Snow. Light Powdery snow. We had another snowy day yesterday. But it is still too dark outside for me to see what happened in the night. We have no street lights in the country so there is no way of knowing without going out. Some farms have enormous lights that light the whole yard all night but I see no earthly use for one. It feels like you are in Stalig 13. (Did i spell that right?) (No it is Stalag c.. thank you viv) I have no curtains on my windows because I like to see the stars and I love the moonlight in the house. Outside lights cut all that beauty off.
Anyway last night there was just enough snow to deceptively cover the ice that is building up under there. I have begun the plonky winter trudge, stepping firmly onto the ground to avoid landing with a surprised squeak on my poor wee bottom. 
The root cellar is down the back. In the olden days this is where they stored the produce for winter. Or kept it cool in the summer. I should be brave enough to start using it again, or at least put a basket of potatoes in there and see if they freeze or indeed are just stored. Maybe next year. A door might be a good start! Because the naughty sheep use it as a summer hang out. It is in the Rat-house Paddock (yes every field has a name) so very close by would have been the old house that was on this property. We have unearthed garden paths that go nowhere. It was evidently burnt down, then pushed with a bulldozer into its own basement. The garden and trees ripped out and burned. An ignominious end. In fact there are so many levels to such a dreadful burial it makes me shudder. The house we live in, which replaced it, is about seventy years old. So it would have been a while ago. The perpetrators long gone.
Mama and Hairy MacLairy have been slowly loafing about. They love the cold. Mama is not giving me any more signs that would help me guess when she is due to lamb. So the waiting game continues.
Daisy is having one of her days.
The chickens are waiting out the snow in their chookhouse.
Yesterday I sowed Sage and Holy Thistle. Both herbs for The Bees and I. I sow into trays, they will take three to four weeks to germinate, then I will prick the seedlings out into pots so they can grow for about 6 – 8 weeks, then I should be close to planting. I also sowed a big pot of winter lettuce that will be grown indoors for the kitchen. The days are getting longer.
Dawn is just breaking and gently lighting quite a bit of snow. Hmm. Playtime! 19F. Not too bad. Good morning.
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
81 responses to “Sweet cold farmy day.. we love the farmy days.”
A winter wonderland – beautiful photos to end my evening with Celi, thank you.
🙂 Mandy
No Night Mandy, have a great sunday.. c
How sad to think the old house was burnt down. I had never heard of a root cellar before but it seems so logical to store stuff under a mound of earth and thus protect it from the elements. Is it shelved inside?
it is very thick concrete, and no shelves in there anymore. No door either. very damp and cold though.. Maybe I will try housing a cheese in there next year and see what happens.
I could put it into a wooden box or something.. c
We had a shelter put in, with hopes that we will use it as a root cellar only… it is comfort knowing the “cellar” is there in time of need. 😉 ~ Lynda
I too hope that you only use it for food storage.. what a frightening thought.. c
What a lovely description of farm life.
Morning debra!! c
As the youngest in the family, when it was my turn to fetch root veggies from the root cellar, I would hold my breath while inside. I disliked the smell. It was probably a potato that turned, but it was like the whole place was going to fall in on me and I’d forever smell like that!
Rain washed our snow away last night. Yay. It’s above freezing so I’m off fire duty. Think I’ll head for town and see if I still stand crowds. All 10 people at once. 😀
Hi Aimee, Oh yes i can imagine that there would be some kind of nasty attrition in a root cellar, all that ethanol in there would create some serious ripening after a while! c
Oooh, I’m experiencing some root cellar envy. I try every year to grow enough potatoes and other root crops to see us through. Never happens. My harvests too small and I don’t seem to be able to store them well enough to last more than a few months.
I know exactly what you mean laura.. We love to eat them fresh.. they never last!! c
The Daisy and sheep images, with the bluish tint, struck me. Simplistically serene. Something about them exudes a sense of calm and contentment. Lovely.
some REALLY lovely photos i saw here :)))))))))))
“The perpetrators long gone”? And your house is 70 years old? That would put the “Perpetrators” house standing on that spot back when the Buffalo really DID roam them prairies…Cool Beans…Oh, and who are you kidding about Daisy and the Chickens? They are just awaiting word from you about Mama Maclairy’s condition. Anyway, hey I think you are on to something about the “Award” .. Here’s a copy paste from your comment, and my reply from your last visit.
ceciliag January 21, 2012 at 6:51 pm Edit #
Of course I LOVE the bee shot.. maybe you should turn that into an award! c
Reply
sonsothunder January 22, 2012 at 1:04 am Edit #
If I’m making an Award…the Bee Photo has to come from you…Or, heck, maybe a close-up of Daisy and Her Cat…now THAT would make a great award photo..maybe you should call it…”The Loyal Reader Award”? Or, The Blog Farm Review? Or, who knows…you show me the photo, and I’ll make the award and send it out…Linked back to your site… Or, you make it…Either way…sounds like a great idea…
Hey, maybe the CCC award…Cat Cow & Celi? lol…Let me know..
Oh, the Bee photo…not the one on the previous post, which is one of yours of course, but, the yellow flower one…I just nabbed from “Photobucket” so, if you want to go with a “Honey Award” or…whathaveya…The Photo must be one of yours.
Bless You
paul
Reply
What a great idea. I didn’t know one could make an award but i suppose ther come from somewhere. We would have to think carefully what we gave awards for. Sometimes they turn into little whirlwinds. The daisy and her cat one is such a loving shot though. c
What about a wine cellar???
And How Much Will Daisy Take For Her Heavily Guarded Chrysler, New Yorker?
It is her cow art! She wuvs it! c
On a closer look…you choreographed the chicken and rooster to do the funky chicken…I can tell they are dancing…I can almost hear the music by just viewing that pixel…It should be animated…
You are a crazy fella! They are animated on this side of the screen!! (laughter) c
“Snow. Light Powdery snow.” I wish I really knew the experience of it. It makes my heart go all pitter-patter.
I am in love with Daisy.
Daisy steals hearts watch out! And the snow yesterday flew up like sand as i walked through it! c
The ‘saga’ of the root cellar, and what happened to the original house and surrounding trees, struck a VERY resonant chord. Exactly the same thing happened on our land…the only difference is the ‘perps’ did nothing more than park a mobile home atop their dozer-filled desecration of an earlier dream. But because the ‘mobile’ was gone by the time we bought the land, it wasn’t until I began to dig a basement for the house we’re building that I discovered the debris-filled concrete basement of the earlier, very classic farmhouse. So…I decided to entirely redesigned our plans to fully incorporate all that was left of the original. And thus our dream now has its roots buried quite deeply in one from the past.
Yet now I can’t help but wonder when (not if) ours will be similarly ‘dozed’, buried and long forgot…once again.
Yes ..one day we will be bulldozed. it puts everything into perspective doesn’t it. And wonderful that you are able to utilise the old basement. That must give the new house a feeling of having leapt through time! c
You’ve got a root cellar! Now that is a bit exciting… for a city girl living in a flat.
Beautiful snow too.
Morning Miss Hippy out there in your flatin the summer!. c