Did you ever see that movie Dusk ’til Dawn. Well, a day on the sustainable, self sufficient, old fashioned farm is Nothing LIKE that!!!
It starts at dawn. John leaves for work in the dark at 5am. I talk to you guys and catch up with my messages until the sun comes up. I make bread and drink coffee. I watch the sunrise from my front porch.
After I put the sour dough by the fire to rise for the day, I rug up and go outside. I open the barn up, then the dogs and I go for a walk and check out the perimeter. 
Walking the fences.
I feed the cats, the dogs and the chickens. Then the dogs and cats and the chickens and I feed the sheep and the cows. I puddle about and do the mornings chores. Houdini is already out with her babies. Somebody is just not paying attention to her lessons.
Have you met White Cat yet? He is a long haired Himalayan who thinks he is a barn cat, so he has to be shaved two or three times a year! The mess this cat gets into is pathetic. Today he is looking quite respectable. A ridiculous cat to have in the country. Not my fault – he was here before me. White cat and The Big Dog are the original animals.
Just when you thought it was safe. Daisy is watching.
The chooks are thrilled that the corn has been harvested. Good pickin’s for a chook out there. I never lock them up now. Not until next spring when we plant again. They take themselves in to roost at night.
This morning I am mowing and weeding the asparagus. Later in the afternoon I feed out again – hay and beet shreds with eggs and garlic. Baby Bobby and Queenie have their own wheelbarrow but Bobby likes to eat with Mama. Hairy McLairy has a thing or two to say about that but always loses. The Bobby is growing.
Mary’s cat is wondering.. is it wine o’clock yet? He whines. No, Not yet.
I shoveled manure for the compost piles on and off today but have spared you the images. There is a lot of winterising to do. Preparing the barn for the animals and preparing everything else for the freeze that will come. Bringing in all the big pots. Daisy watches.
And my hose has finally given up the ghost so I have started carrying buckets of water to the troughs today. It is not shopping week so we make do.
The sun goes down as I am out there finishing up. John will not be home for an hour or so yet. So c’mon Kitty, must be time for a wee drinkie before making a lamb curry for dinner. The bread is on its second rise. We can sit on the verandah and watch the sun go down.
After dinner I will put the sourdough loaf in the oven to cook. TonTon and I will go out with the torch and check that everyone is where they are meant to be. Then we tuck the Big Dog up in his blankets for the night. He sleeps in the barn and likes to be covered up completely, even his head, he will tuck his head under as I arrange the blankets and stays like that until I open the barn up again in the morning.
Many years ago, John found Big Dog beaten and wired by the neck to a fence, at a construction site, almost strangled. Just a pup. This must have been over ten years ago. Now he sleeps on a fleece of sheeps wool no less. The Big Dog loathes having his photo taken. He hates the camera, and gives me the most baleful look before he turns his tail and lopes off. He thinks dogs that sleep inside are sissys and refuses to come in except when a really nasty storm is coming, then he will condescend to go into the basement, that is how we know it is going to be bad.
And so another day .. yesterday.. gently passes.
c
This page is dedicated to our Mum on All Souls day. Her name was Mary.
The Kitchen's Garden 
99 responses to “Farm Days from Dawn to Dusk”
That’s a long day from sun-up to sun-down. The animals look adorable especially the chicks.
it is a long day but lovely in the mild weather we have been having!
I admire this routine of yours. I have some but they are quite different and not nearly so connected to the land and the light of the sun. The photos here are great. I love Illinois farmland. The chickens pecking in the cornfield are pretty wonderful. I also like the one of Daisy backlit, though all of the shots are great. Finally, the care you show for the Big Dog is also touching.
Hi Neil. I love it when you come by. Daisy backlit sure shows up her ears don’t you think? She is such a nosy cow. c
Cecilia, I am sorry I do not come round more often, though you surely have a lot of company to keep you busy, in any case. I certainly am wowed every time I do, with beauty and humor and good thoughts.
You just go on and pop in whenever you feel like it Neil. I love to see you anytime and you were one of the first pages I subscribed to which makes you kind of special. I love your photographs and your inspiring words over on your pages! c
What a lovely post! I enjoyed being with you yesterday! My favorite line ‘It is not a shopping week so we make do.’ We should all be like that! I, personally, hate shopping unless it’s for particular items. I am not the window-shop type! Thank you for a wonderful view of your day to day!
You are so welcome Phyllis. Even though my little car runs on cooking oil I still try not to use it unless I have to. c
(Sigh…..) Your post made me all teary and happy! Can I come live with you? I’m a hard worker! 🙂
I could do with some hard workers too!! There is so much to do in this season.. c
Did someone deliberately do that to big dog? Ohhh, makes me fightin’ mad. Your pics are great, love Daisy and the out-of-place white farm cat (reminds me of my yorkies here). Thanks for letting us take a day trip with you!
JOhn thinks that Big Dog (who was smaller then) was a fight dog that would not fight. They do some pretty mean things to their discarded dogs. John just popped him in his truck and took him home, this was years before i came and John was living alone out here on the farm so you can imagine what buddies those two are. c
Poor Big Dog! I’m glad he’s well looked after now 😉
He is still quite a shy dog but is living the life of Reilly! c
Beautiful sun up and sun down! That white cat does not look happy about life at all. Wine o’clock? hehehe t
You are right about that cat Miss T, he looks like his face got squished up against a window whilst in a rotton mood! and then the wind changed. John bought the cat for his daughter and then she left home and he was left with this incongruous cat!! c
What a fantastic post – something so worth reading.We have friends with a Staffordshire Bull terrier that was a rescue dog, and she has to sleep under a blanket, completely covered, as well.
I admire you two. As I speak the tractors are going past my window collecting slurry to spread on the fields. It’s uncommonly warm, so they’re working all hours to take advantage of it. Thanks for the post.
Thank you Roger. And how interesting that the Bull Terrier likes to be rugged up as well, they must feel safe like that. We are having a warm spell too, but I think this is due to come to an end very soon.. c
Thanks for sharing your day with us C!
I’m exhausted 😉
Beautiful photos, as usual.
Have a nice day!
You have a great day too Giovanna, I must pop over and see what you are cooking today! c
What a lovely life you have on the farm. I’ve always wanted to live on one. I totally understand ‘it’s not shopping week’ cos we have shopping month as we have to drive 1 hour to the main supermarket. I also totally get the ‘wine o’clock’!! E
Yup, wine o’clock is an important o’clock! .. c
Where do you find the energy for all that AND blogging? I couldn’t have done all that even in my prime. I do love that Daisy, and the chooks. Clever lassies to go in by themselves – when we had chooks they would be in the paddock all day and at dusk would go and hide in the bushes and have to be manhandled in to keep them safe from foxes. Thank you for that illuminating view of your day.
Well then I am lucky with my lot, they all head for the rafters at dusk then sit up there all night quietly pooping on all below..Lucky we do not have foxes, they are cheekier that coyotes! c
I am so glad that Your John found Big Dog. I believe there’s a special place in hell for those who abuse children & animals. That beautiful picture of the sunrise could have been taken anywhere in the Prairies, from Saskatchewan down to Texas. It’s incredible just how flat that immense stretch of land is. Thanks, Celi, for shedding some light on farm life. I’m 100% city folk and, except for what I learned on Green Acres, I’ve no idea of what it takes to run a farm.
Farm life is just common sense and some hard work. We are learning stuff every day. And the flatness certainly is awesome isn’t it. When the wind howls it HOWLS! c
I really enjoyed this post, Cecilia. It was a great way to start MY day, which is much shorter than yours, I think. That white cat certainly looks like a displaced City Cat.
That cat belongs with you on that divine cat couch you have!! c
I do love getting the tours and a window into your life. Almost makes me want to run off and start a farm with Greg. Such wonderful pictures and stories. I’m glad your husband rescued that poor puppy.
Hi Katherine, poor old Big Dog, he is an old fella now, after quite the loveliest life.. c
Very, very sweet post.
You are right, it is a good life.
When the flood hit PA, someone threw a dog into the river with a cinder block tied around its neck. We hope it was an accident, maybe the dog was tethered to a block or something like that.Otherwise, there is a very disturbed person living here.
Oh no how awful. Who would do that. You just never know who you are passing and smiling to on the street. Though we will still smile. c