Gone to the Birds
It seems Camera House is tracking the big birds lately. January is here, the long winter months have begun. The birds stay mostly in the barn, undercover. As do I. As does Camera House. 
I often think that you would want to see something new each day then I remind myself that you are here to see what I see each day and I see the same animals getting excited about the same food, I drag the same frozen hoses and dream the same dreams every single day. Fast.. working against the painful cold in my hands.
Of course this winter we have travel to break up the monotony. Though leaving the farm in other peoples hands is scary even Jake who was sent to me straight from God. But when the family calls, Mama moves without question. So off we go to another sons wedding in January. In February I go for a week to visit my Third son and his growing family in California. Family calls. Mama comes.
Because of all the travel I had planned this winter to be quiet. So far so good. Sometimes we do get surprises. But yesterday was not a surprising day. Just a gentle cold work day. With a very good lunch and a light good luck dinner and lots of champers in between the chores. I have never resented doing chores, or the farming of the day. Pretty lucky really. Given all the highs and lows – I am lucky to be doing what I love to do best. Though God and you know that I was close to quitting a number of times last year. 
Good morning.. Elsie is getting a softly rounded belly and we are averaging about seven eggs a day. Slowly growing. Great aye! When I get back from New Zealand I will begin the search for an incubator and soon after that – start raising the spring chickens!
Queenie is deeply unimpressed with her diet hay.
I have only one New Years resolution. To look back over my day. Often. Every day at the end of each piece of work I will stand still and look back, and look up and look across and listen. Maybe two or three times a day, especially before I go inside to cook, I must stand, find my feet, raise my head, seek the stillness, then think and listen and assess. Thinking aloud in my head. “Did I get it right? Was I the best I could be?” Is every animal good. Am I good. That is all.
Love your friend on the farmy,
celi
ps. If you have a moment. Look at today in the archives. If asked; my favourite would be 2012!
pss I read an interesting story last night. I have no idea how I came upon it but it has made a lot of sense to me, so if you want a little inspiration to Crack On and “it ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings” – then read this ‘count no man happy until the end is known’ A bit of Croseus and Solon.
28 Comments on “Gone to the Birds”
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It looks like a calm day – I feel sorry for poor Queenie on a diet 🙂
If he is pregnant her calf will be grateful, the last thing we need is a fat calf getting stuck.. c
I know, but she does look forlorn 😉
she practices that look.. poor Queenie.. c
Ha ha – she’s got it down perfect 🙂
Good morning! Elsie is looking good. If Queenie is on a diet, she should be losing some poundage daily what with being hopefully pregnant and trying to stay warm in the cold. Isn’t it easier to lose weight in the winter? I like your resolution. It is good to reflect on one’s day, tweak this or that for the next day or just know that all was done that could be done. Stay warm as you can, especially those hands. Cold and wet here, tho not freezing, just hovering a few degrees above.
Love the ‘count no man happy’ story! Especially the bit about us finding happiness in a bottle, pill or romp in the hay!! So many times I have tried to tell people that happiness cannot be found outside of our selves, it is always inside. My ex suffered badly from depression in the last months we were together, and tried to ‘buy’ his happiness with material things, and blamed his environment on his continuing unhappiness. His perception was screwed and what he perceived he projected, so it was a perpetual ‘down’ cycle. If we just stop…. look…. listen (and not judge) and breathe deeply of our surroundings, it will still our gears in the head enough to take stock of what we have done, what we have accomplished and present dreams that are achievable.
Big Hugs
My only resolution this year is to ‘pay it forward’ whenever I can, and in whatever form it’s needed. I have been exceptionally fortunate in my life despite the odd large hurdle, and I think it’s good to share the good stuff. I’m looking forward to being rolled up small and tucked into your suitcase for the long trip south, by the way…
I am having a strange time with new computer and internet so I hope you get this message of joy for your new year!
Thanks for the links to prior posts! I LOVE the photo of the barn and truck in snow from 2012. I would like to have a print of it. Do you sell your photos?
I just returned from Missouri and a short visit with my mom. It was 1 above on my last morning there. So cold! And I drove into work today watching the sun rise over the river, so beautiful. I think you have more cold and snow headed your way?
I don’t sell photos, I tell everyone to steal them though. So if you see something you like just copy it. However an internet image does not have enough information to be printed very well. The truck image is so old, I would have to look for it in one of the older hard drives to get you a larger file. If I come across it I will let you know.. In the meantime just copy this one and see what you get.. most welcome to any images.. anytime.. just attach my credit somewhere.. . c
I love Queenie peering outside her barn door. And I love the idea that Mama goes to her children (I will be doing that someday soon I know…they are full of travel and adventure and ideas of the future)…but my favorite thing about this blog post is a little piece of sentence buried near the top: “dream the same dreams every single day”…You know, Celi, you can’t just slip that in without someone–in this case, me–asking you what those every-day dreams are? Such a whispering, personal, sweet little phrase buried in amongst words about others…
You know how you were talking yesterday about your husband fishing and going Away in his own head and how you envied that a little. I think this is the same thing. As I work my mind dips down into a dream state and I become a part of the farm as opposed to its head. I dream along like a cow. This is one of the reasons I am working on consciously lifting my head to check my work.. to pop me up out of the dream. Not dreams of riches or the perfect milk cow. These are actual sleeping dreams. It is like listening to a really good book that you know really well, but the book is in your own head. Like a blnd person running her hands over every item on the windowsill in her room to remind herself that they are all still there, in place. My window sill is my mind and it is full of dream memories. Old dreams. Dreams. Sometimes the same dream over and over again until I have it remembered correctly. I run my mind through them constantly to make sure they are still there and not dropping out of order and because i like to be in these dreams. I think this is why I need a lot of time alone. Now.. I know what you are going to say. Why not write these dreams down. But here is a funny thing, if I write them down it is like downloading, and once they are downloaded they are gone out of my head. The medium has changed. I have LOST dreams this way. They no longer play on the screen in my mind. It is so sad to lose a dream. They are different on one dimensional paper and gone from my head.
So .. well anyway.. those are the dreams i dream. Carrying gates up country roads. Walking up 500 slippery stone steps to a hat shop with 34 different hats. I am a horse flying over three mountains of orange peels. Things like that. Not to write down too much you understand.
I know, i am quite quite mad.. c
Oh my, you are only fantastically and beautifully and brilliantly mad. I wish I were as mad as you.
All wonderful shots today and what a lovely shot of Godot! I think the 2012 is my fave, too, love the black and white haunting imagery of the snow. Happy New Year to you and yours! I don’t make resolutions per se, but rather decide a next course of action to grow and move forward with, and start working towards it in every way that makes sense as I go along. Probably why I was never good at making a business plan…lol. 🙂
I think I need to write mine down somewhere, so I don’t simply forget it! c
I can appreciate your New Year resolution!! I like those black and white photos from your 2012 post too!
Love that shot of Queenie. I think the travel will be an excellent distraction from the rough cold of winter, miss c. I’m glad you’re going, as I am having to curtail my winging off to warm places to send my darling baby girl to college. I will go vicariously through you!
For a second I thought Boo was Big Dog! That Solon story was thought-provoking. Makes me ashamed to be so cranky!! Look back over your day–that’s good one. I’d read to write down 3 good things that happened. I tried this for a while. It’s supposed to put you in a grateful mood–and it was easy to find 3 good things. Better start again. Me, I mean.
I have reach a ‘stuck spot’ in my self…a plodding place whereby I can’t seem to plod out of…I can’t decide if it is good or bad. Stuck is never good, but maybe I should look at it as a stillness.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/?s=The+Adventures+of+Fuzzy+and+Boomer&submit=Search
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
or a pause, Linda? ‘Stuck’ has such negative connotations doesn’t it, whereas there’s lots of positive words that can let us stay comfortably in that one place for a while, maybe just to enjoy the view, regroup for the next adventure, gather what we need to go on……good luck
Yes, I think you are correct a pause a stillness — time to let the past recede and the future to come to the fore! A time of pause/ a stillness to collect myself before I move forward.
Thank you so much, Nanette. I needed to read this.
Linda
Love the 2013 pics Celi .. Beautiful
I am in awe and amazement and happily entertained that you feed your cows out of the back of an old American car. Love it!
I feel like I have been in a trance for most of December, an eye infection did not help either.
I di manage to make the Cranberry cake again. I doubled the ingredients and made four in total two by 2 pound loaves and two by 1 pound loaves. I cut a small one as soon as it was cool. The texture was nicely moist with great flavour but inclined to crumble. I gave one to a friend and brought a larger one to Dublin. The last one I stuck in the freezer. I defrosted it yesterday, and it sliced perfectly. I will certainly make it again if I can get the fresh cranberries, mind you, we only seem to get them in the run up to Christmas.
interesting that after freezing it sliced well.. it is a gorgeous cake/loaf.. I will certainly make it again.. now go close those eyes darling girl.. you have had a busy december..
C…I love the photos from 2012! I’m so glad I got to know you this year and read your blog every day! Happy New Year!!
The contrast of the second picture: the small icy window against the dark barn’s embrace sheltering and warming its’ occupants. Lovely
Never seen so many days of fog – woke today with thunder as it warms into 50’s…it will partly clear tomorrow, but temps will drop – but if there’s sun it will be welcomed.
Stay warm! (and some of those dreams deserved not to be forced into form on paper. Oranges smell so nice. And cows always seem to hold dreamy secrets) “My window sill is my mind” now there’s a perfect phrase. (worth points at the end of the day?)