It was minus -10C (-23F) when I went out to start the chores yesterday morning. And the animals were handling it well. Double rations and lots of extra bedding seems to be working so far. 
By lunchtime we were above zero. Which was nice. Do you remember me saying the other day that getting up to freezing was nice.. freezing point is 32F!
Now getting above zero is a relief. 
I did the rounds, collecting the pig food and visiting the old people.
My neighbour’s horses.
One of the old family houses.
When I got back home with all the pig food a Christmas package had been delivered from my son and his family. Guess what they sent me!
Cramp-ons. Just like Viv and Claire recommended. What a son have I. He told his wife that he didn’t want me to be falling again. She told me not to get too confident. No running on the ice, she said. Oops, I said. As I had been doing exactly that! They are wonderful. Liberating. I can leap tall buildings in a single bound. I am so much more in control.
Thank the Gods for sunsets in the winter. We need the colour.
This morning it is cold, with a wild wind that is sucking the heat out of this old house and snow is forecast. Winter I guess.
Have a lovely, lovely day.
Love your friend on the farmy,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
76 responses to “So far so good”
If you really want to run on ice… 🙂 you can if you use Icebugs. Like you, I’m an antipodean who moved to a cold, snowy climate and I found it really hard to get around in the depths of winter. I tried cramp-ons of various kinds which helped, but which didn’t give me complete confidence when conditions were particularly icy, where I became pretty much homebound.
A couple of years back a friend told me about “Icebugs” and I bought these boots from their range and they saved my life! I have a dog who likes to walk miles and miles in any weather, so I can be out and have warm,dry feet and feel safe on any surface.
I’m a little jealous of your weather. It usually looks much like that here in January, but sadly this year we are having an “English winter” in Sweden – dark, cold, grey and rainy. Not a flake of snow anywhere 😦
Marie, thank you.. those look fantastic! My Bad Dog Boo ATE my last pair of insulated boots, actually only one but amounted to the same thing. And I have been casting about for another pair. (presently i am wearing three pairs of socks and my NZ gumboots now adorned with the cramp-ons) I looked on this site (translated) and these boots would be fantastic.Plus they have the spikes. I am going to see if I can find them out here in America! Thank you. Much appreciated.. and welcome to the farmy lounge of comments!! c
They are fantastic, so I’m happy to recommend them to anyone needing traction in the ice. I hope you find them in the US (I’m pretty sure they sell them worldwide). You can search for icebugs in English.
I’ve been lurking on here a while, reading and enjoying the posts as well as the comments. So I thought I might as well be polite and say hello 🙂
C, two sites for you to look at.
http://www.icebug.best-price.com/
http://www.shoebuy.com/
E.
I have lived for years up in Tromsø, in Arctic Norway, with these cramps on, impossible to live there without them, especially when the temperature goes from below freezing point and then above and then again below freezing point making the steep streets due to the mountains, really icy in a dangerous way, even the people born there are wearing them instead of breaking your legs all the time! in Norwegian they are called “brooder” but now here in the Danish very windy countryside, I need my lined insulated overalls! and I assume you need both ! take care Niels
Yes I have my lined overalls too, I call it my clown suit. Freezing and thawing and freezing and thawing sounds very dangerous indeed. Thank you for dropping in Niels.. take very good care out there.. c
I’m trying to decide if I can see my parents’ house in any of your pictures–maybe the one with just the cornrows in it? I’m not sure, though, if you can see their house from yours. I hope it warms up a little more today for you! It was 38 here when we woke up 6 am and it is already over 50.
With sunsets like that I could put up with a bit of cold as well… stunning…
Oh, the clamp ons are wonderful! Just what you needed.
The pictures of the farm house – and the field are the most beautiful shots. Certainly capture the chill – and the feeling of the year. Can almost hear the train – feel the steam off the horses. You’re one great photographer
Photos do look chilly! Love the boots!
You are very cold…we keep reading and hearing about your nasty winter storm. Here we are a balmy 27* F with a windchill of 17*. The snow is slamming in sideways in tiny, tiny flakes. I’m sure you know the kind!!
Happy tramping, Celi!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Such brutal cold! I’m glad the animals are doing all right so far. For goodness’ sakes, Celi, BE. CAREFUL. I love the boot contraption; that should help. But take all the precautions you can. You take such good care of your animals; take care of yourself, too! (I sound like a mama, don’t I?) It’s going to be cold here, too, first of the week–in the single digits at night, which means our pipes are in danger of freezing. So we’ll be wrapping faucets and taking precautions ourselves. Unusual cold for us in the Deep South. Brrr.
Clamp ons are wonderful…you son was so thoughtful. Stay warm and be safe.
Those clamp-ons are wonderful. I bought a pair a few years ago to use on icy surfaces. They certainly restored my confidence for walking up and down hill.
I love your snowy photos, but than I am sitting by a warm fire as I view them.
Those beat stilettos any day!
click clack, click clack, click clack!!! ! Lovely news. I know you like the colour of the sunset but I like the shot of the old buildings.
Hurray for Yaktrax! May your posterior ever remain safer. 😉
I am so happy that you got your traction device for your boots. A few years ago I bought some Toe Warmers boots…..made in Canada. They will absolutely not slip on ice or snow. They have a sole made to grip, but are not sticky. (Canadians know about ice and snow. ) are great for going to town as there is always ice on the sidewalks. We are in the deep freeze, too. Love the pic of the old farmhouse, and they are very drafty and hard to heat. OK….we have had winter, now I am ready for Spring, We feed our animals enough rations so they are always eating when it is this cold. The process if digestion produces heat for them. How is the ginger kitten? hint hint
The prairie sunsets. The gaudy glorious prairie sunsets. I read some where they even surpass the sunsets in the Khyber Pass, and apparently these are considered among the finest in the world. And if the sunsets are not enough – when the cold creeps in we have THE SUN DOGS in the daytime. You can take the girl out of the prairies but you can’t take the prairies out of the girl.