As you know I get up very early so that I can post today’s page around dawn every morning. The night before I will have embedded the best of that days shots into a post, jotted down a few rough ideas and after visiting as many of you as I can, I do the late night rounds and then I sleep. In the morning, early, I sit at my desk in my summer office, with my lamp on and write the words. The house is empty but for you and I. You, the reader, collectively and individually have become my focus as the dawn light slowly lifts around us.
After I have posted, my mind full of you all, I begin my day. Taking you outside with me. You see the people in my life are mostly physically absent. I live here in the United States. Yet my oldest and bestest friends and family do not. This is a completely different way for my life for me. In the first half of my life I lived in houses teeming with people. Family life meant my guest rooms were never empty. Each bed had a mattress underneath it to be pulled out for extras. My table sat twelve and usually did. I would sit down for coffee in the morning with people I had been drinking coffee with for years. The phone rang all the time. There was always a dialogue of some kind going on. The calender was full of invites and reminders. My classrooms and weekends were heaving with busy-ness.
Then, like many of us (many bloggers), I arrived in a new country later in life, in my forties actually, with my two suitcases and a box of notebooks and books. I came to live with a new husband. And so a great quiet descended. I am no longer there with my family and friends for all those special occassions. I don’t even know where my calender is. This house is not full and rowdy. And I have to keep the terrible sadness that is the loss of my people firmly in its box. Because for all that, I have found my home.
But I am at an age where solitariness is no longer terrifying. Working by myself all day without talking to any person at all is not a failure. Friday night at home is preferable. There are very few actual people in my life here and that seems fine. I know people here of course. But only two of them know how I take my coffee.
Anyway, I guess I am trying to explain why being alone on the farm all day means that the camera and the pen become infused with people. They become my bridges to a community of my own. My circle of friends are right here. And how strange is that. But it is a good strange. I take you all with me. My pictures and my writing is where my grown children in their many different countries and my oldest friends and my own father and all of you, come to visit. This is our gathering place. Our virtual verandah at sunrise. It is as though you and I have coffee together every morning before going out to work on the farm.
After I have posted, I put on my farm clothes, which are delightfully tattered, skirt and top, never shorts I hate shorts, load the camera with its recalcitrant battery, slide the battered card into place, tuck my small leather bound notebook into my pocket, the pencil twisted into my hair to hold it up off my shoulders, step into my gumboots and off into the morning farmy we go. And you come with me.
I take you along for the day. My dialogue is with you and the animals all day. And that is not as crazy as it sounds. We all have an inner dialogue. Some of us even have an inner soundtrack to accompany that dialogue. And this is why i often write We when I am describing the day. Because though I am the only one here all week – working alone does not feel lonely.
The beginnings of our day out on the farm are possibly the noisiest. The cats are always fed first. Simply because they make the most noise. From top left, going clock wise, we have Thing Two, Mary’s Cat, Thing One and White Cat. They all live outside except when they sneak inside! Then they live inside. But not for long. Cat hair makes me sneeze. 
Then Minty will arrive. Though she sleeps in the corridor paddock (safe from wild dogs) with her mother and flock, when she hears my voice she is off at a gallop and will get through any hole in the fence, across the drive and around the corner to my work bench on the covered East side of the garage. I have all my feed and containers, tools, and essential bits and pieces here on this bench. It is my central work station. It is my dry spot. 
Standing at this bench in the morning sun I look to my right and there is Minty. Minty expects a bottle but because she is being weaned down to two bottles she has to eat her dry food first. So she is led back to her siblings so that they can all eat together. Keeping her engaged with her flock is a constant job. Then with my small containers of treats and bribes, the cats, TonTon, Big Dog and I walk across the quad and we begin our rounds. 
Daisy waits. She is due June 6th. Though that means very little to a heifer. So she is now under a frequent watch and has access to a nice dry pen in the barn. 
We have to be careful walking into the barn first thing in the morning if Kupa is not out of bed yet. He flies down from his roost, up in the rafters, in some kind of death defying free fall straight out though the big doors and into the quad. If you happen to be walking in the doors at exactly that moment, you are liable to get a face full of screeching peacock. He is literally screeching Watch OUT! Be ready to duck.
Once we have greeted and inspected the sheep and cows out into the back fields they all go. 
And we move onto the chickens, chooks and pigs. Somewhere along the line I always lose my camera. 
But after walking the fences with the dogs and checking the fields, the camera always turns back up. Usually on top of a fence post. Then out comes the hose and we start the watering and gardening. Breakfast is about 11 lately. Time just puddles on by.
Good morning. We have a cloudy dawn this morning. There is a possibility of rain. But don’t hold your breath. It is Saturday and Our John is not working today so there will be more fencing done on the Dairy Mistress Paddock, I hope. And we still need to create a small barn door into the milking parlour from the central corridor in the barn, where the milking paraphenalia will be.
I can hear Kupa calling, I think it is safe for us to begin!! Have a lovely lovely day.
celi
PS The Old Codger says hullo and is walking on his own two feet with a walker. They are discussing when he can come home! What a relief for him.
The Kitchen's Garden 
91 responses to “Working alone on the Farmy is Never Lonely”
Thank-You. Thank-you for letting us tag along the rounds.
Kind of cool that all 500+ of us fit in the barn.
You are all very good at not jostling each other and being very quiet too!! c
Like you, I am used to a house full of people. This weekend we have city cousins visiting, but I am currently enjoying some peace because they’ve all headed out to a highland dance competition. I’m used to noise and activity, but I actually prefer the peace and solitude. My husband is the one who like to gather people around him. I guessing am probably better off for it, but anice quiet day on the farm sounds like heaven to me.
Being a single mum of a whole heap of kids means that i had wild noise for most of the time and absolute quiet when they all visited their father, so i guess i had the best of both worlds.. ! c
Love this – you are a wonderful photographer! The dancing lamb… could be a good Pub name :-).
Oh yes, well done Rachel.. The Dancing Lamb! We could hang out a shingle.. c
This resonated so much with me – atlhough I don´t have a farmy to look after, time too puddles on by here (loved that expression). Life is good becuase we make sure it is good. So pleased to hear the Old Codger is on his walker – I bet he´s pleased too!
You were on my mind when i was writing this too and you are so right.. we are old enough to make life work! No point sitting around whining is there.. c
Loved the tour, Minty just melts my heart! How sweet is she to come out running to greet you in the mornings. Even if she is looking for a bottle!
And I’m so happy to hear you talk about moving from the busy life you had to the one you have now. I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately…now that we are planning to move from a very busy neighborhood and an area with a lot of family to property where we will likely not be able to see another house and the nearest relative will be 3,000 or so miles away. It will definitely be an adjustment, but I am so excited and looking forward to it! Thankful for my new blogging friends and FB to keep me in touch. 🙂
Have a lovely day! ~ April
It is an adjustment but an easier one when you are a wee bit older. Our needs change maybe. And there are still planes!! c
I’m going to be 44 in July…so not a young little chick anymore. I don’t have problems meeting people or making new friends so I guess I’ll just have to work a bit harder since they aren’t going to be right outside my door anymore. Ha! 🙂
Fabulous photos and a great way of taking us with you at sunrise. I loved the description of Kupa, it sounds comedy like, but I’m sure he tries hard to keep his cool!
One last thing, can I ask Daisy to cross her legs for an extra day, then we’d share birthdays, or is that just a bit tooooo much to ask ?!
i shall pass on the message.. maybe we should have some kind of lottery! how would we do that? I will have to think on it! c
You do realise that I’ve bean making flapjacks whilst singing Daisy, daisy give me your anser do, we all want to know when you are due….. and on. I’ll stop there!
Best you do! You know that that will stick in my head now and I will be humming it ALL DAY LONG!!! c
I’m half crazy guessing the date you’re due.
Right I am off now! Promise
you are a card!! c
One of your best posts yet for giving all of your readers an insight into your new life. My move, geographically speaking, to a new life was not so great as yours but great enough to have many of the same feelings about those now absent friends and family – especially when that family is now increasing! I don’t use my blog as regularly as you (not such a good writer!) but yes, it’s been a way to meet new friends, while I embrace our new life (with fewer beasties!) and keep that wee box of sadness firmly shut! Thank you.
Christine
Morning Christine. I know it is OK to miss them but we need to sit on the lid of that little box sometimes to get it shut! c
I don’t suppose the animals would let you have any free time for people and Minty sounds like she wants to be a human sheep!
I hope the Old Codger gets to go home soon – that would be brilliant news 😉
Minty is going to be a very naughty grown up sheep! morning mad!
Hey Celi, your post brings tears to my eyes. I guess because, although I am an American here in America, I’m used to being in foreign countries with lots and lots of friends, old and new, and family members visiting and traveling and meeting new friends. Now we are here, settled down, starting our own little “farmy” and though not exactly lonely, as we’ve met many wonderful folks, I’m sometimes missing friends and still trying to discover my place. But, it’s been less than and year, and with summer here and the garden growing and the gorgeous lake beckoning, I’m feeling more and more at home. Also we have kittens, and a guinea and duck sitting their nests, so hopefully more babies on the way. It’s wonderful to wake up to your posts each morning! Have a fabulous weekend! Di
The animals do keep us company! You have kittens now? I look forward to that guinea hatching something.. Mine have never sat, i suspect they are all male actually! c
Good Morning, Celi. Every morning I drink a single cup of dark roast decaf coffee with half and half (real cream, real milk) after breakfast. How do you take your coffee? Your solitary days give you the opportunity to do your work of writing and photography as well as farming and your ability to connect to both people and animals shines through. Good for the old codger.
morning Sharyn, I drink freshly ground coffee, made in our old noisy espresso machine. Very strong with hot fluffy milk. And thank you for asking. You are now the third person in America who knows how I take my coffee.. well fourth if you include my son who lives in california.(laughter). c
I used to drink the same as you, Celi, until my espresso machine blew a gasket and spattered the entire ceiling with coffee grounds. I never replaced it, so I drink filtered coffee now and espresso (cappucino) as a rare treat when I’m away.
sounds dangerous!~
I drink espresso from a very noisy machine in the morning too. Sometimes with fluffy milk, but more often with a dash of cream and a couple sugar cubes. I roast and grind my own… yeah, its an obsession. Good, strong coffee — there’s nothing like it.
Morning C, thank you for that delightful post – indeed for all of them, they are the highlight of my day. You couldn’t be lonely with all those animals and birds to talk to, as well as us ‘virtual’ friends. I specially loved the photo of Minty – it looked as though all 4 feet were off the ground. Great that the codger will soon be home – give him a hug from me.
Morning ViV. now that you have shown us your garden i can even picture where you are which is lovely! c
What a poignant post! Miss C I for one really appreciate you giving up that first ‘soft’ hour of the day to share your precious farmy with me. You share my lunch time coffee with me. I prefer to ‘hermitize’ and (perhaps selfishly) don’t blog but always feel very welcome when I visit you, and I’m envious. Minty galloping across the quad is a definite postcard. If Daisy has her calf on June 2nd, can I name her? Tell the Old Codger hello back and that we expect to see him dancing on his verandah very soon.
I have found a South African blog that may interest you, http://ecofootprintsa.blogspot.com
this couple have gone off the grid and sustainable – starting in their town house. Very brave.
Have a good weekend …… I’m right behind you 🙂 Laura
Now remember Laura, it might be a bull then he will be called The Bobby. All the baby bulls are. June 2? Is that your birthday? I think that if Daisy gives birth on anyones birthday then they should be able to contribute a name! Of course. That would be great. If it is a Heifer and all goes well. Fingers crossed. Morning Laura.. c
Hi Celi. I know what you mean – I know no one who knows that I prefer tea in the afternoon, or how I take it. My life is come full circle: at its start, I lived in solemn isolation, with no friend until I was 6, and he was killed by a car. Over time, I became increasingly outgoing, until now, I am a full-fledged extrovert. It is at this precise time that I find myself with few, to no, real friends.
But, I find, it is precisely what I needed, as I fall asleep at night writing new friends. A lifelong insomniac, I know fall easily to sleep simply be starting my mind’s dream state, writing in my head. I suppose the old Christian adage is true – sometimes, we are given what we need, even if it’s not what we thought we needed. I daresay, it is never what we thought we needed.
wow, Snap! i always switch to a cup of tea after lunch.. in fact i make a pot of jasmine tea! And i like it hot. How sad that your friend was killed by a car, at 6. I bet you have carried that around all your life. Reading the rest of your message I wonder if having real down the road friends is not quite rare really. Maybe we are given what we need. And at this point in our lives we discover that it was our own wide awake selves that we needed all along. Lovely comment Bill and thank you.. c
You touch my heart, Celi — I know you miss your family. I can’t imagine being so separated from my kids and grandkids; they are such a part of my everyday life. But your life is full and your animals are delightful. Thank you for sharing your life with us – as I have said before, reading your blog is like actually being there for a visit. I love Minty, Kupa and especially, Ton Ton.
That is why it does not feel so lonely with all of you guys visiting.. so thank you so much for popping in.. c
Don’t know why this says “anonymous” – just wanted you to know it’s me, Lois. I must have to do something to identify myself.
Oh Lois there you are.. I am still dancing for you.. I wish you were closer and I would bring Naughty TonTon up to visit.. c
Celi,
What a lovely post. I enjoyed starting my day with you! The photos alone are a gift of peace to me today. Thanks!
Morning Gerry and welcome to the Kitchens Garden Farmy.. c