the mantle of fog settles on the farmy

“Fog is made up of condensed water droplets which are the result of the air being cooled to the point (actually, the dewpoint) where it can no longer hold all of the water vapor it contains.” 

Well, that is the scientific reason. The real reason is that we all need to rest our minds and have a wee think about what is to come.

I love the word: droplets. I have always been charmed by fog,  it has a fat over-full  wooly feeling to it. Like the world has exhaled a misty waterlogged breath. Then held it. Held it’s breath. NO blowing, or sighing, just stillness. And I quietly sit in the breath, in a huge pale mouth, buffered and contained, as insulated as Jonah, his whale moving softly around him, all sounds and movements entirely my own. And think. Thinking is vastly under-rated.  The world’s breath glides in to match the temperature of my own breath. My own blood.  Sounds drift about as though across long, dark water. Muffled, audible.

Kupa said “Thank you very much for locking me up but I am not sending YOU a Christmas card.” and on his release, stalked out of the Peacock Penthouse. He  flew with his old determination and vigour straight down to the door and was gone. He is on a break from medicines for a month now.  Though you and I will be watching carefully.

He moved so fast I could barely get him in focus.

Must be wintry enough to make Hot Chocolate. I make Ganache and store it in the fridge for just those evenings.

Pour one and half cups of hot cream over 12 oz of  broken up good strong chocolate. Pause. Stir. Pour into jar and refrigerate. Add a spoon-full  of the ganache (though it really is a diluted ganache) to a cup of hot milk for a hot drink on a cold night.  If I have been very good sometimes I add a splash of Kahlua.  I am often good.

Yesterday, I very slowly forked all the dry old straw out of the hospital wing pen and threw it to the Plonkers (who were deeply grateful). Mama is looking alarmingly wide already and as you know she always has quads so I have to get ahead of her.  (We need to start thinking about lamb coats again soon but not quite yet.)  When John got home I had him carry all the heavy things about. Tidying the areas of the barn that are un-used in the summer. Un-used areas become metal magnets for ‘stuff’. Now is the time to be getting them ready for a busy winter.  I cannot ignore these chores. My animals depend on me and they care not for injuries and complaints. If I am not very prepared and attentive, animals may die in this environment.  We almost lost Kupa because I was not up treading the boards.

I feel better having got this job done.  Today is the hen-house. There is a fungus that may grow in dry bird droppings, a nasty one,  it is better that this debris is on the field as fertiliser than in the chook house making my birds sick. Also, the droppings dry and are pounded into a fine dust that is very abrasive to a bird’s lungs.  I always clean the chook house in the autumn and the spring. This job cannot be skipped.  So I shall strap up my back and move as much out the door as I can and then get John to throw a few bales of fresh straw in there.  We will load  the srapings onto the back of the white truck them I am going to sweep it down onto the fields as John drives slowly around the hay makers paddock.  I refuse to let it go to waste, so this will be done as well.  One day I will get a manure spreader.

Actually I am hoping that for Christmas this year I get an ark for the layers, then the chooks will only come into the chook house in the winter.

I know you want to say rest rest. But this is not a choice. Animals will die if I don’t get the work done. And none of it takes very long. None of it is heavy. I can do it slowly. So no lectures my darling Fellowship. Miss C has got to get back to work.

I hope you all have a wonderful day. I certainly will.

Your friend

celi

ps. I was first introduced to ganache as a hot chocolate idea over at remedial eating.  A beautiful blog.