Merry Xmas Pictures
I know it is not Christmas yet. But I could not resist. Kittens in a basket. You can’t get more Christmassy than this.
Kittens. What can you do? One more left for another good home yesterday. Now there are three.
Sheila got up late yesterday afternoon, limped very slowly to where Hop and Pop Poppy was hurling herself around rummaging for scraps, barked at her, smacked her in the head, stole her food then lumbered back to bed. She had had quite enough of that infernal racket! I had to laugh.
Sheila is back on board. I bet you can hear my sigh of relief from all the way over there.
Yesterday I was asked how John and I met. A New Zealand girl and an American bloke. Here is the story. Thank you very much Chicago John for finding that for me! I arrived here almost 9 years ago now. John had his Big Dog and White Cat, a vegetable garden and barns full of of cars. And about five mature trees. No farm. We have come a long way since then.
Good morning. When a couple meets and marries later in their lives, after children and that mad hand over hand push to establish themselves in the world – it is wonderful to have a mutual mission. Though I am the boss of the farm, we do work together. Having this in common makes us happy. Gives us stuff to talk about. We have a common goal. Often as small as a bucket of fresh milk, or a calf or a basket of eggs, jars of tomatoes or shoring up an old barn. But it is our together mission. Our glue. Working together towards a common goal is a good thing in a marriage.
Yesterday was one of the good days. Still no sun. John back at work. But strangely enchanting. I think it is the fact that there is light in the barn. For the record I can change a light bulb but choose not to go walking the beam through the dark ceiling of a very tall barn, clutching fresh bulbs when there is no-one around to see if I fall. Occassionally I am sensible. And John uses a tall, tall ladder that is too heavy for me to even carry! A Ladder! Who knew!
I hope you all have a lovely day. We have a little sun this morning, peeking in! YAY
Your friend on the farmy
celi
51 Comments on “Merry Xmas Pictures”
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This one made me smile extra big… kittens, up-and-about Sheila, good thoughts on marriage. And have I mentioned how grateful I am to have something to read EVERY MORNING from someone whose brain and ethos I so admire? Thank you for being so much more consistent than… others among us… cough, cough.
Ohh, kitties in a basket! Miss C you could run so many varied theme calendars each year, have your own little production company…although running a sustainable farm might get in the way a bit 🙂 Truly though, your animals all have the faces and actions and stories to share through your pictures and some extra $ might help feed that sweet, but big eating group you have. Have you looked into cloning yourself… then Miss C the photographer could do nothing more than wander with Camera House while Miss C the farmer tends the farm
Kittens, what can I say? They make me feel all fuzzy and warm inside! I feel a painting coming on! As for marriage – at any age – teamwork and a common goal is essential in my book. Whether that’s raising a family or starting out on a new venture.
Christine
How can you part with such beautiful kittens? I know that you have to because you are a farm lady and animals have their jobs to do, so being practical is a good thing…if it were me I would keep them all and then find I was overloaded..but beautiful overloaded.
Its good to hear that Sheila, Bless her heart, is getting back to normal…you can’t keep a good sow down! She has always given us something to smile about.
Thank you for the info about how you met. What were you doing in USA befor e you met John..what made you leave NZ
SO cute!
I’m glad Sheila’s feeling better – I thought she might end up lying on the rug in front of the fire for Christmas 😉
It doesn’t get much cuter then kitties in a basket!! Berit is wondering why I didn’t get one for myself! I hope I don’t regret it!!! Glad to hear that Sheila is better!
I just went and read the post on how you two met, which was new to me. What a wonderful story! All I can say is what I’ve said to you before–I hope you are writing a memoir! Or a novel based on your life. It’s extraordinary.
You will have to take me to france with you, and sit me down to write it.. Have you read all the stories that are here in the farmy pages? When I first started the blog I used to tell stories about my life.. some of them are very amusing.. if you have not read them, and would like to, i will find a couple for you.. they are all short. c
When I first discovered you — discovered you in much the same way Columbus “discovered” the Americas, of course, as you were around all along! – I read your whole archives from start to present day. I was actually sad to be caught up. I love the Celie back in the day stories and join the chorus for a collection. Memoir writing sounds daunting, but collecting some stories up isn’t so bad, is it? 😉
Agree!!
Well that agree was to be under the Charlotterainsdixon comment but Cecilia snuck her comment in first. 🙂 I do agree with her that your life should be a novel. What an interesting read!
Adorable kitty pics today. So glad that Sheila is doing well and on the mend.
Pheww glad Sheila is better 🙂 I was thinking OZ must be hogging all the sunshine because we have been overcast and wet for days, even better to hear you are finally seeing it at last. Gorgeous Kitties. Laura
Meant to say …. Sheila is 2 yrs and 9mths old. The Shush Sisters arrived on the Farmy 2 June 2012. Laura
yup almost three, hard to believe isn’t it.. In fact we must have a birthday party for Aunty Sheila next year.. all being well..
We don’t have the sunshine here Laura, days of cloud then nights of super storm cells dropping heavy rain on us, weird lightening that sets boats and sheds on fire, and hailstones big as tennis balls…….someone had some drop in her yard and they looked like doughnuts. It’s warm though, warm and humid.
Those pictures of the little kittens are drop dead gorgeous . Thanks😊
I enjoyed reading the story on how you met John. You really did reinvent your life, no wonder it took a long time for you to decide. Had you ever farmed before?
Nope, I grew up on a beach, I knew more about the migratory habits of killer whales and the best spots for paua.. and could tell you the tide without even looking .. nothing about farming.. my grandfather had some land though.. c
Amazing, you are a fast learner.
OMG cuteness overload! 😀
We tend to adapt to wherever we find ourselves, like chameleons. Thank you for the Howwemet link, and for the lovely puss pics. I think you would have a marvellous book if you simply joined all the posts together in sequence.
I got lost coming home from a friend’s this afternoon – a route I’ve driven dozens of times. Senility creeps in.
Love,
ViV
Yes, thank you for the “How we met” story! Really a great love story. I can’t remember how long I’ve been reading your blog but it’s been awhile, I talk about the stories so often my sister has become a lurker.
Big relief. Shiela is up an on the hunt for her food, I could hear your sigh all the way across the pond! I read your ‘meant to be’ story for the first time. I love to hear how ‘good’ couples meet. My own story was more love at first sight, but wonderful and my thoughts on marriage mirror yours. You have to work at it every day.
Yay for Sheila and letting Poppy know she was not behaving properly. Poppy probably just kept on going about her way, oblivious. Poppy is like one of the many middle school boys at my school, twirling around, their heads in the clouds and oblivious. They all need their own Sheila.. 🙂 Gorgeous kitten pics. How is Marmy doing post surgery? Recuperating well? Have a great day!
Oh that 3rd picture. Hallmark should be calling….or there’s always printing your own blank greeting cards with 4-6 cards in a set tied with string….and there I go again, but that’s how my greeting card company started many years ago.
Went back and reread the story. Right place at right time when everyone’s ready. That’s what I tell my daughter (and she hates it…she is still into the busy social scene and those expensive accessories…things in their own time)
Your little story is such a nice warm way to start the day.
Smiles to all!
A common goal…it what makes the farm tick…as you know I know so well!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/?s=The+Adventures+of+Fuzzy+and+Boomer&submit=Search
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
So glad Sheila is feeling better, and the pics of the kittens are fab! I loved reading about how you and john met, isn’t it strange how things work out.
I enjoy your writing and stories but the story of you and John, which I read before, reread again this morning always brings a smile to my face, well a bigger smile because the kitties and Sheila got in first 🙂
There are those who look first and then leap; there are those who leap and then think they should have looked, and then there is you. You only look because the view is so extraordinary, you want to remember it.
Bill. Love – always.. c
Love you back, lovely.
Celi, if I lived closer, I would come over and grab one of those kitties .. just as well that I don’t 🙂
Yesterday was a horrid day I promptly cancelled about midnight . . . somehow at this morning hour a big smile reappeared on my face! Love the wonderful kittie photos of course and am but sorry the family is splitting . . .but: I knew some of the ‘You/John’ story before and smiled all the way thru’ reading it fully now . . . Hey, if it was so onesided you would not have kept on coming back to see the Matriarch, now would you . . . 🙂 ! So, for one quiet, serious guy it has been a lifelong love affair . . . oh, do have a merry Christmas both of you!!!! [TTT anywhere in sight?]
no poor old Triple T is on the base this christmas.. we will catch up with his at some point though. c
Kittens in a basket – so classic! I’m off to the bach on holiday & have been very busy getting organised & finishing the year. Can’t visit the farmy on dialup alas because the pics take an hour to load. Never mind, I’ll catch up in the new year. Meanwhile have a great Christmas. (& it’s nice to remember the story of you and John. When you don’t co-create kids with a partner, you end up creating things you never imagined. So wonderful!
so true, have a wonderful christmas out at the beach juliet! c
Thank you, it was glorious! I’ve been off line, which has been nice too, but I’m enjoying catching up now.
Lovely story. My husbands life was greatly shaped by his AFS year also, He even went to his 30th yr reunion a while ago, first time back for him, stayed with his host Mum. A great scheme for NZ youngsters.
It is a great scheme, though i spent the rest of my life scheming to get back! Give my love to my fellow AFS student. c
So glad Shiela’s better. I’m very familiar with that niggling little worry that vibrates at the back of your mind even if you’re pretty sure it’ll be all right.
My John & I also married late, badgered into going out with each other by his late first wife’s sister. Sure am glad we caved to her pressure! While we don’t actually ‘farm’ we have a veggie garden, lots of flowers, 40 acres and as you know, lots of critters. When he’s not off hunting or fishing we always do the morning and evening chores together, it’s a special part of the day.
that is wonderful.. sounds like farming to me, you feed yourself right? Forty acres.. magic. c
Actually we just grow our veggies in the summer and the chicken and duck eggs. I have some friends who raise pastured beef, pork and poultry with no antibiotics or other medications (he won’t even use fly spray) so we buy a quarter beef and a half hog every year and we have an amazing farmer’s market nearby in the summer.. Our 10 acres tillable is farmed by a local dairy farmer in return for hay for our animals. The rest is in pasture and we have a marshy area and a small swamp and an old abandoned gravel pit, (we’re pretty much the glaciated kettle moraine topography – nothing is flat!), It is my paradise on earth, I never tire of exploring it on foot or on horseback.
All these photos are fabulous, but, oh those kittens. 🙂
Its wonderful when early connections stay in the mind and heart, and more wonderful when they are renewed. I very much enjoyed reading your story. The persistance–yours in returning to your AFS parent often, John’s in expressing his feelings quietly and not giving up– makes it unique. That, and the fact of your taking time to grow into a comfortable, reliable, long-haul love. A lesson and an inspiration! Regarding the farm project, I hope you don’t lose energy or wear yourself out (I love the photograps and the relationships you develop with the whole cast), but if eventually that happens, I’d say full-time writing would be a great contribution to the sustainable spiritual life of those who are blessed to meet you through words. The world you portray is such a nice place to visit. I smile a lot when I do.
Glad to be of help, Celi. Actually, the commenter’s question reminded me of the story and it’s been ages since I last read it. Those kitten pictures are way too cute. I know one will make it into your 2016 calendar. Gray skies here, too. Let’s get to the solstice and longer days, even if only a minute or two at a time. 🙂
How did you keep the kittens IN the basket? I tried doing puppies in a laundry basket and barely got a shot before they dumped it over and took off!
http://livingtheseasons.com/2012/06/06/how-i-spent-my-vacation/
Nancy
Oh, thank you for the Christmas Kittens! They are my favorite gift yet.
You don’t need to wait till Christmas for kittens in a basket, they’ll do any time of the year! Feel free to post more Christmas kittens in January, February, June and July! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas 🙂
Loved the photos and I loved reading your story again – I so agree with everything you say about marriage/relationships. Thank you for reminding me 🙂
Good news about Sheila and the light in the barn. Had to chuckle at occasional sensibility. The kittens in the basket are beyond cute!