Yesterday was colder than ever and the wind was blowing fiercely scoring the skin off my face and the water out of my own eyes. So cold that if you are doing the dishes and your hands are a little wet, and you pop outside for a piece of wood for the stove and then on your way back in you grab the metal handle on the kitchen door and.. shiver with horror… that hated feeling as your skin sticks to the metal, dragging it back off, leaving layers behind, epidermis breeched, teeth flinching, skin quivering .. that cold.
But look what greeted me in the barn yesterday afternoon.
Mama was finally up, all day we had been working on getting up, I would push her and pull her and force her to stand and walk about, giving her drinks of her tonic in between and here she was up by herself and whats more, she came over and ate out of a bucket – all by herself. So the force feeding period has ended. Now that she can move about I cannot sit down on the ground beside her to feed her those fluids anyway. She does not have to endure my mad tonic anymore, now that she can feed herself. Magic. Was that you? Because this old girl was staring right at deaths door. Dawn meant nothing to her for a while. Something brought her back. Big old sheep.
Sheila looking into the barn, looking for a scratch. The hoses are frozen so all the animal’s water is carried by hand in buckets. Two cows, four sheep, three pigs, a myriad of chickens and fowl and a ram. Our numbers are becoming more manageable for the winter but that is still a lot of water to be carried. This is water out of the tap, steaming in the frigid air. 
We are still way below freezing, many of the animals and birds have heated bowls but there is no electricity in the fields, so I fill those bowls only as much as the animal will drink, three or four times a day. Mainly Hairy MacLairy and Sheila and the plonkers. Of course they all have barn access, but no heated waters.
This is Queenie’s: ‘I am sure you forgot to feed me’ look. She was galloping about in the yards yesterday, terrifying me. It is all ice in there.
Cold. Cold.
Today I am undertaking a special challenge. I am going to write 10,000 words of my book. Everyone has a book – in fact everyone should be writing a book. They say everyone has one good book in them but not everyone can open the gate. Actually for me the main problem is WHICH bloodybook. So today I am going to give it a good boot and woosh the words right out there.
My bigger problem is that I type slower than I think. Much slower. And like you I think in words and conversations so there is a lot that can be written in a day. This was not my idea. It is the brainchild of Milli who I found through Charlotte Rains Dixon. I have not done this before, preferring the solitary bashing at the keys. I think am to pop into the site during the day and make a report, which will hold my cold pale feet to the fire! But we will see what happens. It might be fun!
Our John said, so can I take you out to dinner for your birthday then? Sure, I said,from the barn loft. Close your eyes!. Throwing a bale of hay down to him. (Dust you see.) It bounced about a bit on the floor. He pulled out his knife to cut the stings, the bale singing apart like a leafy accordion. Daisy unhinged her concertina neck and reached over the gate for an appetiser. But aren’t you writing ten thousand words? He said. Daisy stop that! Well, I said, gently moving Tui and Pania aside so I could reach past the hay to the straw for Mama’s clean bed.
Let’s just do both. I will get up early. The promise of dressing up and dinner OUT, should facilitate 10,000 words. Though I need to allow some time to do something about my Phyllis Diller hair. Silence from below. Wise man.
What about your .. um.. bottom? He ventured, throwing hay into the cow’s manger, the sheep squawking for their share. Wait Minty. Oh, I will be fine, I said. Climbing carefully back down the ladder; I will just perch. Maybe I can ask them for an old wooden chair with a broken seat. It works for me so far.
Have a lovely day.
your friend, celi.
The Kitchen's Garden 
82 responses to “Writing and farming below freezing”
I’m late! Sorry! Been baking all day and I am bushed! It is very very cold outside…brrrr….everyday is below zero here. I am sure it is tougher on you too! My kitchen is nice and warm!!!! I hope you have a lovely birthday dinner out!!! I didn’t know it was your birthday!
Prayers answered for Mama! Yay! Great news!!! She looks wonderful! I love your hair!! It is wildly beautiful!!! 😀
Sheila is so sweet….such a good girl! And you captured that look perfectly! LOL Dear Queenie!!!
It is hard work in the winter. Trust me on the wrist braces! They really do protect your wrists. Bucket carrying is tough on them! I know!
Take care and try to stay warm! Write away!!! I can’t wait to read your book! I know I am going to love it…(((hugs))) Me! Muah!!!
p.s. Hi Everyone! 😀
Hey Mere – I put up a couple of Bristol Christmas Photos, if you want a peek. Taking the grandkids to Edaville tonight to ride the train 🙂
Dearest Celi,
Count your life by smiles
Not tears,
Count your age by friends,
Not years.
Happy birthday!!!
Always, Mere
Must admit I feel quite ‘smug’ in having picked up your birthday in yesterday’s post 🙂 !! The ‘long’ wishes are somewhere there at the end – but are repeated here with all the good wishes in the world! And after all those chores of the day, do hope you were able to sit down reasonably comfortably and have a lovely romantic night out!! Wonder how far you have to travel . . . Good to see Mama upright, bad to think of the cold so severe that bowls have to be warmed and water doled out to the family every few hours . . . Oh, Celi . . . and all the charges there 24/7!! Take care and a hug . . .
I saw your birthday wishes and thank you! we did not travel far after all.. way too cold and icy.. tomorrow it warms up a little so we may go a little further.. love the hugs.. c
What a great thing to see first thing in the morning! Mama standing of her own accord. Whatever bond you two had before, it’s even stronger now.
Hope you’re having a great birthday, Celi! Cent’ anni!
Oh John and Celi ~ please forgive me for butting in! Languages and customs!! There is John wishing you a hundred years 🙂 ! At Estonian birthdays we always sing the same song and it finishes ‘. . . and let her live a hundred times, a hundred years ‘!!
And in Polish, it’s “Sto lat!” Seems that every culture has the same wish. 🙂
Sugar [ 🙂 !!] – I have three Polish cousins and am learning this from one of Italian heritage written on a prairies blog in the US! Wonderful 😀 !!
My cousin married a Polish girl and whenever we ended the Happy Birthday Song with cheers of “Cent’ Anni!”, she would cheer “Sto Lat!” 🙂
🙂 !!!!
Happy Birthday, Celi. Hope you were able to enjoy your dinner and evening out. I like the shot of you.
Birthday joy, Celi! I forget between-times our b’days are so close. May you have a glorious–and *injury-free* year! Big hugs to you, my dear lady. 😀
The photo of Sheila reminds me of the Old Masters. She is posing for a painting that will become known throughout the world as ‘Portrait of a Pig’. I do like her nonchalantly tipped war. Happy birthday to you in the cold. Here the pohutukawas are blooming all around the harbour and down the streets; such a happy sight.
and they will be filling with bees too.. good trees.. c
Oh dear, I meant to write her ‘nonchalantly tipped ear”. Hope you worked it out anyway. Plenty of bees in the trees right now. Happy bees.
So happy to hear Mama is doing better! I do not like weather THAT cold! The look on Queenie’s face is priceless. I can’t wait until you’re done with your book. I love to read, and if allowed, I will read it for sure!
Happy Birthday to you! ~ April
What a wonderful birthday gift, to find Mama back on her feet!
Tho’ I’m sure Dinner Out ran a close second 😉
Hope it was a good one!
Hope you had a very Happy Birthday and celebration, Celi. That was Mama’s birthday present to you I’m sure, to be on her feet again and on the road to recovery. Hope you found a comfortable chair! 🙂
Happy late birthday. If it was mentioned in the original post, I was distracted by the 10,000 words and had to come ask if you made them. Reading through the comments I not only saw that you did I saw the birthday wishes and wanted to add mine. Any more 10,000 words? Sleeping bag still in place at night on your pig? Enjoy your day. 🙂
yes my piggie still has her sleeping bag blankie, and yes, maybe my goal will be 5,000 a day and then editing said 5,000 that day… that is probably a more sensible goal.. have a good one! c
Wow, so many cool people have birthdays now–my grandson, my client, and now you! Happy birthday! Thanks for the shout-out, and I’m dying to know how the writing went. Did you hit 10K words?
yes i did charlotte, very easily actually, done by early afternoon, mostly i learnt that i can sit down and write to a goal, if I had a goal of say 2,000 or 5,000 new words every day, imagine how much faster this project would move. So thank you for the idea, it has taught me something very very important.. c