

Anonymous said...

I don't have any gloves that actually let me do half the things I need to do when I'm doing chores, so I simply don't wear them. My coat is long and I just tuck my fingers inside when I have a moment.

Lady Of Chaos said...

I use my handy dandy contruction gloves. They kept me warm today throughout all my escapades. :) They're really the only gloves that I can find that fit on my hands (tiny with long fingers).

My long johns are cotton. I'm allergic to wool and nylon sometimes makes me itch. So, it's cotton all the way and it's been keeping me fairly warm, but I do a lot of layers.

froglander said...

My gloves are a pair of insulated leather ones that aren't quite warm enough, I couldn't feel my fingertips this afternoon. And then, by the time my fingers were finally thawing from rubbing my hands all over CB my toes were frozen, lol. As for long johns, I just have some cotton ones, but so far those under my jeans have been doing okay.

Della said...

I don't have horses, so you don't have to enter me in the contest. Jessie mentioned flannel lined jeans, which are something I've always wanted to try...Land's End or LL Bean or somewhere like that has them. I always mean to get some, and never do. As for gloves, I don't really have much outdoor work to do...YET!!! After we move, I won't have as much as you, but I'll have some!

gtyyup said...

For the past 2 years I've worked for a trainer up the road. This year, he doesn't have enough horses in to warrant a hand. But last year's cold was the worst by far! I worked from 8 a.m. to noon 4 M-Thurs. He's got an indoor round pen, but it's still colder than all get out.

What worked best for me were glove liners with the insulated rubber gloves over the top. I wore them out so bad I trashed them and don't know what they were made of. Right now I'm waiting for a pair of gloves that look similar to what you just bought...the smalls are on back order. My Man has a pair and he loves them.

I have a pair of Silkies underwear, but I prefer my Cuddle Duds. They're made of cotton and nylon.

The thing that actually keeps me the warmest are my insulated bib overalls...look stupid, but I'm warm! I ride in them and everything.

It was 8 degrees this morning, snowing with a breeze, and we had to fix a fence where Whiskey ran through it yesterday (don't know how that happened). But, I was out there for 2 hours with my bibs on and never got cold.

On my feet I have wool socks and a pair of Bogs muck boots.