Miss c’s almanac says; get ready for another cold winter. Bad cold.
I know it is summer and we are just beginning to harvest, and the last thing we want to think about is the winter. But if you live a simple old fashioned farm life like we do we are always thinking about the winter. The winter is the biggest threat to our survival there is.
We need to harvest wood. This house is heated with fire and sunlight. The ruminant animals subsist solely on good hay so we need to fill the barns with hay, the pigs live on really good hay and a little grain, so that has to be considered. They all need to sleep on something warm so we need to buy straw, the carnivores (dogs and cats) need meat. I need lots of tomato sauces. 
. Everyone needs shelter and water that is not frozen solid. The larder needs to be filled with vegetables. The freezers will have pork and chicken this year, no beef and no lamb. There is no fruit for the cellar as last winter killed any hope of stone fruit or apples and the blight killed all the pears. No wine, once again due to the winter, same for the honey, though I am trying for one tiny super of honey from the new bees, soon I will have to concede that the bees will not have time to collect their own stores and I will leave it in the hive. The fields are heaving with forage and flowers so I am hopeful on many fronts. And the cabbages are doing marvelously this year so we will have a whole winters worth of sauerkraut. I am hoping that daisy will supply enough cream for enough butter and ice cream in the freezer. The freezers are filling up. It is good. 
So you see the winter has a huge impact on our diet if you are living a subsistance/ sustainable lifestyle. And the cold will come back and we must be prepared. The summer is all about getting ready for the winter and this is something I never really thought about when I was living in a coastal town in New Zealand where you can grow and pick vegetables all year round. 
Kim, who you will remember came and Farm Stayed in July, had brought a ball of wool with he r(as well as a whole lot of fabrics) that was the perfect colour for me and generously asked whether I would like her to make me some gloves. She is very clever is our Kim. I showed her my two bent forefingers. Last winter was so mean it left the top joints swollen and a little bent. They have not been the same. In fact they hurt like they are being stung by bees. Last winter I kept pulling my fingers down into the palms of my gloves to try and warm them on each other. It was hopeless. So I asked her if it was possible to make me a pair of fingerless gloves, kind of like mittens but that were long enough to cover the tops of my fingers and open at the top. Then when I need to use fingers I can roll the gloves down, and later flip the wool back up to cover my fingers again. But still allowing my finger tips to be free. Then I can wear them inside my big skiing gloves and hopefully the joints in my hands will not take so much of a beating.
And here they are. 
They are marvellous. And now Kim is making me a summer pair too. (Just quietly Kim and I are talking of having a little etsy shop and we are designing some of my miss c essentials, she is making the prototypes now, more on that later.) 
Mr Pink is in with the layers now. She was not getting enough to eat living with the meat chickens who are doing surprisingly well now that they are getting milk every day. I created a little hideaway for Mr Pink so she can stay out of the way of those nasty big baby layers. She has her own water and feed in there but can come out if she wants to – she does not want to. Sensible girl. 
I hope you all have a lovely day,
Your friend on the farm.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
54 responses to “That kind of cold”
For the pain in your fingers , have you tried a copper bracelet? I have two copper rings , one for each hand, but not very conducive to a farmy person as there is the possibility of getting rings caught on machinery, but a bracelet might work.
Anothern finger in another pie….there is no let up with you….tell me what is an etsy
I knew an old lady who wore a copper bracelet for arthritis.. it is such a whimsical idea, does it work for you?
and arnica for your poor sore fingers…..some cream you can massage in, maybe you have some still from the tail bone problem last winter? the gloves are wonderful KIm.
Oh I do Nanette, thank you, i shall look it out!.. c
Absolutely.. I used to suffer badly but now not at all. It would not straihhten fingers but may help the pain. Cheap copper bracelet, gjve it a try..not a lot to lose
Those gloves are perfect, there were moments I would have used them here this winter! Clever girl Kim. Did you knit the wrist rib and then crochet the palm and fingers section? Is there any chance of the pattern for non-USA fellows – pretty please? Laura
Those gloves remind me of the ones my mother used to make us. Mittens, like those, but with a sort of cap over the tips of the fingers that you could fold away over the back of your hand and button down out of the way when you needed your fingers, and fold back when you needed warmth. She made us scarves as well, which were double thickness, a long tube with the ends sewn shut. If you turned one end to the inside, it made a woolly cap you put on your head and then wrapped the rest of the scarf around your neck. My mother brought up three small children in wartime occupied Holland, and had a very, very thorough understanding of just how cold and hungry you can get…
Holland had a very hard time, I bet she was clever at stretching a budget and keeping you warm.. I knew a woman who would start unravelling an old garment and knit straight from that garment to the new one.. they never wasted a thing those women.. I can learn from that for sure.. c
Any wool used in our house had at least three lives: as the original pullover, as a child’s pullover once the adult one was worn through and the wool was unravelled and washed, and then as knitted squares which were crocheted together for blankets. I have one of those blankets left, and I can identify most of the garments that went into its making!
Good morning, c! My sister informs me that she stirs yoghurt into her sauerkraut. I haven’t tried it myself, but I wonder if you’ve heard of this?
No, I had not, but john makes his with whey, i will tell him – sounds interesting.. c
Good morning, Celi! My brother in Nebraska tells me he had a bumper crop of cabbage this year too! I’m still swimming in tomatoes, but I’m grateful for them. Those sauces will be a delight on cold winter days.
Morning darling, i had a dream with you in it last night, we were in a completely empty landscape but for the most magificent tree, it had fallen and we had ropes on her and were winching her back into place. Successfully too I might add. All is start black and white, very high contrast. The tree was alive but it was a leaf less tree, always had been. This seemed very normal to us. We were just focussed on helping her stand up.. Interesting dream.. thank you for the help by the way!.. c
Hi Celi! You are so right about putting up stores of food to get through the winter. We are busy doing that too. Just the thought of another really long, cold winter is depressing! 😦 But, I hear thunder and see dark clouds moving in right now, meaning rain this morning, and that is certainly uplifting!!! Just love the gloves Kim made for you!!!
God forbid that next winter is as bad as your last one, but it’s as well to be prepared. I have gloves like that – the first pair was bought long ago in Paris, and my daughter makes them now, which are crochet, and much warmer.
Oh that last pic!!! It looks like the hens are comparing their middle toes and trying to determine who has the most sexy leg and foot!!!! Like women compare their shoes….. Fabulous! Chicken Vogue or CosmoChick will be calling for that pic!!!!
you have a great imagination! wonderful.. c
C, so sorry your fingers are so sore! Here’s hoping your next winter won’t be as cold – I am ever the optimistic.
Have a happy farmy day.
🙂 Mandy xo
It’s interesting that you mentioned your finger joints feel like they are being stung by bees, because there are people using bee stings to ease joint swelling, pain and arthritis. I know nothing about it personally, but you’ve got your own bees and the internet for reference 😉
Yes I have read about it, an interesting idea, though i will stick with my dandelion tea I think!.. c
Well if it already feels like bee stings you might have nothing to lose…
Are those chicks in a row, eyeing the talent down below and comparing notes? I love the mittens, I might well have a go at making them. My hands are always cold. So cold I wear gloves eleven months out of twelve. A double layer of fleece made in that shape, might work for you too. Enjoy the food gathering.
I seem to have a distant memory of having sheepskin mittens in my UK childhood and that they were not only warm but didn’t get as wet as other gloves. They were a bit unwieldy but you could pull the mitten bit back and use your fingers just like kim’s mittens and they did keep your fingers toasty. Have you seen sheepskin mittens granny or is my memory playing tricks on me?
Red Box gal, I have tried sheepskin gloves and mittens down the years, but they were far too bulky in the palm of my hands, taking away any little grip I had and they were hopeless for holding the steering wheel in the cold of winter. I find the only gloves that work for me are silk lined soft leather. They are certainly not for style, after about a week, the shape of my crooked fingers stays in them and they stand like 3D sculptures. Hopeless for doing chores.
That is a really interesting perspective on summer and what it’s for. We don’t live on a farm, but summer — because of school — does affect the rhythm and productivity of our lives. I think of it as a time of laying store for the children, to be honest. Their school is so demanding…they need this time to store up energy, optimism and vitamin D. They need this time to reclaim childhood. The long cold winter of books is almost on them. And I just recharge all the batteries that raising them in the city runs down. We all need this time. I love your observation…it runs deep and wide.
I am covering my eyes upon reading those words “bad cold.”
Take good care of your hands. You can’t work or write or take photos without them.
What lovely gloves and a talented gal Kim is.
Ah, with this rather cool summer, I keep hoping we will have a mild winter . . . sigh!
I like Mr. Pink’s thinking…I detest bullies also!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com