8.53 pm. Tuesday night (NOT Wednesday night! hard to remember what day it is sometimes!)
Dear old Friend,
I am laughing at myself!
Fifteen minutes ago I was reading your email – my brain turned off – La La La I was humming, sleepy, sitting in my chair, cup of tea, dishes draining from dinner and writing a reply to you in my head when I saw your comment about Storms. Bad Storms!
What?! I said and quickly changed to the weather site to check the ETA of this storm, (soon) then looked out the window (sheets of lightening – non stop – when did that start?) so: On with the the jacket – On with the head lamp On with the boots and out I went to put the calves into shelter and lead Sheila (bless her) through the dark and back up to the big barn. She came to my call without question, hauling herself up out of her bed, hurrying to catch up with me, trotting along behind. Talking. 
Through the gates and fields and into the barn. The calves also bolted through their gate and straight into the rat house. I opened Pats gate for the big cows to come up off the fields in case they get hit by lightening (can lightening see in the dark? ) and checked that all the big birds were on the rafters. They were.
The wind had begun that insistent gentle swirl that it makes when bad weather is coming. Shifting air aimed from all directions. Lifting my hair, brushing my face. Like the warm air moving ahead of a train in the underground, full of the scents of dust and wet and watchfulness and black. The wind found an imperceptible sound, a faint whistle, that edged closer to my hearing. The hint of a warning.
The light attached to my head picked up the narrowing eyes of cats and rabbits and cows all stood with their heads up, quiet and still – waiting to see which way to move.
I picked up my pace and shut the big doors of the barns, barring them with bars top and bottom but leaving a gap between the doors for the wind to get in. To lessen the force of a high wind hitting a wide flat door.
I brought all the little plants back inside and my boots back inside too in case of rain and here I am in my chair again. Though my tea is cold now. 
And already I can hear the thunder rolling in, low and continuous. With loud whip cracks hurrying it along. The dogs have gone into hiding.
Now that I am in I see EXTREME weather alerts all over the internet, and lots of green and yellow in the radar. Looks like we might miss the worst but be hit by the tail of it. Hopefully. But I had to laugh at myself! Sitting here with my cup of tea. I was oblivious. 
If you had not have written to me from way up there I would not have known there was a storm coming! And though Sheila would probably have been fine the calves would have got a drenching! I just put them back out this morning!
Funny.
Have a great evening my dear old friend. Batten down the hatches. I think it is coming your way too!
I love a good thunderstorm. The high winds are not so good though.
Love c
PS I have a couple of turkeys for sale. Interested? Immediate delivery!
The Kitchen's Garden 
57 responses to “Dear Old Friend,”
We have birds coming into our home too but way smaller 😀 Swallows, sun birds and the like.
Have a beautiful day C.
🙂 Mandy xo
Hope that you are all safe and dry and that the storm has passed
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at 1:31 PM
I’m sure those turkeys had something to do with the weather in order to gain access to the house 😉
They snuck in when the door blew open – they are a menace! c
Thanksgiving will come round soon…
So much for you to think about but all under control!
Careful, looks as those your birds much prefer your house to the Peacock Palace! Super neat seeing your dining room area! How do you keep the floors so shiny with all the human and animal traffic? My wood floors are dullish, as I don’t mop all that often. But they just get dirty again so quickly it seems a waste of time to do it too often!
I love spring storms too. There’s something about the rise of adrenaline while battening down the hatches!
Oh no, just when I was thinking how pretty they all looked inside 🙂 Laura
OH What NAUGHTY BIRDS!!!!!!!!!!! In your beautiful CHAIR too!!!!!! Oh DEAR!!! Although, I have to admit the chair and the black turkey make for a beautiful picture! Can you just imagine the conversation as they were touring the house?
Onyx: Why Geraldine, I think I will try out this chair. It is just Lovely.
Geraldine: OH – Onyx, you do look just LOVELY in that Chair.
Flame: Oh Girls – Come see the DINING room!!!! This MUST be where Miss C eats all those lovely vegetables from the garden. Wouldn’t you just love to dine in here with her?
Geraldine: That Tima is right – this house is devine, but I hear Miss C coming….. Come with me ladies – I think it’s best if we go meet her at the door…..
Yes, i am sure it was something like that!! c
I am so confused reading your post on the day it is written; was it Wed night or Tues night?? Lovely photos. It is very blustery here in Southern Ohio today!
Oh, I forgot what day it was! Silly me.. c
I think you are a day early with this post, Miss C … it would seem all this happened on Tuesday evening ’cause it is only now Wednesday morning … or maybe you’re just staying a few steps ahead of the rest of us!! :o)
Oh yes! Thank you Marcia – I don’t even know what day it is!! I will fix that.. c
it’s all about hunkering down and surviving when that kind of storm lets loose. I reckon your birds knew the best place to be. I hope it’s calmed down again by now and you’ve made yourself another cup of tea.
Stay safe,
love,
ViV xox
The birds in the house looked so charming — so charming, that is, until I saw what they were leaving behind. Nasty birds! Yes, time to fatten up and be done with it.
The cows out in the sunshine look so calming and pastoral, but I wondered about them turning the ground to mush. Did it dry up that quickly? I’ve heard you mention the ‘rat house’ once or twice before but don’t recall any explanation for it. What is the ‘rat house’? Sheila looks so comfy in her little hut.
Lovely photos. We have rain in the forecast for today and it is rather grey out there this morning. Did you get much rain? Have a great day! ~ Mame 🙂
The rat house is a big shed that sits in the rat house paddock. Until this last summer the shed was filled to the brim with old junk and old cars and when I first came to live here 10 years ago it was heaving with rats. So I sold the old grain bin that had been feeding the rats and the dogs and I cleaned out the rats. But it is still called the rat house. The field that the cows are in is their winter field. I nominate one each year on a rotation and it is called the sacrifice paddock. Basically they spread manure on the sacrifice paddock all winter. In the spring the sacrifice paddock is resown into new pasture and is closed for most of the summer. The concrete yards are horrible in the rain, they can stand there a few days over the worst of the wet but they get so filthy and I can’t stand it. And it is not healthy for a milking cow. So they are out in their field instead.. Does that make sense? c
Ah, yes, the sacrifice field… I do recall you telling us about that. Muddy fields or filthy concrete… not sure it does make a whole lot of sense, would seem a toss-up to me… heh heh But I am guessing somehow the muddy field must somehow be cleaner.
But the rat house is new to me… ‘heaving with rats’, you say? Ugh! That would be horribly disconcerting… so glad you were able to clear them away.
Thanks for the elaboration 🙂
That photo of the veeeeeery contented pig sleeping in the sunshine is just wonderful – so wonderful I’m going to ‘paste it’ to my desktop as reminded to enjoy the little things in life and to just ‘chillax’!!
About the storm – I’m so glad you got everyone and safe in time. It is very easy, when inside, to have no idea what’s about to happen outside. You’re just a good writer than I know we all feel like we were there, trotting along with you just like Sheila. ; o )
I am sure the birds were pleased to be allowed I and the other animals very jealous.
So very glad you got the news in time. I heard of the storms on the local news last night and always worry at such information, wondering if you and the farm will be in a direct path of trouble. I was VERY glad to see a post appear when I opened my computer this morning 🙂