Here, in my unheated bedroom. ICE on the inside of the double glazed windows. Makes me feel right at home. I have never lived in a house with heated bedrooms anyway. Now whenever you see those silly christmas decorations with the sprayed-on ice around the glass, you can say. I don’t think you really want ice on the inside of your windows. It means it is too cold for comfort.
The Breeder (the woman who bred Daisy) sent some extra milk over yesterday for Sheila. Raw milk is high in easily digested enzymes and protein which ovulating pigs need.
The weather man described yesterday as Bitterly Cold, though with a stern unsympathetic sun I added. I was certainly feeling bitter about the cold but felt better after a bath. The sun I am always grateful for.
Today they are, of course, forecasting more snow. I still like snow. But I don’t really need anymore. Still there you are – it is a winter. Winters of old they say. Just like the winters in the 70’s. Wait. The 70’s are Old?
I am happy for a few days without wind.
It is Saturday here. 35 days before Daisy is due to calve. I would refer that she does not have to actually calve inside the barn. So hopefully the snow is gone by then and a little warmth has come back. But I think we are going to have a late wet spring. One way or another there are exciting days ahead.
Good morning. The Powers that Be have decided that I need a new milking machine. This is being paid for by the Matriarch’s farm. If this were a sustainable self sufficient purchase I would be milking by hand. But Daisy is a big milker (lots of milk) and I have chosen an electric pump on wheels to selfishly make my life a lot easier. One has been ordered and will soon be dispatched. The inclement second hand pump that I was using will become the backup parts pump. As I will be milking in a little over a month, and we will be having lambs in between, I need to start getting all these things in order.
From now on I am going to try and actually publish the my little weblog AT dawn, so I will check the time of our dawn and have it go to air at exactly the right time. Then I will walk out the door to start work. That might be fun! You can watch the days grow longer with me. What do you think? There is a lot of light before the dawn.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Your dawn friend on the farmy,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
58 responses to “you did not believe me?”
So cold, dear girl, ice on the inside of windows, and toilets sloshing in the wind (can you tell that image has REALLY stuck with me). It’s like a scene from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Long Winter. I hope you don’t get any more snow, and that the sun is gentler and warmer today.. xx
I am so happy for you, that you are finally getting a decent milking machine. I can’t wait to see a photo of it and learn how it works and how Daisy adjusts to it.
It has snowed all day here in Chicago–probably 3-4 inches. Read in the paper today that so far we’ve had 59 inches.
Oh dear, that is a LOT of snow.. we have only had light snow all day, nothing to speak of at all, compared to some days.. the city must be a mess! c
I would truly love to watch your days get longer with all of ours. You are my first read in the morning and this would just add to the goodness of waking up with your view. I adore the picture of the sun behind the tree,spoke to me for some odd reason.
Hi Celi… this is not criticism of you or your house, because it must surely have been built ages ago, but I have to say I am flummoxed that you have ice on the inside of your double glazing when you have so much sunshine, free energy to heat a properly built/designed passive solar house…. Have you ever seen Earthships covered in snow in New Mexico?
I’m not saying “live in an earthship”, but rater that it is entirely possible to live in a much less cold house than you have to endure simply by good design…. look at this
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1053/801966663_a4674b128f_o.jpg ALL heated by free sunlight…
We are planning a move from hot Queensland (Australia) to cool Tasmania (still in Australia) and are going to build a bermed house (not ou of tyres, I’m to old for that kind of shennanigans!) in the same vein…
Cheers from Mike
Oh I agree Mike, you should see the tiny apartment i just finished building (it will be for my mother in law when she retires but I write in here every day) it is wonderfully designed (by me) and on sunny days even in these temps uses very little heating and stays toasty warm, many days as warm as 67. In the big main room I tore out the ceiling and am using skylights and the brick chimney as a heat sink. It is the same – sunny and warm. And at the moment we are building a glass house on the south side to catch all kinds of heat in the winter, which can be locked out in the summer. Preaching to the choir my friend. (Though my itchy fingers have not quite reached that bedroom yet) ah well! c
Good to hear you’re working on the problem, and that you understand what you’re doing…. very few people do!
I call it passive solar heating, the high windows, very high, have overhangs above them that will soon begin to deflect the sun, so it cools in the summer, and those high high windows open to let all the rising heat out, into the tops of the trees on the south (hot) side. d . It is a work in progress and all takes money so a slow work in progress but I use way less heating in the winter and no air conditioning in the summer..
Looking at that window pane makes me feel the cold. Sheila doesn’t seem to mind the fresh milk. 🙂 I enjoyed seeing the variety of footprints in your snow and the paths they made.
Oooh, I shivered when I saw that icy window; but I smiled when I thought of new lambs, calves and hopefully piglets coming into the farm, and especially when I read about the milking machine. Hang in there, the sun is increasing for you, because I can feel it withdrawing here. But we are warm now, and I swam at our little local beach yesterday. Mmmm delicious. If you feel like being soothed by a summer stream, visit this post: http://seasonalinspiration.blogspot.co.nz/2014/02/the-voice-of-stream.html
What a lovely idea (sharing your sunrise).
Beautiful photos and great capture of the winter light beaming upon the snowy landscape.
BURRR!! That is to cold for this old Southern Girl.
We maybe wet and cold right now(no where near as cold as most of this country) but we are already seeing signs that spring is coming. The maple trees have already bloomed and have their seeds developing. The wild Caroline Jasmine vines are blooming, so are the Redbud trees.
Also we are seeing the Blue Birds and a few other birds moving north.
I hope it warms up for you soon. Snow is gorgeous, but enough is enough.
Here we go again! Snow overnight and frigid temps on Monday and Tuesday. March is coming on fast and I hope there’s a break in the weather for you before then. The farmy is going to have a whole lot of birthing going on in few weeks and it would be nice if the weather wasn’t the issue it is now. Fingers crossed.
All of the photos were lovely today, but Sheila is my favorite. I think that as far as that milking machine goes, you deserve any little bit of convenience that the thing could offer. That’s not selfish at all – life is hard enough! Just saying…