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<DIV>To give everyone a taste of life during a blizzard with 101 bassets - here
is how the day here at Daphneyland went today....</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>At midnight last night while closing down the kennel - a few teeny tiny
snowflakes - we had been advised of an arctic storm brewing, 3 - 6" and so we
had made proper precautions and arrangements etc.</DIV>
<DIV>At 2 a.m. I went to bed, and there were a few hardier flakes hitting, but
that's normal, we typically get snow 4 or 5 times a year up here.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>At 8 a.m. the phone started jangling off its hook. Full blown
blizzard conditions, 50 mph winds and drifts of about a foot or more.
Local area kennels were calling in as a blanket delivery had been scheduled for
this morning, very obviously that was not going to happen. Aunt Rita who
does the Weds a.m. shift called to say there was no way possible to get
here. I downed about a pot of coffee, grabbed the monster can I had
stashed for just such a day - and went out to little pepe to drive up and start
the hounds day.</DIV>
<DIV>Well, little pepe the 4 x 4 decided 2 feet was enough thank you very much,
spun out so I parked him.</DIV>
<DIV>Aha though I - if I drive the golf cart on the dirt part, I should not hit
ice - yea right. Wrong.</DIV>
<DIV>So, I joyfully hiked up to the kennel in a foot of snow with 50 mph snow
blowing in my face clutching my monster drink. And the hounds were not
amused.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Although the kennel is configured so that the plate doors dropped will
block wind etc, this wind and snow were blowing in at a direct angle from
the north, and snow had drifted to above the back doors - I lifted them for
a potty break and within 10 minutes the entire kennel was covered in 2 inches of
snow. EEK!!</DIV>
<DIV>Snow melt took out all the dry bedding, and breakfast, pottying and
cleaning were made even tougher by power outages non stop all day.
Drifts of 5' of snow made for a very interesting trek back and forth and the
outside runs are solid pack snow to above the dogloos. Thank goodness we
could move the dogs from those runs into the emergency crates donated by Club
Mutt, Helene Hurford and the AKC.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If you have a hound you know - they hate the rain. I can attest they
also really hate the snow, and pee breaks finally became just pee wherever
breaks. Water stopped about 2 p.m., whether because of frozen pipes
(I doubt it)or the pressure pump being buried under snow and triggering off - I
can;t tell you. By 5 p.m. I was beyond done and told the hounds to be good
and decided to attempt the hike down the hill.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So my rear end is about 2" less of skin as the snow drifts were by now at
3-5". The neighbor called and wanted me to feed her horses and check
on her animals next door - so I missed a boulder and went head over heels into a
snow bank and slid several yards downhill. Where is that sled when you
need it?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As I hit our gate - and went to roll it open - I realized. Not
going to happen. 5 feet of snow on a gate track does not allow you to open
a gate dummy. Okay - can I climb over? Well, even I am not that
stupid and the horses faces watched me from next door as I attempted to make it
anyway. They are fine, peeking out of a barn.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The winter storm advisory has been extended thru midnight, so we're tucked
in - and knowing that tomorrow is going to literally be one sh*t day - I have
decided to call it a night. If there is anything good on TV you guys let
me know okay?? Another factor of country living is no satellite dish in
weather like this. Perhaps I can put in some old DVD and cuddle with my
hounds while Alaska blows right here onto Daphneyland.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Blanket needs are at an all time high. This weekend help would be
greatly appreciated - the wind has killed us, the free standing runs will be mud
city and there will be 101 hounds complaining about their bad weather
week. All in all we've held up okay - but I can honestly say I am VERY
happy I do not live in North Dakota.</DIV>
<DIV>How folks in the Great North do it I'll never know.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>May your week be warm - </DIV>
<DIV>Dawn and the Hounds at Snow Covered Daphneyland</DIV>
<DIV>5 feet deep and holding. (That's snow, not poop - well, actually will let
you know that in the morning!)</DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.barniatdaphneyland.org">www.barniatdaphneyland.org</A> </DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="2cbdd0d6a4ee217f74a2bad46237805"><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. <a href="http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025">Try it now</a>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>