Yesterday John had the day off so he finished and brought home my Winter present. He does not do Christmas and Birthday presents he makes winter presents. Last year it was a chicken tractor. This year it is a free standing home made hay feeder. I took a photo of a NZ one when I was travelling and he set to and made me one of my own. Isn’t that wonderful. 
The idea is that the cow puts her head through the uprights to get the hay and remains in there to chew it so all the falling and trailing hay goes back in the pile. There is limited sideways jostling so the cows get to eat in peace. It works remarkably well. Now when Aunty Del comes back she will not be bullied out of her dinner. Elsie is king of the castle at meal times!
The car feeder is now for minerals and grain. 
It is getting a wee bit colder so the chicks got their heating mother table back. They say it does not work in low temperatures but it is ambient heat so if a chicks back is against it the warmth will be there. It does not heat a space it heats the chick. I actually don’t think they need it but you know how I am. And as I will be away Friday and Saturday nights when it is getting even colder I am setting everyone back up for cold. It feels like a step backwards. but I need everything to be in order while I am away. Once the cogs are all balanced the farm runs along in a gentle productive state.
This was the thought I had lost the other day. Balance. Thank you to MeadowMice for using this word in her comment yesterday and jogging my memory. When I put on my clown suit otherwise known as bib overalls in some places- (I am still wearing the insulated ones – it snowed yesterday and the temperatures are plummeting but we will not DWELL) – anyway when I put on my clownsuit over my inside clothes I stand and push my feet into the overalls one leg at a time. I place one foot through settle that foot onto the floor, sliding the trouser slightly up my leg, shake out the other trouser and then lift the remaining foot, pause, steady my balance, pause, then slide the second foot into the other trouser leg, stand with two feet on the floor and pull the overalls all the way up my body.
Now you may think that this is such a simple thing. I mean we all put our trousers on one leg at a time: you do this too right? We all stand, step into the one leg, stretch that leg, place the foot down then put the other leg in, all the while balancing on the first foot then through the second foot goes, foot down, two feet down and there we are – safely dressed.
But it is that PAUSE I keep looking at. When one leg is partially clothed and one foot is on the ground and as we lift the second leg, our foot leaving the floor we pause for a tiny second, collecting and stilling our balance so that the next step goes smoothly. It is a moment of pause when we re-balance ourselves in preparation for the next movement. That is what I am looking thinking about.
This pause I call the Pants Pause. This is one of the most important pauses. This is when we make sure we are balanced, in order and ready for the next step. Our mind checking for this balance before proceeding. If we do not do the Pants Pause we fall over. Simple really.
I think we need to instill the Pants Pause in our daily lives. As a conscious thing. Moments of clear thought before we take on the next task. Checking. Nodding. Proceeding.
I have a bad habit of rushing through my day (and my planning) without pausing to think, balanced on one leg. I am hopping here and there. not finishing things, doing three things at the same time, thinking of the next three things as I go. Not watching. Not collating. No Pants Pause. No balance.
That was my thought. Balance. I am going to change the habit of rushing and instill moments of perfect balance.
If we achieve balance in our lives we have to be stronger. The balance between stress and down time. Working and resting. Communicating and Thinking. Building our team and feeding the team. Planning and Planting.
Balance. That was my thought.
The milking machine is ready to go. The pump has been cleaned and oiled and primed or whatever it is you do with pumps (without John on my team I could not do this stuff at all – I am deeply mechanically challenged) – the parts arrived and the entire Works has been assembled. We are ready. No births are imminent thankfully so my weekend away should be ok. 
I am dying to begin milking. I love that time. And I love cream! Oh how I miss cream!
Below is an odd little picture I took for Jake with my cell phone. (Good Lord I have gone from Low tech to Mid tech – I can take a photo and send it.. the mind boggles)
One of the pullets has begun to lay. We both started our Rhode Island Red flocks at the same time and his have been laying for weeks. Mine are only just catching up. He has lights though. But once all my Rhode Islands, and the pretty baby flock I brought in from the barn, start to lay (combined with my old girls who never stopped), we will be racing ahead!
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Is it time to get nervous about Portland?
Your friend on the farm
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
64 responses to “Balance”
Oh this couldn’t have come at a better time! I need an emotional pause, an emotional rebalance. I take my pup, my 17 yo pup, for cataract surgery tomorrow. Of course, as things go, he whacked his head (he can’t see!) over the weekend and broke a tooth that also needs attention now. The tooth can’t wait. I’ve been waiting for 3 months for this cataract surgery. Will she do both at the same time? Will she send us home to have the tooth done first and I’ll have to wait even longer for the cataract surgery? Anxiety (and excitement!) has hit a point of overwhelmed. What I need is a pause, just a brief moment of emotional quiet to help me rebalance. Whatever happens, I can manage it. So I will join you in a Pants Pause.
Hugs and prayers! I’ll be thinking about you and your pup today.
I have done a few public speaking “gigs.” Nervous feels a lot like excitement. It is only a time for excitement, Miss C. as you will do great!!
I love that feeder. Love it. We are going to have to buy a large hay feeder. We have stalled for $$, but we are wasting $$ with hay loss.
Pause and balance – right on!
This is why I did not have one, those big ones are terribly expensive. John made this from metal that had been lying out at the barn for years.
Remember Balance..Portland will be a breeze….if you feel at all nervous just visualize your audience naked! I have heard it works wonders
I would run off the stage screaming in horror if the audience was naked!
Picture your audience in your ‘clown suit’ …… 😉
Only iv you ar e ner vous
O, you just imagine it, not really see it. I read this somewhere about it calming nerves in front of an audience
I am impressed with that gift to love to you from Our John.
Love this! 🙂 Pants Pause. I work at balancing my days and myself constantly; to have a word, phrase to remind me is grand. Thank you . . . and what a very good winter gift.
I love that hay feeder! What a wonderful gift.
It’s good for you to think of balance but we are what we are and you, Cecilia, have your way of doing things. You might do a pants pause for a while but I reckon that you’ll revert to default mode. It’s in the genes!
Christine
Pants Pause—brilliant! I have such trouble focusing on one task unless it is an outdoor task. Indoors, I scramble from one task to the next without finishing the first.
I am like this too and it is not a good habit really. I like the challenge of re working this to a slower more focussed attitude.
Take a deep breath and pause …,I’m practicing
Oh yes … THE pause. My analogy for this is remembering the tai chi classes I took. The slow and deliberate movement from one ‘dance’ move to the next. For a while I was able to remember the whole sequence and used to do it in the back paddock while our jeep warmed up. Then I was also doing it in my head … But now, alas, I don’t remember the moves but I DO remember the deliberate pauses. Thanks for the mention today! Stay warm! And don’t worry about Portland. You are a natural. Those people are going to SO enjoy meeting you. AND you’ll add even more great people to the Fellowship!
I’m starting to embrace uni-tasking to help establish more balance. Really being present for one thing at a time–even if it’s an interruption of something else. Makes for less splintered days and minds. I love the pants pause reminder. So important. Have a wonderful time in Portland sharing your wisdom and humor!
A new book on habits has just come out called BETTER THAN BEFORE by Gretchen Rubin. Very insightful. She says good habits save so much time wasted making decisions. To change or instill habits we first have to know what our true nature is.
The cow feeder is so clever and creative. And the Portland people will be enthralled.
You will be outstanding in Portland! And we, of the farmy group, will be sending you lots of love, courage and support!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
https://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/sherlock-boomer
Okay, that milk machine looks like it should be in a cock it of a plane or something lol. I mean wow. I always learn something new when I come here Cecilia :). And I get to see what’s going on with the farm.
I may pass along the photo of your feeder to my Husband, to be put in the covered bridge feed cover. It will be perfect, they do make such a mess. I too am waiting for spring… Enjoy your day C.