A Week Gone

~ Izzabella and DaniGirl ~

Although colder temps still linger, the snow has melted and daylight hours bring a modicum of warmth. The wind still has a decided bite but, dare I hope, spring creeps ever so diligently closer...day by day, and, as of today, spring is ten TEN days away...be still my heart! Due to illness, this last week has been spent doing the basics and not much more. It seems all that spare time available since Carly, Harry and Sophie died, wasn't going to be spent doing fun stuff. Oh No! It was spent taking antibiotics and Sambucol, drinking copious amounts of water, eating (somewhat) healthfully and sleeping. At least sleeping during the night; I'm one of those people who find it difficult to sleep during the day but I can crank out eight to ten hours a night, depending upon exhaustion level. Even so, it would be boorish of me to complain about being sick as the last time I was ill was Dec 2010 and, even this time, it wasn't dreadful. Just enough to make my wagon drag and suck energy like Al Gore's house. 

Water troughs still have ice but one sunny, warmish day the dogs and I opened gates for Daddy John. He was feeding silage and having a gate opener decreases both the amount of work, energy needed and speeds up the job. 

John uses one tractor to load silage into a loader which will disperse the amount he wants to each individual cow herd.

I'm standing beside the open gate, watching as the cows watch the tractor. It doesn't take long for the animals to associate the tractor sound with food!  If I remember correctly, he put about 6,000 pounds of silage on the ground for these cattle then we moved to the adjacent pasture.

After John finished feeding, I closed the gate and went down the road to take pictures of the new lambs. 

Last week, I put out round hay, a task that I do very slowly, extremely carefully and not without a bit of trepidation. It takes the men fifteen minutes to sit out hay; it takes me thirty, or more, depending upon weather. The hat lots are on a slight incline and backing the tractor on a hill takes extreme concentration on my part.

After moving bales away from the fence, I ended up pushing, not carrying, hay because my summer help put the hay too close to the fence; the result being, HayJ and Bo leaned across the fence, broke it down and started munching. The hay was too loose to pick up and carry so I pushed it into the field and left it.

I was annoyed at my summer help because it was his fault but my responsibility to see the job was finished correctly so am paying the price of having some hay wasted. There's, ultimately, only myself to blame.

HayJ doesn't seem to mind; he's the black and white Curly x Percheron and is a huge horse. He's so tall, he can raise his head and I can't get his halter on him so I trick him. I put a bucket of sweet feed on the ground and make him put his head through it in order to get to the feed. As Queen Victoria said, "We are not amused"...but I am and chuckle anyway. When you're 5'5" tall and your horse is about 18 hands tall, tricks are allowed. 

Mornings begin with dogs and I piled on the sofa and me having devotions. Gray Tom likes loves to curl up next to Sam, long suffering Sam, and the day begins gently. Tonight, it's going on 11:00 which is hours past my bedtime. Have I mentioned how much I despise hate daylight savings time? I want to know what's being saved 'cause it's sure not anyone or anything I know. Farmers, generally, hate dst and with good reason. It's light at 7 p.m. and by the time I get back inside, feed the cats and dogs, feed myself, get ready for bed, check e-mail it's past 9. If I want to update the blog, it's late...going on 11:00. grrrr! It's time to put the dogs out for their last toilet, more meds for me then sleep for all. 

Sweet dreams to you.

Blessings ~ good health for years ~ being helpful and useful ~ animals who love me and each other ~ good hay ~ warmer weather ~ 

Oh Lawz, It's Nasty Cold

~ frozen laundry ~

It warmed up ten whole degrees today...woohoo! It was around seven above zero when the sun came up, not sure what it was when I got up, around 5:30. Like a lot of folks, I shudder to think of my oil and propane bill and the wood stove hasn't cooled down in weeks. It's a real drag and, yes, that's meant literally. Going to the barn, in wind chills well below zero, is rough; even the dogs look at me like I'm crazy and seem to say, "Are you sure those stinkin' barn cats need food?" They think it's okay to go out in the frigid temps to have fun but to do work...hmmm, not so much. And some folks call them dumb animals.

~ Daddy John going to feed his cattle ~

Around here, most farmers wait until, at the bare minimum, daylight to do chores but it's an individual decision to wait until it warms up, the sun shines, the wind isn't howling...there are a  bunch of reason to make the choice and generally based on the safety factor. I hate to get on the tractor when the wind is howling, yet, that's when the animals need hay most. Due to the wind, we have deep snow drifts and huge areas where there isn't any snow; also, these photos were taken on different days.

~ Dandy Man, background with HayJ, left, and Bo, right ~

A combination of factors enter into when I put out hay. Obviously, the most important factor is if the animals are out of hay. That makes it an easy decision. If the wind is howling, that's another negative factor and if there's any sort of moisture...I get the hay out as quickly and safely as possible. Usually, the hay has a round, metal ring around it to keep it from being trampled, but, it's been so cold, I put this round bale closer to the house...better for my safety. Horses produce heat from the gut out and need protein to produce heat in order to stay warm and healthy. All my animals have free choice shelter, water that's warmed with a de-icer and free choice hay. As with humans, it's easier and less expensive to stay well than get well. 
I set out three round bales of hay and do other necessary chores; all that takes me around three hours. Daddy John could do it in a lot less time but he's more comfortable on a tractor than am I; I tend to go v.e.r.y. slowly and carefully. I'd rather take longer and be safe than hurry up and risk a doctor or hospital visit. 

~ barn door trench ~

A couple of weeks ago, it was warm enough to dig out the tractor; the door being frozen due to ground heave. Ground heave is caused by freeze thaw cycles and the mud had frozen to the door, and, using a mattox, I dug a trench so I could open and close the barn door. Freezing weather and door locks do not a good partnership make and, next, the door lock froze. I tried a lot of things before resorting to boiling water poured over the lock. Someone said, "weren't you afraid you'd break the lock?" Trust me, that was the least of my worries!  The same measures were used to open the lock on the wood barn and, tomorrow, I'm going to bring a couple of weeks worth of wood to the back porch. 
When we first moved to the farm, I asked Dave for three things: a well for drinking water, a gas stove for cooking and a wood stove for heating. Our well is 650 feet deep and produces 75 gallons of sweet limestone water a minute; our Acorn cook stove has gas burners and I've written about our beautiful wood stove that heats a portion of the house.

~ mud season ~

There are five seasons on a farm, winter, spring, summer, autumn and mud with mud season happening, on and off, all year 'round. There are times the mud is so deep and thick, my Muck boots are sucked off my feet and not something that bears too close a look when one considers muck...manure, urine, crap and...what about the 'k'? -smile-

~ l to r, Levi, Gypsy, Tippy ~

Back in the house, Levi, Gypsy and Tippy have to be shooed out of the bathroom tub so I can have a bone warming hot soak. After being in the cold for so many hours, my knees feel like shattered glass and only a hot water soak alleviates the pain...well, hot water and a few aspirin. Today was a red letter day; Dr. Ann removed Levi's nubbins so he'll  spend his life healthier although p'raps not happier but he'll never know different and a loving family member. 

~ l to r, Sam, Sadie, Sophie ~

The dogs crowd on the sofa, in the living room where the wood stove keeps all toasty. At the moment, the bone sucking cold is making life difficult and I've heard a "super storm" is headed our way tomorrow. I'm not sure what that means but it sounds like more cold, more snow, more winds and more pain. ugh. Tuck me into prayer, would you, please?

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." ~ Albert Einstein ~ 

Today's Miracles ~ sunshine ~ heathy animals ~ successful surgery ~ tub of hot water ~ aspirin ~ good boots ~ round bales of alfalfa hay ~ 

Chatting on the porch...

~ Miss Lily ~

Today, Patrice of Everyday Ruralty, is hosting her Chats on the Farmhouse Porch; I'm playing along.

1. Who do you look like in your family?  Used to be, I looked like Sam P. Spade; we both have had...which is it?...blonde hair which was is...which is it?...usually rather unkempt. Mine because I forget to brush it, except with my fingers, and his because he's part Spaniel Terrier. Since I've started going gray white, I look like Lily except I'm older than dirt and she's a young'un.

~ Sam P. Spade, Secret Agent ~

2. Would you rather read a novel, poem, magazine or how-to book? Depends. Don't you love those kind of answers? not. I read mysteries for diversion, poems for comfort, and my magazines and how-to books are, usually, along the same genre; I enjoy reading about fiber and textile arts.

~ Sadie Baby ~

3. Is there anything in your future that seems challenging, daunting or larger than life? No, but then I get out of bed and the challenges try to overwhelm me! Actually, since Dave died, each and every day has been a challenge but God has been faithful each and every day so life has worked out well. Currently, I'm getting the farm and house ready for winter and that takes a lot of physical labor. When the days aren't sunny, I spend them inside tagging things I want to sell at an auction house. It's the season of downsizing, selling things, giving things away, deciding what I want to keep. Change is the only constant in our life, save Christ, and I'm dealing with change as best I can.

~ Sophie Lauren Butterball and Miss Lily ~

4. Do you have any big projects for this season? Autumn and winter bring quilting, spinning and working the studio but that's after getting the farm and house ready for winter. For Christmas, I usually make gifts - quilts, knitted hats, scarves, hand warmers - and now is the time to quilt, spin and knit. 

5. Please finish this: It made me so happy to ____...weeeelllll, I'm a contented person, much more so than happy. So many things bring joy into my life...watching the kittens play, looking at the fawn across the fence, watching eagles soar over the valley, walking amongst the sheep, petting the horses, spinning yarn, quilting, drinking a good cup of coffee or tea. Indeed, my middle name, Kay, is Celtic for happy and I suppose my disposition is happy although, like I've said, I think of myself more as contented. So much of my life is spent in solitude; Dave and I were contented to be with each other, to spend most of our time together and that really hasn't changed. I need solitude, probably more so than most, and that solitude also has to come with silence. The noise of the radio or television, mostly, is grating although I do enjoy some programs on both. So, happy...not so much; contented...greatly!

P. S. Hiya Wendell...this is HayJ, I live with Sandra at Thistle Cove Farm. For a little thing, she takes pretty good care of us; she does her best anyway. Not her fault she doesn't have thousands of acres for us to enjoy. I'm an American Curly x Percheron and don't think there are that many in the world. I know of only one other black and white and he's not as big as me; I'm about 18 hands and two thousand pounds. Anyway, just wanted to say hello; hope your day goes as perfectly as I expect mine to go! Sandra always says our farm is "beautiful one day and perfect the next"!

Blessings ~ contentment ~ my family ~