Farmers Hands
Farmers hands do so much work.
All the pigs got the DE treatment. Dust was everywhere.
And because Tima’s hair is still growing back she looks like some kind of beacon out at sea.
The Big Hereford Pigs are now pie bald.
And my farmers hands are dried up and weird looking from the DE. Though there is no bug left alive on any of our skins.
Boo shared his stick with Tane, then took it back in disgust when Tane did not throw it for him.
The Cadet took all the chicks out of their box and replaced their bedding while the chicks sat in the laundry basket and waited. I hope they were not having a laundry basket moment. (This is one of my favourite stories. If you are new to The Fellowship pop over and read it when you have a moment. Last night I read it again and have not changed a thing. It sounds like me. And Julie the dedication is still for you).
Good morning. Yesterday Sheila and I started her summer wallow. Making the wallow is a very serious business and takes Some Time. Weeks really.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm,
celi
44 Comments on “Farmers Hands”
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thekitchensgarden 
Ha ha – they don’t look like they minded one bit and it almost looks like Tonton wants some too 😉
I think it has anaesthetic (sp) qualities, afterwards they all sighed and lay down..
…or your healing hands 😉
Reblogged this on rennydiokno.com.
For once I’m ahead of the queue !
Can’t get enough of those adorable Kunes… and dear Boo …. hope your hands get some nice kind oil for them …
Good, honest hardworking hands 🙂 Better than idle, mischievous hands. 🙂 Laura
Your hands look lovely – useful and clever. Mine don’t do much work these days, but they show signs of a productive life in the past.
Those pictures of Boo and Tane are hilarious. Tonton is, as usual, omnipresent, love him.
You laundry basket story remains one of my favourites.
love, ViV xox
Aww Boo.
Have a lovely day C.
🙂 Mandy xo
Linda over at the other Colorado farm also has problems with hands, hers is due to snow….Have you got snow? Linda’s hand were very cold and very red….It is a problem for farmy people, hands get rough with the amount of work that needs to get done..makes me feel quite guilty!
The best commercial product I have found for healing hard working and dry/cracked hands is “Bag Balm” offered in smaller tins about 1″ square, and large sized about 2″ square – used by farmers to treat the teats of cows. It has no perfume or junk in it and it cured my ‘cement poisoning’ terribly distressed hands in 3 days (after 6 months of cracked bleeding hands trying to use other products to no avail). You put it on before going to bed and the next morning, amazing. If you need to put it on thick, wear socks on your hands for a couple of days. Then just use it like hand cream. It’s a bit greasy at first but goes in nicely. Otherwise make your own salves or ointments. But treat your hands with respect. They don’t have good replacements at the store yet! 🙂 thegardenladyofga.wordpress.com
You nnow what s really good is strained whipped lard too, just the lard, that is amazing stuff..
I swear by avocado oil. Whenever I cut one up for a salad, I rub the inside of the skin all over my hands, and leave it there for a while. Then I just wipe them off gently with paper towel. Soft hands for the rest of the day.
Wow great idea Kate!
Thanks,
Robin
Fantastic idea I did not know! Live on avocadoes from now till October so am going to have very soft hands indeed 🙂 !
Yes, I agree with Diann above! Bag Balm is great for rough, dry, chapped hands. Super thick! Take a few minures to sit and rub it in several times a day and your hands will thank you for it! 🙂
You know Diane i really hate that bag balm stuff, I have used it and it is so STICKY. I do love The Body Shop hemp hand cream, I have used this for years. of course most of my problem is REMEMBERING to out it on more than once a day, I have started putting it by my computer chair that way I might put it on more often.. c
I too find the bag balm (and similar remedies with other names) are just too thick and greasy. I was given some of the body shop hemp for Christmas, and it’s OK, but not my favourite. My absolute favourite is by Aveeno, it is not greasy, it rubs in quickly and it is somewhat water resistant so you can wash your hands a couple times or more before having to re-apply. I get it at the drugstore or at the grocery store. it comes in several formulas (dry, extra dry, etc.) and is not too expensive as it lasts quite a while. Chris S. in Canada
I totally know what you mean about it being so sticky and icky! That’s why you have to stop and sit for a bit and rub and rub and rub it in. It’s good therapy for the hands! I do like Aveeno products and Chris S mentions, but they are a bit more spendy. xo
“Making the wallow is a very serious business and takes Some Time. Weeks really.”
Yet Sheila is already smiling, savoring what is rather than waiting for what will (or may, or may not,) be.
I want to print out your Laundry Basket Moment story and mail it to a dear relative of mine, mother of a baby and a toddler, who lost her own mother almost two decades ago. Your story will make her cry (like it did me), but she will love it (like I do, I’m sure).
Oh that would be an honour Nuri, please feel free to send it to her with my love.. c
Thank you and your great big heart, I will!
The hand of a hard worker that loves so deeply……. I would rather hold the rough hand of a honest loving hard working person than the soft pillow like hand of a lair and a cheat!
Hope you have a lovely day and enjoy your white Russian this evening. I will be partaking of a nice deep tissue massage at 730 tonight…..Tomorrow I will pay for it with aches and pains – and building a couple of small cabinets for a friend! ugh….
That laundry basket trick is so clever!
Great article, thank you so much for posting it. I enjoyed it.
Your poor hands! I thought mine looked bad after gardening. Good idea to keep the hand cream by the computer. Those pigs are funny x
I checked out your past laundry basket post story. I’m letting go of my own mother now and the emotions you described really hit home. Thanks for sharing your life experiences and wisdom. Things always always change–as you said–and joy is to be found even in the midst of sorrow.
Good morning! Loved the piggies! Boo you are such a great pal….maybe one day you’ll get those piggies to take the stick! 🙂 I use Profoot’s Heel Rescue superior moisturizing foot cream! Fragrance free and non-greasy! I order if from CVS!!! Great stuff!!! My heels look and feel great! Winters here dry you out all over and then you itch! I use it on my legs and hands too! Only $6.50 for 16 oz.. My brother in New England who is an outdoorsman recommended it. Wonderful stuff!!! CVS Drugstore and online too! Love the laundry basket of chicks! LOL I hated Bag Balm….greasy and sticky…eeewwww…Have a great day!
Hope your hands heal soon. They do work so very hard. I don’t like commercial stuff either for hand lotion, I just add a little olive or coconut oil when I’m cooking. No hard work here anymore. I like how the dog wants to play with the pig and it won’t be bothered. Don’t we all want to wallow once in awhile? Have a good rest of the day.
Oh C. your poor hands! I’ll have to try that hemp lotion, it sounds great! I’m on a coconut oil kick right now but any food oil I like and since I’m half Italian, once in awhile I take a bath in olive oil…ha! not really but I do smear it on my skin when I’m cooking with it. The problem with that is I smell like a salad the rest of the day! 🙂
Oh Sheila looks happy as a pig in a wallow there!! You do spoil that girl, don’t you?
Just reread your washing basket story. Such a wonderful story it needs rereading. Often! You should submit it for publication, Cecilia. I imagine several literary journals would love it!
Loved it all; FB’d your Sitting in the Laundry Basket; you are a glorious human being!
Must’ve been the day for it….I have DE hands too, I cleaned the chook pen ready for winter deep littering, and added a good amount of DE into the new straw, on the ground where they dust bathe and on them. The coop smells lovely, with dried herbs in their litter as well. Dog got a good rubbing with it…she enjoyed it the most, stretched out in the afternoon sun and helpfully lifting a leg or rolling over when asked. Even the cats got a dusting…..like you, we’re all bug free 🙂 It took me all day, but was worth it. Love Boo and his piggie.
Great stuff that DE. I use it in my chicken bedding too 😊
YOu are already doing a summer wallow and we are reverted back to winter. Sigh!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
https://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/sherlock-boomer
I’ve been making lotion for Naomi and now the boys. It is wonderful stuff. Recently, I tried making some lotion for me that included magnesium (we call use a little more magnesium). I love it!!!! What I love even more is that it is made with all natural ingredients and love 🙂
I would love to try it.. can you bring me some when you visit?
Absolutely!!
You could read tea leaves with that hand! Might need a pano shot for that life line.
Long long long line!
I thought my gardener’s hands were pretty weathered. But yours are more seriously affected. Do give them some loving care!
It was lovely to re-read the washing basket story. Such moments centre us, and we rise again.
I have no preferences, love creams and moisturizers, buying, making, mixing, rubbing in and washing off soon enough after the next task but I keep it everywhere. I’ll look for the body shop hemp cream as well! Rubbing in splotches of cooking oil and the fat off the rissole mix, then washing off… and so on. Our hands are our greatest tools, at our brain’s bidding. Sometimes they don’t even need that, muscle memory guides them. As a teenager I used to worry my nails weren’t long and elegant but now I just marvel at what my hands accomplish.
Mayhap in Tima’s case it would be more accurate to call her a Bacon out at sea. But not out loud! I think I need to get a bit of DE going soonish, too, in the weedy little land holding that is my personal fiefdom, and see if I can’t discourage a few of the crawlies from chomping on some of the tenderest plants. Hey, maybe if I eat, you know, about 14 metric tonnes of DE it’ll chase the germs out of my bod, too? 😉 Ha.
Take care of those hardworking hands, my sweet; they are your most fabulous tools after that magnificent Brain of yours.
xoxo,
K
Wonderful.. I won’t tell her you called her a BACON! still laughing..c
Proper working hands. Now go and rub them with lanolin or oive oil!