Our Cadet came yesterday, everyone remembered her and she worked like a wee trooper. This girl loves to say, Yes!
She collected all the frozen old eggs up in the loft of the barn. (From now on she will keep that clean of eggs so we know what is fresh and what is not.) She spread a bale of straw for the chook house chickens. Then helped me with feeding out.
Being able to just hang out with the animals is important too, at least in the Farmy Book it is. Playing with the animals is good for everyone. Animals and all.
The sun shone.
The snow shone.
Everything shone.
As we walked back from clearing the air vents at the bee hives (I scooped out a small number of headless bees which is a worry – I need to ask my bee people about that) – we spent some time in the pristine snow down the back looking at animal tracks. We saw some tracks from an animal with tiny feet and a hairless tail. We memorised the tracks (they looked like a broken zipper) and she is going to ask Mr Google about them, there were at least three different kinds of animal tracks that we did not recognise. The deer and rabbits are easy, and we recognised a coyote heavy on its feet, walking slowly. We forgot the cold for a while trying to work it all out and recreate the sequence of events.
The snow was pure white and unsullied but for these tracks. We had to work fast though as we were being followed by two of our own dogs making a big mess!
Good morning. I enjoyed our nature walk in the frigid cold. Yesterday we woke up to minus 12F (-24C) but it did warm up a bit. Today it is meant to get all the way up to 32. Freezing point. That will be nice.
This guy came by today! Thanks Gods …
I hope you have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
54 responses to “The Cadet”
My first thought was, “Oh, how I’d love to go for a skate down the stream which is really a ditch”, my second thought was “Bastard mink!”. 😀
Bastard Mink.. the creek is certainly skate-able! On one long long long line!
Cadet reminds me a little of myself at a young age when I was introduced to horses and barns. Being with animals grounds you and gives you perspective in life I think, as does working around a barn. It also gives you a better view of yourself and a sense of accomplishment in contributing to the fulfilling hard work that is taking care of these beautiful beasts. She is a lucky cadet and the animals are lucky to have her, too. Sorry about the headless bees…that does sound quite strange.
My son always loved animals, especially as a troubled child. He was as happy as could be playing with the all the animals in my village when we went for our first visit to Germany after we adopted him at the age of six, Celi, your doing a great job with that girl.
Brrrr. But love the sparkles: words, creatures, and pictures
You sound like you were a fab teacher and still are. Hi to your cadet looks like she is having fun with all the animals x
Wonderful Farmy Cadet – and look how those kitties have grown. Eek it’s cold out there 😦
I started my reply and was then startled by a humungous truck with an even more ginormous trailer reversing past my window to turn round, then he disappeared down the narrow wriggly lane. God help any traffic coming the other way.
The Cadet is in absolutely the right place with you and all the animals. How does she get to you through all that snow?
Love,
ViV
Good morning Miss C and lovely Cadet! Great pictures and good detective work on the tracks. Can’t wait to find out what they might be. Wouldn’t it be great if you came across some owl pellets at some point? The Cadet could dissect it to see what the owl had for dinner. Do you ever see owls, Miss C? An inexpensive camera is a great idea. All the Farmy Animals look like they are thoroughly enjoying her presence. Bravo!
If you want to see some great horned owls, take a peak at the live streaming cam of the Decorah Eagles website. The eagles are back, but two owls are stealing their nest. The eagles don’t like that.
Will check it out…thanks!
I love the photos… that one of our Cadet with all of the animals gathered around brought a smile. But the one of the snow plow/road grader really warmed my heart. My Dad loved his job as the “maintainer man” back in Seward County, Nebraska. He wasn’t supposed to, but he cleared driveways for folks who often didn’t have a tractor and blade, were elderly, ill, or simply didn’t have the means to move snow. I remember him working all hours of the day and night sometimes, to clear roads.
The remover of snow…a gift! A huge gift…he opens the roads to other places.
Linda ❤⊱彡
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
https://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/sherlock-boomer
A willing worker is like gold dust, well done to our Cadet! We still have snow in the fields and hills around us but not as pristine as yours. Looking at those bright sunny photos warmed my heart.
I rather think your broken zipper might be possum tracks. I love to watch our critters, including the possums. Not everybody likes them but they’re cute in a weird kind of ugly way.
ah, that had occured to me and then i thought aren’t they hibernating in the winter?.. but it does make sense, she much be young as the steps weere light.. maybe she is sleeping in the pines.. c
I’m sure you know you have already changed the course of the Cadet’s life. I’m so excited for both of you. xo
I know it is hard, but the snow is so beautiful and is so good for the land. I love the cadet. Tell her someone in Ireland wishes she could be doing her job!
I will tell her.. blessings..
The Cadet reminds me of myself, as a but younger kid on my grandparents’ farm, the happy simple world of cows, chooks, dogs and cats. With some other not so good stuff happening in other aspects, it was a calm and centred place and time that gave me a good grounding, and lots of wonderful memories.
I loved the days photos & words they were are heartwarming as they appeared chilly 🙂