More than the predicted three inches too. Tomorrow I catch a plane to California to get ready to catch a plane to Australia. Of course it snows. Just to give me The Fear. And it is forecast to snow a little tomorrow too so I seriously have The Fear. 
My bags are ready. (I fly out to California tomorrow then on to New Zealand then Melbourne the next day). I am a seasoned traveller – I can pack with my eyes closed (though I always get it wrong) actually it is the cooking that gets my packing brain really sharp- I have to take my favourite knives and my apron (not always the same apron it depends on The Event) and my special whisk and my copper bowl (this time) ! I packed my special cake tin but my daughter said she had one ( I guess they have cake tins in Australia now!) So I took it out.
That is how mental my packing is!
As you know – with my family it is all about the food.
John and Jake are training to take over the farm, today. Actually John has been segueing himself in over the last few days. So he is feeling confident. I just have to remind him to check the right end of the cow! Health is not determined by the cow making cows eyes!
Oh and Poppy (Hereford sow) would have come into heat yesterday if she was going to, she and Manu were a little feisty with each other yesterday but I think that was because I had to close their door due to the snow flying in. But she is not showing outward signs of heat so fingers crossed.
Good morning. I think that officially, today, I will have one of those days when I am almost there and not quite here and want to be ON THE ROAD! I love to travel. LOVE IT!
And that is OK. There is nothing in the rule book that says you cannot YEARN to leave every now and then. I love to go out there into the world all by myself. Sheila will help the boys hold the fort and Tima is under orders not to wander. It is only for a few weeks. And I need to take my hands off and give the others a turn.
We will be a travel blog for a few weeks – I am taking you all with me – all 5008 of you!
And when I get back our first woofer will be right behind me! If all goes well. And the season will commence!
Have a lovely day
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
117 responses to “Of CoursE. IT SnowS.”
We will be there, right with you….all the way!
Linda
Thank you Linda, I will be back! c
Have a wonderful trip .. Safe travels. I’m heading to Melbourne too, I leave today and am excited. Hugs
Exciting – I look forward to seeing your take on Melbourne too – i hear it is beautiful.. c
It sure is, I lived there for years before moving back to NZ. The food is amazing .. Enjoy
safe travels my friend! All 5008 of us will look forward to your traveling with us along as extra light baggage!
Extra light!! laugh.. c
Bon Voyage Cinders! All will be well…it’s just the worry before that plane is actually in the air that’s the worst! That dang fear thing! But as everyone has said…we are all packed and ready to board with you!
Yes!! I will pop in from California – my first stop – where I take a deep breath.. c
You’re past the 5,000 mark – congratulations!
I’m looking forward to your adventures in NZ and Oz and if you come to the Fraser Coast in Queensland, you could pop in and see me…..we live right at the beach, you would love it.
Safe travels!
All Victoria this time – and you are right I would love it – I have not seen much of Australia so i am really looking forward to it! c
I am so glad – and at the same time so so sad :
A wonder-full thing has happened: I’ve got an employment (for 6 months as a start) – after being two years unemployed. I signed the new contract on Friday and it started today. A sad situation has come to an end. A reason to be happy – for sure. And I am. On the other hand it makes me sad, because spare time will be a foreign word from now on. I have to reduce my being online drastically. – Winds of Change…
It was not that easy for me to keep track everyday, to read all your posts and every and each of the Fellowship’s comments – but I did. And I did like it. Very much. Daily. I have to slow down now, due to time. Just hopping by now and then. Although I’ll miss my daily dose of the Farmy…. I have had the wonderfullyest and lovelyest time with the Farmy and with you all in the past months – loved and enjoyed it so much. And that lasts. I’ll keep that. Your gifts to me. Thank you very much for all… – Take care! And all my best wishes for your big journey, dear Celi! Have a great time, happy days and a safe return! – So long!
So my appearance here will change all of a sudden from everyday to only now and then – just hopping by… and being a silent reader to come… So sorry… 😦 Sniff… Ah, and what happens to my English?? I will loose it!!!
What a cute cat shot today! 🙂 Great shots anyway – as always!
Irmi – I fully understand your joy and hope that your new position does work out fulltime if you like it! Methinks you would miss the farmy and its occupants . . . so why not make it a one-a-week trip to catch up – that will only take a few minutes and we would love to hear how you are getting along . . .
Thank you so much dear Eha! My joy is because of the money of course but I do not like at all to be absent for more than ten hours daily and come home exhausted and done. I never liked that. But – have to deal with it…
Have a great time, Eha!
Oh Irmi – wonderful news for you – I am thrilled to bits. No need to worry about us we will be here if you want to drop in every now and then.. Let us know how you are sometimes, if you have a moment – just to practice your English of course!! We will miss you but it is good that you are working. Well done. Congratulations.. ! c
Thank you so much, dear Celi°! I so hope you arrived well and you’ve had the loveliest reunion with your daughter and family. My new life started as it had to, I’m exhausted though already and my back hurts like hell (there are very unhealthy office chairs). I will get used to it – it’ll be for six months only… Anyway better than having no money for nothing left and that’s why I was so glad for getting this opportunity. People there are friendly anyway. – Again, have a great time, Celi! Be lucky, joyfull, happy and have nice experiences, meet lovely people and have safe travels… – From my heart ❤
Oh Irmi – it’s wonderful news. I have been in a similar spot in life and it is very difficult. Then going back to full-time work is a different kind of difficult – all those things you got used to doing and taking your time – ha – gone!
I think Eha has a good idea – perhaps on Saturday or Sunday morning it could become your routine to relax with tea or coffee and catch up on the Farmy. Might be a really nice way to start your weekend. OR – as time goes along and you start building a new routine, you might find that checking the Farmy is a good-night ritual to help you sleep.
Don’t say goodbye just yet, give yourself time to get used to the new way of managing things. We’ll be happy when you pop in!
Chris S in Canada
Thank you Chris, for your kind reply! – You are so so right: It’s “a different kind of difficult”. All things I loved so much – gone! So sad about that. – Now that I have had four days in a row at the office I’m exhausted, my back hurts so much and I feel thrown out of my live… Well, I will get used to it. I must. Have no choice at all. I’m on my way to start a new routine, yes, but a routine like that is never ever that what I think live is meant for…
Thank you again for your kind words, Chris! — Haha, it’s night here right now, could not sleep anymore…. 😉
Love, Irmi
And the weekend is here now, Irmi, I hope you have a few minutes to catch up with the farmy and its followers. Grand news about the job and hope your aches and pains will fade out with time. I, too, know how difficult it is but I appreciate fully the need to make a little money. So it is very good news the job is available to you. I will miss you and hope you are able to pop in now and then to keep us updated on you! Sending you best wishes! – Mame 🙂
Thank you, Mame, for thinking of me – that’s so lovely… It’s so nice to be missed by someone. 🙂 Yes, my back still hurts and I’m awfully tired.
Oh yes, I’ll do my best to say hello from time to time! I think I must. Being a member of the Farmy means being addicted. That’s it.
Love to you, Mame!
Have a wonderful trip. Maybe we can all send lullaby vibes to Sheila while you are away. I love when I am in that “not quite here but not there yet” stage of travel. Congrats on the +5K!
Thank you and Sheila is a great sleeper, she will love lullabys.. c
Update on our sweet piggies: Our Willow had 12 piglets (!) yesterday morning. 6 red ones and 6 pink ones. All but one are active and healthy looking. (One looks a bit puny. I’m trying to resist swooping in to rescue the little thing. He just looks like he can’t decide if he wants to live…. he is very sleepy.) Otherwise they are precious! Loud and demanding with momma. I haven’t peeked at the boy/ girl parts yet. We’ll probably check tomorrow. Though Willow is pretty calm, this is her first family and I don’t want her to feel threatened by someone picking up her babies, even if it’s just me. Thank you for your advice about tails, teeth and iron shots. The 4H market insists that the boys be castrated so we’ll probably castrate at least a couple of them and see if there is a market for the uncut ones. So much to do so I’m off! Have a wonderful trip. We’ll all be praying for safe travels for you!
Yes, castrate in that case, and don’t forget Lots of feed for her, it will keep her nice and quiet, otherwise she will leap into action (and step on someone) when she sees you coming in with the bucket! Well done.. now leave her quite quite alone for a few days – an old farmer told me this, the less interference the better. great news!! What type of pig is Willow? c
She’s a pink pig. (HA!) She was one of 4 from the Yorky/ Duroc 4H pigs we purchased last spring. But she had a sweet temperament and very nice hams so after some discussion with our children, we thought we’d try a litter. What a wonderful experience so far! We are fortunate that our Jersey is in milk as well. Maisy gives us 4 gallons of rich creamy milk a day and she’s happy to contribute to Willow’s well being with a gallon or so mixed in with her daily rations. Happy animals = healthy food = healthy happy family. Yippee!
And that milk and some eggs make for a great recipe to fatten a few plonkers for hams for the freezer – wonderful.. c
Elizabeth?….thanks for the update, I’m late here as I’ve been moving house, but I loved hearing about your piglets. How exciting to have all those wriggly babies.
Do have a wonderful holiday with over 5000 followers rising and dipping through the skies with you, like a giant murmuration. Sleep well tonight, my friend. I am so looking forward to your word pictures and produce of camera house.
I will report back in when i get to California! c
Love that word: murmuration, it makes me feel mellow and floaty!
yes – I have lots of murmers here – I saw a MURDER of crows today too.
Mellow, floaty and musical!
Buon viaggio! xx
Thank you darling – c
Sheesh Cecilia!! Now many cooks travel with their own knives, but ma’am, you are coming to the food capital of one of the most food conscious countries in the world today – and you travel with aprons, whisks and copper bowls: yes, Miss C ; we have heard of those and our cupboards are usually filled with them 😀 !! Honestly!!!! Bring your glam gear!!!! And the camping trip with family does sound wonderful, but I DO hope you have opportunities to sample the enviable Melbourne food scene and partake of some of its cultural and artistic offerings, even tho’ the wonderfully busy winter season has yet to set in . . . . oh, I DO hope for the greatest time for you which no amount of ruddy snow is going to set back 🙂 !
Oh lots of people I know travel with their own knives – we are very particular about our knives in my family!! I leave straight from the airport to the beach! then straight from the beach to wellington, then zoom here and there, bowl and whisk in hand! .. etc and etc it will be a whirlwind.. I love it. c
Sugar: can’t wait to hear!! An there I thought you would be settling down for a week of daily degustations and nightly ‘clapping events’ in our favourite cultural hotspot 😀 !! Restaurants, art galleries, theatres!!!! Oh DO have fun with making everyone happy with bowl and whisk . . . just DO keep us informed . . . 🙂 !!
I envy you your vacay, it’s a part of the world I’d love to see (especially in Feb. in Wi!), have a wonderful time. Funny thing, I almost always enjoy myself once I get there but absolutely positively HATE leaving home, crazy, huh? Our weather gurus say little to no precip the next several days so you should be good to go. Funny tale about snow, some time ago my brother was flying his wife and another couple from Wi. to Mississippi. Being a smaller plane they had to stop in Tennessee to refuel. They had had less than 2″ of snow and closed the airport! They were terribly upset when my brother said he was going to take off anyway because there was more than that on the ground when he left here. They made him sign a waiver absolving them of any responsibility for his “reckless actions”.
Bon Voyage, Celi!! Have a wonderful trip. I’m looking forward to following along. Congrats on breaking 5000 followers, they’ve got good taste in blogs. Enjoy the warm weather, family, food and adventures. Found out a couple weeks ago we’ve got grandbaby number 18 on the way.
Safe travels and Godspeed. A few weeks?! I’m glad we get to go along.
Have no fear. All will be well! My father used to bring me — every time — cast iron cookware when he came to Milan. Poor thing, his bags were so heavy. But he wanted me to have it…that and Cheerios which remind me of my childhood. Funny what we have to take-have-bring.