Don’t listen to me
Because all I am going to talk about is the weather! 
For the next few months I will fret about the cold and the humidity and the wind speed and the virtual velocity (actually I have no idea what that is but it sounded good) and the fact that the dryer just quit and as I cannot dry the washing outside – it would freeze solid – the house is draped in sweet smelling slow drying laundry. And if there is bad weather in February when I want to fly out to catch my plane in California that will take me out to Australia and New Zealand there will be hell to pay and no mistake about it.
Just saying!
And as I am saving to go to Australia and New Zealand a new dryer may have to take a back seat. So from now on everything I wear will be dried the old fashioned way – in the loft above the fire- and will smell like cooking and coffee! No-one mentions the smells of those old clothes in those deeply romantic back in the day movies.
The snow came yesterday – not much – but enough to excite the dogs.
and Tima the kunekune pig.
Today we are going to take the bull by the horns or in this case the little Sow by the Feet and trim Tima’s hooves.
Also Poppy is coming into Heat so I am hoping that this evening I can introduce her to the Boar – Manu. Wish me luck. If I take her in to him at the right time there will be no trouble. If I get it wrong – well – I will have trouble. But I know Poppy well and I have worked all the anticipated problems and am confident. Plus I can move very fast if necessary. I believe I can out jump a pig!
I hope you have a lovely day.
Happy New Years Eve for all of you on this side of the pond.
Much love
celi
59 Comments on “Don’t listen to me”
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thekitchensgarden 
I don’t think they minded the smoke, cooking and coffee smells, because in the pioneering days they didn’t bathe much. Tima will be reading what you read about drying by the fire and volunteer to test the warming effect. Good luck with Poppy and Manu. Happy New Year 🙂
Yes, fancy being lucky enough to never have to wash! c
If I could get past the smell I would do the same, but soap dodgers make me gag!
hello from the farmhouse in Denmark, with weird weather, just to tell that once our washing machine broke down and we had to wash all by hand, at a time with 2 small kids ! but my father in law was very solidary, made a washing table for us, so we could stand up right in a good position when we washed by hand and our kids actually learned to wash by hands ! and yes, good old worn clothes need to smell somehow 🙂 and another thing, I hope one day to visit you, to see all the things and your animals in real, happy new year from the small farmhouse Niels
Welcome Niels!
I agree with this: “good old worn clothes need to smell somehow” . It reminds me how as a child one of my great pleasures was to sort through my dad’s closet and try on a shirt here or a sweater there. The human aromas together with accumulations of cooking and smoke smells (we didn’t have a washing machine or dryer) put me in touch with a deeper world I knew existed but couldn’t explain to myself. Now I can. Visiting the farmy helps me do that too. It was good to read your comment.
What a lovely memory, going through your dads clothes, the scent of them, when I was a kid if I sniffed my Dad would give me his hankie and i can still remember the scent of that hanky. It is Dad to me. c
This almost made me cry (and I’m not a cryer). After my dad died my mom couldn’t bear to empty his stuff so quite some time later when she was away my husband and I went in to do the job. It was going really well, emptying sorting folding etc until I pulled his ‘good’ cap from the shelf, that smell was my dad and I was smacked with such a powerful wave of missing him I sat right down on the floor. Simply amazing what a simple smell can conjure up.
Good luck in the pig pen of love! And Happy New Year to you my friend.
Dear, dear Celi, could you please tell me which peacock was featured on yesterday’s post? That photot I up eaam not was drop dead gorgeous!! Right now insomnia has me awake. I just needed you to know that. Haven’t yet been to sleep but was mighty
Happy to read your posting.
Lots of love,
Gayle
That is Mr Flowers. Hope you get to sleep soon! I will.. c
Morning miss C…sorry your drier has given up,,I don’t use mine anymore. I just put it all on airer and leave for a week..then its dry..so i fold it up and leave as a pile on bed for one week..that way i do not have to iron, which i dislike intensely….stay warm and a HAPPY NEW YEAR
ditto ditto. I decided years ago that the tumble drier was an outrageous way to use expensive energy. We start on airers outside if above zero and not precipitating. Move into the garage at first spot of rain, bring into living room in front of fire overnight. That does it perfectly.
I will keep everything crossed for your flights when the time comes.
love,
ViV xox
Still New Years Eve this side of the pond too 🙂 we are just further into it. The celebratory fireworks have started, NZ being the first from Sky Tower, Australia next and usually the one to be beaten. Oooh Hopefully Poppy and Manu will have a happy and calm New Year congress, please be careful. Must say the light layer of snow looks very pretty, hope it remains within these minimal boundaries for the rest of winter. See you on the other side. Laura
Happy New Year to you, and stay safe in the quickly changing weather. And with the piggie breeding!
Good morning Celi. Love seeing Tima on the porch … just one of the dogs! 😉 I think I’ve finally fixed your location in my mind – down there below Lake Michigan? We’re up above Lake Ontario – into the shield territory. Rocks and lakes and swamps. Hard scrabble farming in our neck of the woods. Our neighbour’s barn is tucked into the side of a cliff of rock. That forms the south side of their fencing … a high rock face … higher than the barn roof. Our donkey woods is lined with two backbones of granite ridges. The animals around here are good climbers. 😉
We had no dryer when I was a kid. Mom did laundry for 9 kids and 2 adults. She hung the clothes out on the line anyway. After a day or two, they were brought in to some lines in the house. Dad’s bib overalls could stand by themselves due to frozen wet seams.
Is that a swimming pool still full of water?
Yes, my Mum never had a dryer either with eight of us but we lived in NZ by a beach and clothes could go on the line all year round, I have drying racks in the loft above the fire.. c
Happy New Years Eve to you, good luck with Poppy and with the nail trimming!
Happy New Year!! c
I love the smell of drying clothes, even if just a sweater or shirt, and the bit of humidity they bring inside a house. 🙂
A very Happy New Year’s Eve (we are on the same side of the pond) and a New Year’s too.
We have a sweet smelling house at the moment.. c
I only have to use the dryer in the Wet, when the humidity level in the house is nearly as high as outside, so the moisture simply doesn’t evaporate. If we are not to wear mould-scented everything, I have to dry. No heating either; the Wet is in the heat of summer! I hope Miss Tima behaves nicely when she gets her pedi, and I hope even more that Poppy behaves nicely with young Manu; we don’t want him scarred by his first experience with a piggy cougar! I will be sending urgent prayers out into the universe for decent weather when you have to fly!
YES! Lots of prayers in February, my daughter would just cry if i missed my plane and it is such a short visit – i hate to waste a moment.. c
OH – your clothes will smell divine!!!! Be careful with Miss Hop and Pop – she could definitely wreck some havoc on YOU! I will knock on wood several times thinking about you and that task today. 😦
I put them together but they did not like it and they were easy to seperate so all well so far. c
They did not like it ! 😦 What a pity… Glad you’re safe… 🙂
We just got our first dryer last month. I’ve been drying clothes the old fashioned way for over six years! Six people! Up hill both ways! What was I thinking!? Sorry to hear about your dryer.
Dryers are like Dishwashers (my dishwasher is broke too) they make life so much easier!… c
Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well with the breeding!!!
Happy Happy New Year Fellowship of the Farmy!!!!
She is not ready yet so still waiting. c
May the Force be with you.
Did you just see that movie? we saw it on Christmas Day.. What did you think? c
I really liked it. It had the look and feel of a real Star Wars movie, not those silly prequels we got talked into accepting as canon. Did you enjoy it?
I thought it was a set up movie with a very simple story line. But I liked the new characters, especially the girl.And I loved the little droid. The round one. c
BB-8. He’s pretty sweet! I liked him, too. Are you a fan of the first three Star Wars movies?
For the life of me i can barely remember them – I only saw them once I suppose.. John can quote them verbatim – he and Amanda talk non stop about details i have never even thought of – ah well.
A Very Happy New Year!!!
Perfect. We talk about the weather all the time here in Minnesota.
I’m sorry to hear about your dryer. I know you’re like me and line dry in the warm months. Several weeks ago, though, when the sun was beaming bright, I hung clothes on the line. Major mistake. The clothespins froze to the cloth and I had to yank and twist to get the clothespins and board stiff clothing from the line, and then dry everything in the dryer.
Every day we talk about the weather! My childhood was dominated by keeping quiet for the weather forecast on the radio at breakfast and lunch time. Our weather is very mild at the moment and certainly no sign of snow (thank goodness).
I haven’t had a drier for thirty years but in winter dry the clothes above the central heating boiler which means they take on a whiff of kerosene if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction. Coffee and cooking seem much better smells than that. And I’d rather visit Australia and NZ than have a drier,
Happy New Year!
Linda
I come here first every morning to see what’s up. Snow!! Dogs love it. Not sure why. I’m wishing you all good things with the piggy pollination and pedicure. What an undertaking. Is that in the job description? We will all keep good intentions that your flying window be foul weather free. You may be able to find a free or very inexpensive dryer when you are ready. I sold one for a song when I moved and many people do. It was 2 years old and in perfect condition. But I still hang lots of my clothes on the shower rod to dry. Often turning a fan on it for a short time to hurry it up during our damp days. I had to wash by hand for 2 years in Taiwan. The house girl taught me to put the clothes in the tub and get in there with my feet and agitate with my legs. Legs are stronger than the back. Worked quite well. My son was a toddler and we went through a lot of clothes. Have a wonderful New Years Eve.
Happy new year all 🎉😀🎇🎆🎊💥💥💥✨👏
Miss Ann is so tired of rain.I think i will have build a big boat and start herding up the animals 2 by 2.Or learn to swim..Well it is raining again.I think the fish are going to drown..
I never had or will have a dryer even with almost 20/12/365 days of rain! Seriously I love the fresh smell of line dried clothes, and being on top of a hill the wind sweeps up from the valley to flap my clothes dry. There are days if I opened the back door the clothes would fly in themselves! I have two lines in the garage – that is where my boiler is, so in winter the washing hangs there over night and is dry by morning.
I am picturing Time stretched out on the couch of your beauty parlour… asking for the latest style of nail glamour and new hairstyle!
Happy new year and may it bring good health, rain only when you need it, be productive, with plenty of willing hands to help on the farmy. My good wishes go to all the Fellowship as well.
Yup, that’s the killer, the old virtual velocity! (lol)
Your photos today are expressions of winter frigidness… and you’re welcome to it!
Many many years ago when my children were young and I was struggling financially to make each penny count for two, my dryer went on the blink and I could not afford a repair. Having an old rack for hanging laundry indoors, I began to use that. From the moment I started that my electric bill plummeted dramatically… no kidding, it really did. And so since that time, and through positive changes in my financial health, I continue to dry my clothes in that fashion. Besides, in winter with heating equipment going full blast, drying your clothes in this fashion adds some much needed humidity to the air. It is a bonus!
Tima is absolutely adorable! I could just hug her.
Hope you aren’t required to win a jumping contest with a pig today, cuz my bet is on Poppy! Hope your day is a good one! ~ Mame 🙂
Good luck in your match making! Perhaps the romantic dusting of snow will help.
So, winter has arrived after all at the Farmy. Cute how the fellows enjoy the snow. – Sorry for the broken dryer… Have never had one, just used it for quite a while, when doing my washing in the self-service laundry. Oh, what a time that was…
Good luck to Poppy & Manu! Hope they’ll be kind to each other… (and to you).
Happy New Years Eve to you and to all of the Fellowship!
I feel a bit sorry for Manu just because Poppy seems like such a bossy lady pig clip. Since their introduction is not likely to be romantic, let’s just hope no one gets hurt. Poppy may surprise you. I don’t think any of us thought she would turn out to be such a loving mother pig, but she was. Perhaps Poppy will prove to be a good match with Manu and will use her wiley charms and a lovely quick mating will occur. Being so cold, it might encourage the necessary physical contact between a boar & his piggy. I hope Tima cooperates for her pedicure. Maybe if one person gives her treats while you clip her nails, she won’t notice what is being done to her.
I have learned to do my own dryer (& washer) repairs myself in the past few years. The first couple of times my dryer broke down I paid through the nose to have a repair person come out and fix it for me. I always thought these kind of repairs were far too complicated to attempt myself. When it broke down a 3rd time, I didn’t have the money to pay for the repair people to come out, so out of desperation, I started searching online for info. about diagnosing the problem & making the repair myself. I found that dryers actually have just a handful of parts that can it to stop working. If the dryer won’t turn on, you most likely have a bad door switch (they wear out from being closed/open repeatedly) and that is the easiest repair to make. You just need to order a new switch and swap the new one for the old. The next most common problem is caused by a bad thermal fuse/switch that can burn out. When a dryer turns on, but won’t heat up it may be a bad thermal fuse or the heating element may need to be replaced. If the dryer heats up, but the drum won’t turn it is likely a bad pulley or belt. If it heats up & the drum turns, but it is taking many cycles to get the clothes dry. it could be a bad thermostat or timer. You should always make sure your duct is not blocked with lint as this is a fire hazard & can cause your dryer to overheat & burn out some of the parts since the heat cannot escape if the duct is clogged with lint. You can easily find manufacturer parts on Amazon or Ebay. You just need to know the brand of your dryer & model #. My repair people wanted to chage me $75 for the same part that I got on Ebay for $2.49. There are many excellent videos on YouTube where professional repair people demonstrate how to make the repairs. Most dryers repairs can be fixed in less an hour. There is also a good online site called “The Family Handyman” who has an excellent step by step way to figure out what wrong with your dryer & what part you need to make the repair. My repair place charge $80 just to show up and then an hourly rate of $90/hr, so I saved a lot of money fixing it myself. The only tool you are likely to need is a screw driver. It’s handy to have another person to help physically move the dryer out so you can access/remove the cabinet if you need to access the inner workings. I figured out that if a human being made the machine, then the average human can learn to repair most appliances. The videos on YouTube that are done by professional repair people are excellent as a resource & take you through each repair step by step. It has saved me a lot of time & money. Maybe it will help you get your dryer back up & running without using much of your vacation fund.
Happy New Year to all!! Hope it’s a healthy and prosperous one for everybody.
Dryers can indeed be repaired by yourself, or your spouse. At one time I had 2 washers and 2 dryers, we found the second set and only had to move them, they were thrown out because the supposedly didn’t work. My spouse fixed both for very little – a belt for the dryer and some sort of filter for the hot water on the washer which was totally clogged with calcium. Sure made laundry easier with 5 kids and 4 adults in the house. The kids had assigned laundry days and were supervised doing their own laundry in the found machines while the adults used the ones we had originally.
Stay warm.
I may be last to comment, but perhaps first to greet you from 2016. Happy New Year Celi and everyone on the Farmy! xx
Oh yes! you are already there – thank you and Happy New Year to you! c
Happy New Year all…..a good third of the new year has happened here already. A cloudy damp grey day, but the washing will dry anyway….my house is on stilts, so the washing goes under and the wind blows through, bit like Kate, no need for dryers here.
A very happy, healthy, prosperous 2016 to all – well, I have been ‘there’ for nearly eleven hours and it’s nice 😀 !! Even if sleepy and with ears still blocked from the fireworks we do not usually have here – shall catch up tonight! Since I came here nearly 23 years ago I have been a line-dry gal also as my cosy cottage simply lacks the space for an electric one: lovely fresh smells – as my very coldest temp is -2C and my Hills Hoist [Aussies will understand] situated amongst flower beds about ten metres from the back door, no complaints . . . good luck with the piggies . . . and that smidgen of snow must have been puzzling for some . . .
I remember being little at the farmhouse and there was this odd washing “machine” on the back porch. A big tub to stuff clothes in and fill with water, then hand crank to swish them around, then reach in and pull items out one by one and tuck them into a wringer bridging across the top to squeeze water out by turning a handle ( and if the item was put in clumped too think, your couldn’t turn the wringer – and stuff would get stuck. Then clothes were hung on the line. Sometimes the clothes dried/froze into stiff boards – like paper doll clothes. We kids thought it was funny and would sneak over and touch them…and get yelled out to keep dirty fingers off. Really hard work for moms back then.
May your new year be filled with adventures and delight!
What a wonderful image – I would love one of those old tubs on my verandah now – well maybe in the summer – the winter is harder that is for sure..
Wish I had the poor old think. It was a wonder in it’s time…sitting under dripping clothes on the line provided the original child’s outdoor cooling station…of course there was some discussion after about not sitting in the wet red dirt. (Summer memories get us through the winter, right? Stay warm and dry….we’re cold, grey, and soggy)
Good luck with Poppy! Happy New Year to you lovely 😃
Out-jump a pig? Poppy, maybe, but I’m not sure about those two gilts! Hopefully you will not need to jump. All the weather you haven’t had is showing up now.