How wonderful ..
The first day of 2014. I have a good feeling. The sun rose white and cold into the blue sky on the last day of 2013. There was even a little snow. I still love snow. 
I hope I don’t jinx it but things have been quietly, quiet and deeply, blissfully uneventful around here for some days now. Quick – Knock on Wood! And watch out for leprechauns, if they hear a knocking they might come a running. Now pull your right ear quickly so only the good spirits hear. But only if you can’t find any salt to throw over your shoulder (watch out for the guy behind you!) Salt is best! But it is quietly wonderful to have life on the farmy ticking along gently. For the time being. The being of time.
But so cold that everyone is keeping to the barn. No photos of any animals and I did not take the camera on Sheila’s walk. I shall seek them all out and do a walkabout shoot tomorrow for you, if the weather co-operates. We need to start the year right. No collection of favourite shots this year. I know that retrospectives are terribly popular but .. well you know.. not for us this year, I am sure you agree, we would all be bawling!
You and I will keep our heads up and watching forward. Yesterday I drove all over everywhere and picked up pig buckets and visited, and bought feed and went to my little Italian supermarket for the first time this month and the last time this year. Then home again to chores in the dusk.
Walks in the sunset.
Yesterday. We had a high of 15F (-9C). I am not even going to discuss the 1/2F (-17) I worked in yesterday morning. This new weather station might be a little bit too accurate. I am sure i feel colder if i know how cold I am. But we do not have the deep deep cold that some people are having. I also wonder why John’s ancestors settled here. How did they even survive. (Does a rhetorical question have a question mark?) Did the wheel fall off their wagon? (rhetorical again).
I hope you all have a wonderful first (or second) day of 2014.
Your friend on the farmy,
celi
71 Comments on “How wonderful ..”
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How pretty! I love a wintry blue sky but not the freezing temperatures which accompany it. Here in my little corner of England, the new year dawned grey and mild. No snow for us yet this winter.
May your 2014 be happy and bright. Happy New Year.
Reblogged this on My Blog snuppy.
Very beautiful, but I could ‘t take that cold! Come to think of it, your summer heat would do my system a lot of no good too.
Love,
ViV
Maybe somebody just sat down on the ground and said “this far and no further” – probably in spring or summer 🙂 Lovely blue and whites today. Laura
When we are in the midst of a beautiful september day i often think that this spetember must have been the month she hurled herself of the wagon and said Here, Now. No more.. c
I love the photo of the bare field. Such lovely rolling landscape. Happy new year, c, and I send wishes of good health and happiness to you all.
Happy New Year Celi and Long May Yer Lum Reek!! Good old Scottish saying. My father, being dark, always did the traditional first footing at the stroke of midnight. Knocking on neighbors doors with a lump of coal, bread, salt and a glass of whiskey.
Like you I have a good feeling about 2014. New Years day is a clean slate in the year book, with pages all pristine and white waiting for us to record our days. My wish is for every page to have at least one ray of sunshine and special memory recorded.
Great post! I too feel good on this first day of our new year time for me to prepare then rest up it will be below 0F with a foot of fluffy white snow to share 🙂 want some lol they say it helps to insulate how warm is it in NZ? I may have to take an all day flight 🙂
Happy New Year, C…May she be a damn sight better than the last. 🙂
It’s odd how everyone in blogland is reviewing the past year. Thank you for bucking the trend, for sharing your contemplation and for writing beautifully for us all to enjoy. I will hope for slightly warmer days (the Farmy does need some winter…) for you, and for the Wet please, please, please to start here so the terrible fire risk passes. Have a good year, dear Celi.
It always worries me how dry you get out there, .. c
Such lovely pictures, but so cold..its even colder there than it is here..bbrrrrr! HOPE that you have your longjohns on
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU CELI AND TO JOHN and may all the animals, furry, feathered or just plain normal have a great new year down on the farmy….
The drive to work yesterday morning as the sun came up was pretty terrific. We have just enough white on the ground for the sun to create a sparkle. Happy New Year Cecelia….hope you have a great 2014. One of these days I will get that oil loaded up and delivered!
I often wonder why my ancestors, who came from the south of France, chose to settle in Quebec! brrrr. Couldn’t they have chosen the wine country in California instead? “You and I will keep our heads up and watching forward.” I say a big YES to that.
Happy New Year to you Celi, and to Our John and the TT out in the world (thank you for your service TT) and to the Matriarch and the Old Codger and all the creatures of the farmy and all the members of the Fellowship of the Farmy! May we all have a happy, healthy and blessed New Year!
TTT is stationed in Hawaii. I think at this point he is thanking you for paying for his service! c
Happy New Year, I too have a feeling that is going to be one of the best years.
Happy New Year to you too Celi! Your photos are beautiful, as always!
Here’s to a wonderful new year!
Happy 2014, Cecilia, to you, yours and the farmy!
Awe Cinders, what a lovely post to start out the new year with…everything looks so peaceful and beautiful on the Farmy this morning…the last photo is something else…it would make a beautiful card…
I’m looking forward to another year in the life of the Farmy and another year of your friendship…you are a gem among us…
Happy New Year!
Today’s photos are particularly beautiful. I love their sparseness. Happy New Year to you! I can’t wait to see what is in store for the Farmy.
Sparse.. yes, that is the winter out here.. have a glorious day, anna.. c
There is something about a “New Year”, be it a Birthday or January 1st that begs me to review and renew. Life seems to be full of starts and stops, beginnings and endings doesn’t it. !? Let’s do it differently, you and me……let us have grace in whatever comes our way. Let’s practice peace and give hope ! The farmy fellowship inspires me ! The farmy has become part of my life..I carve out time to visit everyday ! Celi…..you have gathered us here, thank you.
Happy New Year !
nanster
Happy New Year 😉
I’m very sure that they stopped for the land…that rich soil which covers all of the heartland…loam so deep and brown…the grasses must have been high as they traveled from rolling hills and small mountains….they never lifted their eyes to look clear across the prairie to those Mountains standing tall and forbidding—they looked upon the ground and saw corn and wheat and barley, garden crops that were rich in colors and taste and said: Stop! We are here!
(It was only Terry’s and My forefathers that said…why stay? Why enjoy all this easy to live upon land? If this is rich there must be some that are richer, gather up, we are heading to the high mountain deserts. Then once here they found it was hard to grow something, but they were too poor to leave so they had to stay.”
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
¸.•*¨*•♪♫♫♪HAPPY NEW YEAR ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥
They say that the prairie here was taller than a man, they could see nothing as they walked through, maybe something from the wagon seat. Wish your lot had stopped earlier, or later as the case may be.. we could have been neighbours.. such an odd thought! c
Miss Whiplash’s post reminds me of the song the duck sings to the pig:
I’VE GOT FEATHERS, YOU’VE GOT SKIN–BUT BOTH OUR OUTSIDES KEEP US IN!
Always loved that line.
Let’s hope 2014 is a little less traumatic than 2013…a real bummer. You have lots of little ones to look forward to, Cecilia. Not only Daisy’s calf and Queenie’s, but also a perhaps lamb or two. And then there are your tiny pigs–I can’t remember their breed but when do they arrive? It is snowing here in Chicago, several inches so far.
We do have a lot to look forward to, i have not bred Sheila yet, so we will have to wait on that one but I think that meadow is pregnant, and Queenie and Daisy are rocking along..so much snow up there? we have had no more at all..I hope you are both well and I look forward to getting you down to visit in the spring of 2014, you can stay the night in the Coupe! c
Oh Celi that is so generous of you. You know several years off and on The Tribune Travel Section woukd run articles on farm hands-on vacations. I woud always cut them out, but never took a single one. Maybe 2014 is the year. God knows, im not getting any younger!
Snow! Yes it is now 6:30 p.m. And there has been no let-up whatsoever! Oh-oh! Dear little Meadow! I sure hope they don’t all–matriculate?–foal? –I lamb, calve–don’t know the proper word–at the same time!
I am sure we would shuffle along quiet well, especially in the late spring when the weather is nice! c
I have dates for the cows but who knows what the sheep will do, no sign of anything for a while tho.. c
Happy new year , miss c! I wonder if the animals spoke last night?
The sunrises and sunsets. That’s why John’s ancestors settled here. That would be this prairie natives partial guess. And probably the land. Good farm land, I expect.
January 1 is my favorite day of the year. Lovely winter photos – thank you. Happy new year!
All the best for the new year.
Beautiful photos Celi, and a happy new year to you and all the the souls you share your life with…
You must also ask, or maybe you know , why your forebears came to this lovely place where I fetched up… see you this year, love Valerie
They came from two villages close to Galway in Ireland. Two sisters from one and two friends from another. We have traced them right back to the ship (the manifest) and right past that to their villages. One of the girls was a Milliner. They were just another group of Irish immigrants come out to NZ to be farmers. One of them took her neighbour to court for stealing her ducks.! We have pieced together some very interesting stories about them and their children and their childrens children.. I have it all written down on a huge piece of cardboard, in an old seamans trunk (my grandfathers )stowed in my sons home. i must update it when I get home next too!. There have been additions.. c
Here’s tipping the champagne glass up to a wonderful New You for all in the Fellowship of the Farmy!!! 🙂
OOPS, of course I meant Wonderful Wonderful New Year!!! xoxoxo
Happy New Year from the Steiger family!
And a wonderful New Year in your New Place (still kind of new) .. I have thoroughly enjoyed you and that Mike in the Comments lounge this year.. You are an inspiration to me! love love.. c
Happy New Year Celi! 🙂
My Mom told us the same thing! Salt over the shoulder and yes! I still do it!!! LOL
Very cold here too….way too cold and tomorrow will be even colder. Brrrrr…..
I too wonder how Kevin’s ancestors survived out here before electricity and indoor plumbing and nice toasty heating systems! Just like your hubby’s family I am sure. I think I would have died!
Some of my ancestors on my mom’s side of the family arrived on the Mayflower and I think of how primitive it was and how frightening to leave your country and travel such distance from home… on ships that were a far cry from ours today. Certainly not luxury ships by any stretch of the imagination. Cold, nor’easters freezing the coastline and those on it’s shores…and very little food! Thank the heavens for the Native Americans who kept them alive and shared with strangers escaping death and religious persecution. Or I might not be here today!
The plains are stark and hard now…never mind all those years ago. It is a lot to imagine and contemplate. Women died frequently in childbirth, a simple injury could be the end of you, and if you had a bad harvest…starvation.
Brave men, women and children looking for a better way of life, or fleeing oppression, or simply shipped out to colonies for indenture. All willing to take the gamble for freedom…willing to endure great hardship and harsh climates.
Yes…a lot to think about Celi! So true!
I’ll bet you were thinking of home last night! New Years is a huge celebration around the world.
Makes me feel not only hopeful for the year ahead, but a little melancholy for the past as well.
Happy Hogmanay! My name is Welsh from my Grandma on my Dad’s side and one of my great-grandma’s is from the Highlands! From her to me to you!
A guid New Year tae ane an’ aw,
An’ mony may ye see!
An’ durin’ aw the years tae come,
O happy may ye be!
An’ may ye ne’er hae cause tae mourn,
Tae sigh or shed a tear!
Tae ane an’ aw, baith great an’ sma’,
A herty, Guid New Year!
Love Always, Mere (((((Celi))))
Melancholy is OK.. have a great New year .. it seems your cold weather is on its way over here and it makes me very afraid for my animals.. c
We too have been way too cold here this week. Highs only in the single digits F and today there was wind too. While we should be back in the 20’s on Saturday it’s supposed to plunge again after that, Monday’s high to be minus 8 F! I am also already worried about my animals. I will do my very best to tuck everyone in with some judicious use of heat lamps and hope for the best. I’m certainly glad the wee Kune Kune won’t be here til spring!
Would you bring him inside in the cold? I might.. we are looking at 18 below in a few days!.. this is very bad.. if i had babies i would bring them in.. but yes llike you i am heat lamps, nailed in place and tons of straw plus lots of feed.. horrible.. c
Do you have a name yet?
I am considering four, Desmond (Desmond is a barrow on the Walter Place obladi, oblada), Nigel, Jeremy or Orville. I may have to wait til I clap eyes on him. How about you? And yes, I most definitely would bring him in the house, I did, after all have a house pig for 11 yrs.
your house pig knowledge will be helpful to me, I have a feeling Johns won’t mind!! So i may test the waters, I vote Nigel! I am leaning towards Albert. But you are right to name them too early means you have to name them twice (Blue/Boo is an example) so i will be good and wait and see.. c
So far Nigel has the most votes. My Mac dog came with his name but he should be called Rocket Dog! He looks just like Harry the Cow Dog in the David Stoecklein photo only he’s all gray. I do like Albert (Bertie baby? haha). Sadly my John is not too keen on another house pig, he and Roosevelt did NOT like each other but Rosie was here first so he stayed. Strange, as my John is very soft for animals though he pretends to be gruff and tough.
That is a lovely sun in the blue sky you captured. Perfect! Sunset was nice, too. Happy New Year, farmy!
Happy New Year, Celi. 🙂
Happy New Year, my darling friend. May it be peaceful and joyous for you! Much love xxx
Oh heck accurate weather readings always make you feel colder MIss C, always! My temperature guage is a) how many layers I have on and b) how many layers I should have on, to keep warm that is! 🙂
I am wearing Five today! a five layer day.. inside that is.. c
So ~ there is ‘Oirish’ blood in you: no wonder you have such a wonderful ‘gift of the gab’ and are able to go with the flow 🙂 ! Thank you for the beautiful winter pictures of the farmy . . . so peaceful to see the clear skies and no wind and everything hush-quiet!! Let the vibes of that reach each and every one of us also . . . may all the good spirits visit you and us this year of 2014!
Happy New Year! All the best for the farmy in the coming year! We are all on this road together :*)
isn’t that a lovely thought, all in it together! have a lovely new years day evening.. c
Good wishes to you all for 2014, Celia.
The farm looks as if it is sleeping. These are beautiful, serene shots. John’s folks must come from hardy stock to choose to settle there.
I have a good feeling about 2014 too. It’s a new year and tonight is a new moon, which last happened about 19 years ago. With the falling snow, I can’t see the moon, but even the fresh blanket of snow on New Years Day, feels like a sign of good things to come this year.
May 2014 brings wonderful things your way!!!
All of the blue in your photographs is pretty… but it makes me shiver! I often wonder about the early settlers. How on earth did they manage? This year has been unusually cold in Oklahoma. Perhaps this year my fruit and nut trees, and berry plants will have enough chill hours. We barely manage enough hours most years! Something positive to think about!
Happy New Year! Beautiful photos. I love your phrase, “For the time being. The being of time.” Wonderful!
Celi? Your page is unavailable?
Yes, the latest post appears to have gone AWOL!
Star Ship Enterprise or Boo and Marmalade Kitty 🙂 ? Laura
I think that feeling may well be a lack of heat known technically as cold! Brrrrrrr!
Beautiful photos as always but these are so silvery they make me shiver!! Happy New Year!
Beautiful magical light – and we’re all about lookinf forward this year too 🙂 Backwards into 2013 was not such a good one….this year will be better, we’re feeling positive!
Your photos totally capture the bracing beauty of winter. I am grateful that you have these in your archive. I can never quite put words on how necessary this harsh season is for me. I wouldn’t do well in one of those places that had the same temperature year round. Am having a technical problem with your next post, however. Sadly, can’t seem to see it. Anyone else having this problem?
I wonder if Celi’s power went out? It’s not like her not to post in the morning. I hope her and the farmy are safe, sound and warm!