I sat down last night to look at this paltry assortment of images ready to tell you about my day yesterday but too tired to write it all down.
Slow down. My neighbour said when she came over to drop off egg cartons.
Are you mental? I called out.
She laughed.
So:
Whose nose is this? 
Oh that was an easy one. What about this one?
And who is this?
Alright Sheila – you win!!
Sheila likes to win. And she still has all her own teeth.
Yesterday the nice young couple who now own Elsie and Potter (who they are renaming Ana which is just lovely) came to collect their girls. As you will remember I am very careful about loading animals in a stress-free way. I talked to her new owners after they had backed up the trailer and instructed them to hold the panels to cover the potential escape routes then hide their heads and their feet so as not to give her a fright. I had a very good plan. She was standing at the ready on the other side of the gate. I had her baby in the side room. The trailer was backed up close and I have discovered that Elsie is addicted to Molasses. I have been showing her the molasses jug for the last few days letting her lick it as it seeps out, she loves it so I just placed the jug in the trailer and seeing nothing amiss she just walked straight in and started licking her molasses lollipop and I shut the door behind her. It has to be fast. You do NOT want a cow to balk and back up – if that happens you are in for the long haul. So I plan thoroughly for one shot.
I loaded her calf into the second compartment right next to her and the man towed the trailer back out to the drive then we discovered that the tire on the old trailer was flat as a pancake. With a cow inside. And I was not going to unload her – you can only pull that kind of trick on a cow once.
To cut a long story short I ran between the buildings gathering everything we needed to change a tire (all the good stuff is in Johns truck at work with him of course) they had a spare but not much else but we managed. A tractor is a useful jack.
Then the Postmistress texted that the chicks were here. I was going to be a while so she put them in the Post Office bathroom and turned the heating way up.
And so the day went. I raced from one thing to the next. Ran all day. It does not take much to get behind. I ate my lunch at 4.30 standing up, went out to milk, then carried on and did not get to bed until 10pm. But I got everything on my list done.
But I am ahead today and that is a good thing. Today will be busy too but in a different way as I orientate our first guest worker of the season. Then things will be easier – I will have help.
And now I had better get a wriggle on, the sun is rising and you know that that means. After chores there is the muesli to make the bread to bake, thebedroom room to prepare and then at the train station to pick up Federico by 11am.
I hope you have a lovely day,
Your friend on the farm,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
47 responses to “Slow DOWN”
What a day! It’s good to see Sheila smiling in close up 😉
A friend once told me, “People with busy hands have the most productive minds and bodies – their lives flourish”. I find that to be true. And isn’t it wonderful when you have a plan and something happens to foil your efforts, but your common sense kicks into gear and you prevail?? These daily happenings, your photography and your candid writing – these are the things we are drawn to each day. I love the “Who’s snout is this?” contest. You have a brilliant mind, my friend. I am delighted each day to see what is on the table… food for thought! 🙂
Lovely girl, how is daisy deer.. do you have a guess at the due date?
I would imagine late in May or early June. I am hoping (as I have every year) that I might be with her to photograph the birthing. I think she has her babies in the wee hours of the morning though.
If anyone could handle a flat tired trailer with a cow and calf inside, it is you, Cecilia. And with second-best tools–no–improvised instruments–(you’d make a great jazz musician! )
When the day comes you must meet your Maker, you can say with absolute confidence you didn’t waste a single moment on this earth. You gave 1000%. Yeah, you’re my hero too!
Lucky we had the tractor! c
I never quite know what to do when things are slow. I tend to fill less hectic times with less hectic things like digging in the soil at my own pace, or thoughtfully pulling thistle, or carefully burning the burn bin. I don’t know if that’s slowing down for others, but it’s the best kind of slowing down for me.
I need to grub some thistles too.. remind me to put that on the list!..
It is my body that is telling me to slow down. I don’t like it but I better get used to it. Changing a tire with a cow in the trailer is priceless. My brother would do something like that.
I was not unloading her.. i figured we were ahead! .. love that your brother has sheep now.. c
You’re so right to make sure you get the move right on the first go. We had a bit of a misfire the day we were moving one of our rhinos, and it was three months before they were able to crate her again. Animals don’t forget a fright very easily. You are a resourceful woman. You make things happen. Now you can slow down.
That is probably one fo the funniest comments! I knew a guy, well i knew his son, and his dad was up on a drunk driving charge and did not turn up to court, was frogmarched in by the police later that week the judge said where were you (the old fella was a frequent visitor to the court) the old man said My elephant went into labour your honor. Boy or girl the judge said. TRUE STORY! I had a dream the other day that an elephant walked up the drive.. but I have never had to crate a rhino!.. c
Some of the zoo staff missed my baby shower years ago because they were trying to impregnate an elephant (artificially). Elephants provide handy excuses, really. You should have one. I
I surely should! c
I will have a lovely day, Miss C, thank you! You’ve given me an added adrenaline spike just reading of yesterday’s activity. On the other hand, I’m feeling a bit like a slacker! And I thought I was busy! LOL! You’re a gem! ox
not a slacker at all! not with all that good food you make! c
Did all of the chicks survive?
yup! all good. lucky you warmed them up.. c
“The day we were to arrive at The Farmy we had to wait in a bathroom because there was some cow named Elsie and her calf being moved off to another farm. This sure is a busy place!” said the chicks to one another! Love the pig noses today and the guessing game.
quite funny when you put it like that!
I often wonder about life’s invisible patterns and rhythms- was there something in the air yesterday? Here in our sleepy little valley many little things happened yesterday that added up to a BIG day of small jobs, just like yours, unlike you I didn’t finish everything on my list.
Guess who was up at 4am today. After the possum fell onto the roof and scared the cat there was no going back to sleep…..
So it’s 7:30 am and I have already done three and a half hours. Love the nose game! That made me smile.
It is curious that phenomenon, I have encountered this before..as though we are all connected by some web.. glad you untangled yourself.. days like that can become quite knotty..
A quietness of grief has descended here overnight . . . . for some days until I can come to grips with state-sanctioned murder by our closest neighbour ‘whilst we were sleeping’ . . . At least Australia has recalled its Ambassador from Indonesia . . . . we pray for a more just world . . .
I would love the leisure of reading all the comments but like you, I’m in a race against time. I love how you say you had better get your wiggle on. That made my smile. It’s good when all the hard stuff happens in one day and gets it over with for a bit. Hope things go easier for now. You are so wise about how to get a cow into a trailer. Impressive.
Treacle for Elsie, a name change for Potter to Ana, a flat trailer tire while they’re in it, using a tractor for a jack, chicks at the post office. Heavens, girl, you had a day. I spent mine crawling under the dining room table to empty the hutch and pack it all up, untangling yarn for a shawl being knit, shifting two pair of dogs around, and then a long, unrestful night broken by smoke and a freaking out dog trying to climb onto the shelves in the top of the closet. Got up to discover the spouse was burning incense that got rather out of hand (it was resin in a hunk of aluminum foil) while messing around sorting things in the kitchen. I’m off to bed now and hope for a restful sleep with no smoke or frightened dogs. Glad you got some help there today.
Kiwi ingenuity at work! Brilliant that you got the tyre changed and the animals safely loaded. Do you think your skills are becoming even more finely honed now?