My Mother used to say that. ‘I am feeling bloody.’ In other words do NOT Bother me with mundanity today – you might just lose your curly little head. Yesterday I wandered about the farmy in the cold, just feeling bloody. Everything just looked cold and grey. 
Camera house followed suit. Feeling bloody is compounded and much more satisfying when shared. The Camera and I felt cold, unenlightened, heavy and grey. Just tired, tired, tired. 
The Old Codger and I worked out the other day that we could possibly, without too much imagination or fiddling with dates, trick ourselves into thinking that we might be half way through the winter. 
And I don’t mean that stupid calender winter that has nothing to do with the season at all, I mean half way through the cold period. Yesterday I threw down more straw for the animals to deepen their beds and fed them a little extra hay so their little compost bellies created more heat than usual. Feeling bloody helps you to work faster. And the thought of the cold to come just digs into the bloody.
Daisy had tracks of frozen tears down her face yesterday. I could not wipe them off. The chooks and the pea hens spent all day hunched, sitting on their frozen feet, waiting. Waiting, like Dr Seuss would have said, for the warmth to come. Waiting for the sun to sun. Waiting for the spring to sprung. Waiting for a thrown crumb. Waiting. 
Four times I went out with my crowbar and broke the ice on heated water tanks. 
And every single time the kitchen door opened and I emerged feeling grim and bloody, dressed in layer upon layer, after fruitlessly searching once again for my favourite bloody gloves, clutching my ice bashing tool, stomping my double socked feet into boots, the little barn cats wooped with meowing delight, raced out from the barn to meet me and scampered and paraded and rolled like jesters ahead of me as they led me back out into their cold outside. Completely unencumbered by my bloody mood. Oblivious in their curly little heads.
It was hard to maintain feeling bloody with their little warm furry bodies pressing against my thermal ankles. But I persisted. A good seriously bloody mood does not come around every day you know.
But that was yesterday and now it is morning again. Another week has begun. The temperature is 13F (-10C) and it is blowing snow. But I have had my Bloody minded day so now I must switch to Stoic because at 6.02 am we have already reached our high for the day. The animals are beginning to call. Time to start putting on the layers. Then out I go.
Have a lovely day.
celi
I have to borrow this awesome expression!
Aaah, c, I so feel for you, and empathise with your bloody mood and bloody weather and bloody demands of everyone and everything that can squeak, cluck, grunt, grump, moo, meow, crack and splash, and/or speak. It seems to me that you might benefit from beating-up some bread dough. Hugs, hugs, hugs.
Aha! The old bread dough therapy..clever girl misky! c
Cats just know how to make us feel better.
Mandy xo
Here’s to a happier day today C. Wish I could send you some of the beatuiful weather we are enjoying at the moment.
thanks Celi i have used the brit expression for some time now. glad somebody else uses it as well.
Whooow that is too cold to go out in… I can see why you had a bloody day… I would be wrapped in bed refusing to move… to damn cold for me…
Marvelously descriptive – I may have to adopt it myself.
It’s better than the time I told a Sweet Young Coworker, who had asked what was wrong, that, “Even I can’t be f*ing Pollyanna all the time…”
I think I scared her.
Here’s to better – ie, warmer – days. We’ll be in the deep freeze by tomorrow, too…
Actually i am deeply impressed with your pollyanna comment.. i might just adopt that one!! c
Welcome to it!
Stop by the Corner today, if you have time. I think you’ll like it
I did and I love those cranes.. you are so lucky having so many big birds close by..I would love the geese to stop here, i even put out a sign, but they just keep on flying south c
That was Linda, Sweetie…
I have some links you might like, and a little girl making applesauce…
Oh crap.. I knew that!! .. lost my mind.. popping over right now! c
That is such an apposite phrase ” Feeling bloody”. It says it all. I moan about the cold here, but in fact it’s warm when i look at your -10C. My chain saw just seized in mid fire wood cutting which made me feel “bloody” and then I realised that it meant that I could go back indoors:)
You’d get a lot warmer more quickly with a proper saw – one that you push backwards and forwards with some weight behind it!. I’m feeling smug because Jock fore-saw the snow and cut a huge heap of logs, which he barrowed into the carport by the front door.
Now it is snowing again.
ah yes, those bloody chainsaws, hope you got enough firewood in for the meant time though.. otherwise your sitting indoors will be sad.. c
Ah stoic is such a lovely change from bloody. Stoic is so..so..well stoic and brave. I can see you marching out like a spartan soldier ready to battle the day. Do have some cozy time!
Sending you warm thoughts. Seriously warm. Rice in a man’s sock, set in then microwave for 3 minutes. Tuck it under your jacket.
Bloody days are good for the spirit, just like an argument now and then is good for the marriage. Air clearing. Dusting. Making fresh.
Have a good cry and then learn something new today. And bake a cake.
C, when I have those days, even my house and neighborhood look gray and dingy. It is an inside thing. What does you John do while you are caring for the animals and milking? Oh, I feel for you all in the cold…the animals, too. Stay warm as best you can.
John is still off work, (too cold for his job,) so he helps me with the milking and bucket carrying, thankfully, as it halves our time outside.. the rest i just puddle about by myself, I like to work at my own pace.. c
Bloody Good show , what!
didn’t dare add the “old Girl” bit in case I caught it 
I agree with Bulldog – my electric blanket would have been screaming at me. Hope today is better. Laura
Sound like you need to bake some sweet comfort food today! Curl up with a good book and a warm blanket…in between your trips outside to wipe icy tears and break water that shouldn’t be frozen. The cold is headed our way tonight. Tomorrow’s high is 9 degrees.
Stay warm! ~ April
We’ve had 3 days of wonderful sun and warm after what seemed likes weeks of gloom and mud. Changes coming today. Maybe you’ll get enough snow to change your view. At least we’re frozen now. No mud for a few days! And that bread dough therapy is one of the best!
Have a great day Celi and maybe a hot toddy.
Ah, Saturday was like that here. But yesterday was better. So your today will be better than yesterday.
ACK! We moved south to avoid the bloody cold. Reading this reinforces the rightness of that decision.
Yup I hear you…… -31C here this morning. An ‘inside’ day!
Sun makes me cheer up as well as all the pictures of the Farmy animals!
Have a ‘not-bloody’ day today, Celi.
this is why i should not moan too loudly MINUS 31 is dreadfully cold.. c
SING! Sing the bloodies away. Loud as you can. Scare the animals with song. Surprise yourself with joy. Chase those bloodies; don’t let them get you.
I would too but at these temperatures it is best to keep your mouth firmly shut.. the icy wind will literally take your breath away.. humming is good tho, i might hum! c
Sorry you’re having a bloody time. I’ve been feeling a bit winter-woeful myself and I don’t have to brave the elements like you do. I do have to go up to the village again, though – the pharmacist sold me the wrong kind of cough mixture this morning, on two counts: it contains 98 grams of salt and I’m on a salt-free diet, and she sold me an expectorant whereas I am revoltingly spitty already.
Keep cheerful: you are my smilometer. I hope you have time to snuggle up with a cat or two and a couple of quilts.
Smilometer!! What a charming word ViV.. Hope you get that cold in order though, I like to know you are healthy over there.. c
with 850 other followers you don’t really need me but i signed up anyway…it’s an interesting blog you have here and I would like to read some more
oo welcome Miss Whiplash and i had no idea i had that many followers, I have not looked in ages and when I am signed in it doesn’t tell me. However all the friends of the farmy are important and it is especially lovely to hear a readers voice and read their words, so drop into the comments lounge anytime!! c
I hope you are feeling better today
That’s the Dunkirk-spirit girl we love!
Pingback: The Chain Gang | Vivinfrance's Blog
Pets can be instant mood lifters. It’s been a few days since I’ve been able to check the subs. Good to catch up with your little corner of the world.
morning greg, i was thinking of you and katherine this morning as i carefully navigated the supermarket so as not to knock anything over!! c
a few years ago, when i was absolutely convinced it was time to get chickens, i forced myself to imagine what it would be like to go out in snow up to my knees in freezing weather to care for them. thus, i remain chickenless.
wise girl.. c
Celi, I am wondering why the Shush sisters– can’t be artificially inseminated like Daisy and Queenie. I hate too the thought of putting Sheila and or Charlotte “to boar”.
There is a book called “A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck that I loved. In it is a scene where his beloved Pinky is brought to boar. Terrible scene!
They actually can do AI, maybe i should look into it. It is getting the semen which is the tricky bit as it only lasts for a day I think.. c
Also working out when the pig is on heat is not easy, my pig book says she will let you press heavily on her back when she is “receptive”, my pig will let you do that anyway, probably wouldn’t object if you rode her around the paddock, so thats no help. The boar will definately know!
I know where you are coming from. The high all this week will be in the low 20′s…Wednesday the hight will be 12. We are getting at least 6 inches more of snow tonight. Half way you say…I’m looking forward to spring.
I commend you for writing through the bloody bloodiness: I can’t write when I’m having a day, because I loathe every word. You, however, still manage to bring us a little light. I hope you find some soothing and warmth today. <3
I agree that 13 degrees isn’t the most fun time to care for animals. Right now, in California, we are experiencing low temperatures of 32 degrees and highs of 64. Crunchy in the morning and pleasantly warm in the afternoon. I must enjoy it while I can, for winter will soon return-foggy, gray, and 47-degree-daytime-highs that feel like 13 degrees as the wetness chills our sissy California bones.
There’s been some research that shows this day is the worst Monday of the year: holidays over and nothing fun close; bills from the holidays, most are already giving up New Years resolutions, people are sluggish because of the dark dreary weather…and feeling some extra pounds. Total UGH.
It’s not just you. Hang on!
And YES, those bloody extra pounds! Ah well, i need them out there in the cold! c
It’s been bitterly cold in these parts too. Makes me glad I have a job that I can be inside most of the time. We had our friends from Illinois up for the weekend, so I am way behind commenting and blogging!
you should have kept them another few days, they will be back to the cold!! c
Oh, bloody hell… oh well… life goes on… stoic, as you say and then there’s cats, who love you every day
I’m feeling more of this cold. I’m impressed now by all your outdoor in the cold photos!
and now i had better get out that door and start on tomorrows photos! c
I’ve been thinking of you these past few cold mornings. I can’t imagine working for hours outside in these temps. I have effectively convinced myself that winter/cold is half over for the year. I’m sticking with that belief too. I can relate to a good Bloody day. For me it’s referred to as Salty. Sometimes a bad mood day is what we need though…I think it’s cleansing. Hope you stayed warm this a.m.
So cold, Celi. We have had record cold weather here, which would probably feel balmy to you at 35, 36, 39. It has persisted for a couple of weeks with a one day exception. The gusting winds add chill to it all. I have to play with a fingerless glove on when I play in the mornings and my strings won’t stay in tune at all. I make soup and bake bread and I would be blogging about it all but I can’t find my bloody camera battery recharger despite going through all of my belongings one by one day after day. Welcome to January.
Losing a charger is deeply annoying and every single charger for every single camera is different.. poo.. I shall pop over today and see what you are saying, even though we have no lovely painting photos to look at yet.. c
Celi, I know this feeling. I refer to it my “take my handbag” moment, because one time years ago, when I felt like this, I was walking down the street, glaring at passersby, thinking, “Go on, try and take my handbag, I dare you. I’m up for it..”
OK that made me laugh! Brilliant!! just make my day!!! awesome.. c
Ah, how I know that cold front. It was here, and now there. Hang on because our lovely warm THAW will be heading your way and the other nasty clipper from the north pole will be heading into here. At some point spring will come…the dogs, cats, chickens, and cows plus myself, are more than ready…and yes, I do believe you are too!
Chin up, as my Daddy used to say….life can only get you down if you let it. (He was left without a Daddy by the age of 9 and then had a horrible step-father and three horrible step-brothers. — Do you ever wonder why there are no fairy tales about horrible step-fathers? ) Anyway….we shall trudge forward, won’t we!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
This is a very good point Linda.. why are there never horrible step fathers in the old stories.. because men wrote them? And yes.. as i said to marie, you get the weather first, you beat it up a bit and send it on to me, then I use up as much as i can and send it on to her. the good thing is – now I know that there is a small window of kind-of warm coming.. the bad news is that marie is next for this miserable cold. c
The weather sounds bloody anyway, and January in the Northern Hemisphere was always bloody for me. – had a Christmas card from a friend of forty years ago reminding me how I always ( unwittingly) made them all laugh by wailing Will January Never end?
Is it colder than usual, or is this normal January Blues and Bloodiness???
No this is just the normal blues,, and from now On I shall go out under the big tree and wail Will January Never End! !! c
Hang in there, Celi. We’ve got one more day of this and then the high temps will double. Granted, we’re a long way from sandals & t-shirt weather but at least Daisy’s tears will melt. In the meantime, I’m glad that John is there to lend a hand. Gets you back indoors sooner.
You had blowing snow? I’ve not seen so much as a flake fall since Christmas Day. What a Winter!
Stay warm!
It was more of a blowing flurry once I got out there and within the hour.. nothing.. feb is coming though.. might get that snowblower out yet! c
C.mon, Celi – you’re half way thru’ the bloody winter – it’s all uphill from here
! [Almost shocked your readers by inserting another letter twixt 'bloody' and 'winter' 
! ]
bad girl!!! c
Ah, yes. This is a saying in our family too, usually associated with illness though, as in, “She was feeling absolutely bloody with the flu.” So important to embrace the emotional bloody as you did and not judge it an inferior feeling and try to change it.
When I was young I learned that word from my English neighbors. I liked it, stored it away, and then one day used it in front of them and my parents. I was instantly given the arched eyebrows and dropped jaws from the neighbors, and then a chuckle emerged from their open mouths, because after all… Where else would I have heard that expression?
I’m sorry you had such a bloody day, Celi, but glad you got so much done in spite of the bitter cold! The weatherman says that it will take all day just to get up to 32 deg. tomorrow. though I imagine 32 would feel warm to you right about now.
I feel for you and the cold. I always ask myself in the middle of a Texas summer which is bloody hot, why do I live here? Then winter comes around and I remember and say This is why! We have highs in the high 50′s and low 60′s. If I could i would send you some!
Pingback: I’m grateful for down days – 10/365 « Caterpillar Contemplations
Maybe your mom was/is a reincarnation of Mary Queen of Scots(!!) Sending you and the critters warm tradewinds from the islands, Ms. C … no need to reciprocate with your weather
Ooh, I would feel the same. That is serious cold, and I never want to have to experience it.
I wrap my arms around you Celi. Begone “bloody day”. V.
Bloody day. Perfect description for that oh so nasty mood. I also love mundanity and will find a perfect sentence to use it in the very near future. Get yourself some hotties you can shake up and make instant heat to stick in your socks. And ditto on the hot toddy…..have it in a hot bath
I must remember that my camera reads my moods too.