I would have taken a shot of the chopping block but it was chopped and in the fire before I knew it, last night. So, all this years firewood is gone. From now on we will have chilly starts. And early to bed evenings. I don’t mind I spend most of the day outside anyway.
So yesterdays sun was much appreciated. When I redesigned the big room I had them take out the ceiling and create a loft. Sky lights were placed in the roof above in an order that allows the sun to warm the brick chimney that runs through the middle of the house.
So as long as the sun is shining we are kept from freezing. But by night all the collected warm in the house is gone. And today it is already raining, but thats OK, rain is good too. 
I don’t mind if the house is cool because there is so much to do outside at this time of year. Roll on spring!
I looked back to some old posts at this time of year and we had the beginnings of grass growth already. 
But spring was a little early last year and then we had the bad frosts that killed all hope of the fruit. So I don’t mind a slow thaw. You see how it works out – one way or the other. 
The girls are preening in the bright sun. 
Daisy says Good Morning.
I noticed, while drinking a beer in the sun on the verandah yesterday evening with the Kiwi Builder – both dressed in full cold-weather gear – that the buds on the Magnolia are just starting to swell. These were all hit by the frosts last year too. Maybe this year we will get a show.
Good morning. I think that 6 weeks from today we can let the animals out onto the grass, it is always a very staggered affair, getting them used to green forage and allowing the grass to get good and long. But 6 weeks is a lot of hay. Those little lambs are fully into eating their share now. So sooner would be better.
Have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
84 responses to “The Chopping Block got the Chop”
Hello Polyanna! Admire you hugely but could never live in your beautiful neck of the woods without heat 😦 ! Our electricity costs have doubled over the last 2-3 years, but everyone is bitterly complaining about [possibly] turning the thermostat from 23 C to 21!! Our nights on the Highlands are down to about 12-14 C and we have all had our heatbanks on already! And there have been comments galore about the suggestion the hot shower should be cut to two minutes when most are used to 10-12 minutes of luxuriating! [Well, there I HAVE been good 🙂 !] And there isn’t one of us with excess brass in the pocket . . . . just cold is cold is cold . . . .:) !
Well tell them what I tell the teenagers! Cold? Wear more clothes! Work more, move more.. mop the floor! They do not argue!! electricity is expensive that is why i don’t heat with it! and out here in america it is CHEAP compared to NZ.. and possibly aus as well. we should do a comparison.. c
OK: one comparison – we get 3-monthly accounts : – most of us here in the Community have 2 BR all-electric cottages. I also have what is known as a heatbank [big box on lower electricity rates], which does not warm all the rooms in late July – early Aug: fan blows it empty, it breaks down! One needs an oil radiator as well for a few months. Do use cheap bulbs and rarely use my oven. Summer quarters about $350 per quarter, but the last two winter quarters have been a horrendous $750 + each. So one goes without a lot of other things: medical care is too expensive and too distant to take a chance! And if one has a bad heart or back, one may not be able to mop at all: My neighbour opposite is 92, another a few doors down 87 – one walks with a frame, another with two sticks: they fully look after themselves SLOWLY 😀 ! And feel every degree of cold!!!
it is just so expensive there.. i tell this to people here all the time, america is a very cheap place to live and you are absolutely right an elderly person is going to have a much harder time. I just get annoyed by people who wear one thin layer and then complain about the cold! I am sure your elderly neighbours dress well! (smailes) c
So we’re all shivering with your pictures of the snow, and then in the picture of Daisy I see Ton Ton in the background carrying around what looks like a large drink cup. Was he gathering some ice for his drink?
we collect the local Subway drink cups that would otherwise be thrown away, and i use them as scoops, of course TON HAS OTHER IDEAS! bad dog.. c
As you go about your day you could invoke your inner Spoke Milligan, and encourage the warm weather and growth by chanting “Spring has sprung the grass is riz, I wonder where the birdies iz…” 😀
Although this certainly isn’t June weather, we shouldn’t have any more Arctic blasts until next Winter. If I’m not mistaken, the coldest nights have the clearest skies because there are no clouds to hold the heat. If that’s true, at least you’ll have sunny mornings after the coldest nights to warm things up quicker. Even so, Spring cannot get here soon enough.
The old French farmers used to keep the cows inside in the stable through the winter while they slept above. You can still see this farmhouse design. The stone walls absorb heat nicely and radiate throughout the day. I’m sure Daisy would love to curl up on a rug in the evening and have a giggle. You know cows, they just go on and on with their stories.
sorry to hear about no wood use the time machine and come get some of mine 🙂 i have so much left from the storm in 6/12 in WV that it will supply many years wood to come and we are cooking, heating water ect with it
Winter seems to have flown by. Maybe because we were in New Zealand for several weeks.
You were in NZ? wow, i hope you ate lots of good food.. did you blog about it? how could I have missed that.. c
I’m so ready for spring!