I am not behind yet, but I am definitely at Full Steam. Ahead.
The skies have cleared after a few days of rugged weather. A little taste of winter. I am even wearing my carhart jacket again – broken zip and all – inside. The chimney needs cleaning before we can light fires.
As I write this morning Boo is at my feet pulling sticky weed seeds out of my socks .. while I am wearing them .. Yes I am wearing socks too and my dog thinks my legs are part of his body and should be kept free of burrs. Though he just spits the burrs out onto the floor with a great shake of his head – which is not very tidy of him.
Shortly I will go out and load the oats up and take them to the West Barn. I have arranged for a digger with a man in it to come over to the barn across the way and put in a new water line while I am away. So Jake will need Treats to get the calves inside so he can lock them up for the day in case the man and his digger need to go through the field.
Also while I am away another man is going to come and paint the floor of the verandah, it is wooden and needs a fresh coat of paint every few years. Every time I paint the floor it is a different colour. Over the course of time the paint is scuffed off and it becomes a rather interesting work of art until the painter man comes huffing along and cleans it all up again with his fresh coats. This year it is going a deep green and the doors are being painted red (of course!).
Sheila has begun to make her winter bed with all the fresh straw we gave her yesterday and I have dragged Tima’s little upside down horse trough house, with the hole in it, into her barn bedroom (she is in Sheila’s sunroom now closer to the action) and stuffed it with clean straw so she will be extra warm. Though, even though we had snow and sleet yesterday (don’t ask), she was still out in her field chomping away at the clover and chicory. The Kunekune are a very hardy pig. 
Tomorrow morning my day will start by getting on the bus bound for the airport at 5.50 am. to begin my journey across the world and Jake will officially take over the farmy mornings with John doing the evenings and weekends.
And now I had better get to work so they have everything they need.
Tomorrow we morph into a travel blog. Though I will go around with camera house and take a shot of everyone today, so you can say goodbye too.
Talk to you tomorrow,
Love your friend on the farm
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
61 responses to “Steaming full ahead”
Have a wonderful trip! Sounds like we will, as well! On my October calendar, I guess I haven’t caught up back to the original day of the picture, but who is the kitten snuggled up to Boo?
Morning Bev, that is our Marmalade. I am going to frame that one I love it!.. And Marmalade has been allowed to have one litter of kittens .. there are two families who want one, so soon we might have mini marmalades for Boo. .. c
Boo looks sad at your leaving. You better watch out or he will end up in the case! Safe travel tomorrow, I have my virtual passport at the ready to follow along behind you.
I had a siamese cat that brought a squirrel into the house once (most times he ate them). This time I came into the room to find him growling at a pile of newspapers and a tufty squirrel tale wagging from behind them. I moved the papers to free the squirrel and it bounded across the room and up the chimney, the cat close on it’s heels. After a few minutes the cat fell out of the chimney along with a pile of soot and the squirrel escaped to the roof. It was somewhat unorthodox and messy, but the chimney did get cleaned 😉
That must have been hilarious! Did you see Lori’s squirrels – http://littlesundog.wordpress.com/2014/10/04/learning-to-speak-squirrel/.. c
Yes it was very funny indeed.
Squirrels are fascinating, but I’m inclined to agree with the cat’s first instinct – they taste quite good 😉
unkess they have been dipped in a chimney first!
Ha ha – they are peelable, but that chimney squirrel did deserve to escape 🙂
Tin looks like he is sad you are leaving, what a cute face. Safe travels, though I will miss the farm, looking forward to the trip.
Lori
Snow…In early October…sigh!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/?s=The+Adventures+of+Fuzzy+and+Boomer&submit=Search
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
I bet the farmy is going to miss you LOTS C.
Looking forward to travelling with you.
🙂 Mandy xoxo
SNOW? SLEET? Ok, I won’t ask! 🙂 Bon Voyage Cinders! We all have our bags packed and up to date passports ready! We’ll see you tomorrow morning at the airport O dark thirty Sharp!!
O dark thirty! brilliant..c
It IS o dark thirty! I’m currently milking the 3 goats up the road whilst my neighbors gallivant around Germany and they have them accustomed to 5 am milking. I can attest to the fact that it is very very dark then and the last two mornings have been very cold! I. do.not. like.mornings!
Have a lovely trip – looking forward to following. I am looking forward to wearing socks again – we are in the midst of a heat wave and I am feeling cheated of a proper fall.
You are pack – Boo is grooming you (Who could not love and accept you? giggles)
Pictures of everyone so we can say goodbye, too? Sounds like a “Good night moon” sort of book.
Many paw waves and wishes on wings for Safe journey!
Good night moon.. c
oh, the boy dogs know you are leaving. I have seen that look on my animals’ faces as I pack. The luggage comes out and the moping begins. Looking forward to our travels and photo montage. It’s here! You’ve been planning this trip for months and it’s finally here. 🙂 Yay for you and yay for us going along to see your homeland.
Yeah, the dogs are down in the dumps, all right, but at least Ton Ton has been through this before, and since each creature has a kin of his or her own, they won’t be too bad off.
Have a wonderful trip, Celi. It’s such a dramatic culture shift, isn’t it. Wild! But I’m hoping it’s just the ticket for you after enduring so very much trouble and heartache especially so recently. Looking forward to seeing New Zealand again!
I love that so many of The fellowship have been to NZ with me before.. it gives you a much fuller perspective.. what do you want to see again? or what else do you want to see.. c
I want to see you happy and rested!
Have a great trip! I look forward to reading of your travels!
thank you, how is the frm hunting going?
We just got about $7500 in assistance from the state (which amazing) and we pre-qualify for a USDA rural development loan. We’re going to start the actual loan process here in a couple weeks! All good things so far!
wonderful.. you will love having your own bit of land.. good luck.. c
The suitcase says it all to the dogs. When my cousin would go on a trip, her Doberman would go get her toys and put them in my cousin’s open suitcase.
Safe and happy travels my friend – we had icy rain here yesterday 😦 At least you are going towards the sun!
You’re off tomorrow? How did the time go so quickly. Blink and 8 sleeps have comeand gone…
I hope you have a safe and pleasant journey with no hiccups of timetabling or mechanics. I’m really looking forward to the travelblogue, though I will miss all the Farmy flora and fauna.
Love,
ViV xox