I watched myself crop an image to extract an empty feed bag that had blown into a corner of the barn and felt dishonest. I tidy with the crop tool!. I just did not have the energy to pick up and dispose of the feed bag. I will soon – maybe today but there is a pile of them in the shed and if I pick up one I will have to pick up them all and now there are so many – what do you do. It is funny the things that can overwhelm a person. The ugly bits get to me.
I like things to be tidy so at any given time I can put my hand on what I need. And I can show anyone around at any time without warning and know it shows how much we care for our animals.
On Instagram yesterday I posted a picture of the fly paper in the milking shed – it is about a foot wide, bright yellow like a banana, you pull a little down from the roll each day to reveal a new sticky surface and within minutes it is full of murdered flies. Buzzing. It is so ugly – I cannot tell you how ugly. But being hit in the face with flies when you enter the barn is uglier. But I wish I could hide it.
It is hot and wet, everything is wet. Even the washing on the line will not dry now.
And these cows want to stand under the trees and quietly shit and piss and stomp about in it to cool their heels, everywhere under the trees is a mire. The mud is terrible. At night when it is cooler I lock them out into the fields. One of the Frenchboy’s last jobs is to give this area its weekly clean with the tractor but it will be hot hard heavy work and they are tired now. Ready to go home. And the cows will not appreciate it.
Look at Alex and her baby lying in the mud – happy.
I took these shots of the inside of the barn before I cleaned after the milking and before the cleaning. Usually I take images that show it clean and dry but today we are seeing the ugly bits before they are all tidied up. And nothing dries at the moment – especially not the waiting room and the milking area and the corridors that are cleaned twice daily.
The cleaning does not take long but the drying of the floors can take the whole day on a good day. I want to buy one of those scraping tools for the floors. It is on the list.
Every door and window is open too try and catch a small breeze both for drying the floors and keeping the barn ventilated for the pigs and the peacocks up in the rafters. The pigs have outside areas too but prefer to lay about inside – too hot outside.
And finally my pregnant pigs have succumbed and are lying in front of their fans. Not so stoic now that the heat has rolled in.
Today is the last work day of The Frenchmen. Although they are not asked to work in the heat of the day – we work until 9.00am on the hard outside jobs then have breakfast and the work from then on is in the barn or in the shade, then at lunch time they go to siesta until late afternoon. But I feel they are looking forward to finishing. They want to be sitting inside too – playing with the baby – or just turning up for meals. Being a visitor on the farm is great actually. It extends the farm family. But the last few weeks there has only been us three working and they are tired now. Wearing down. But they have worked so hard for weeks and now it really is time to relax for them.
And the dinner visitors leave the day after the woofers so it will be very quiet for a few days. Then in the middle of next week even more visitors come – with another, even younger, baby. These visitors are from my own family – flying in from New Zealand. It will be lovely. And they are more farm oriented.
My next wave of workers starts in early August – the 10th I think. I need to check the book.
The tomatoes are just beginning and if my luck holds I will be picking and preserving tomatoes for the next few months.
Enough chatting – time for work!
I hope you have a lovely day,
Love celi
My instagram handle is cecilia_bwg. It is a perfect complement to the daily blog. I am loving it. This is where all the breaking news goes. And sometimes even video. It is becoming an extension of the blog, though I have allowed myself to take images of the surrounding area as I puddle to and fro. Instagram is not just for the farm. I have the settings arranged so that every time you ‘like’ an Instagram photo it lights up my phone with your name. (No buzz or ding just the light) So your contact follows me out into the barns. The blog for me is computer based so reading and answering your wonderful comments is for siesta time curled up in my chair for an hour after lunch – just you and me. Instagram is different and just for fun.
And thank you for your comments here at the farmy – you are my constant companions. I still miss ViV, don’t you?
The Kitchen's Garden 
61 responses to “Ugly Bits”
I sometimes will not post a photo of farm stuff if it’s messy and looking rundown, but that is the truth in farming and I am trying not to crop those bits out. I love the Elizabeth Gilbert quote too!
How absolutely wonderful that your family is coming to visit. And with a baby. Bonus.
Your writing of the sticky fly paper brought back many memories. A thin strip of sticky fly paper always hung above our kitchen table on the farm. Rather gross. But it served a purpose.
Oh my yes, I remember wonderful meals, at noon, at my great uncle’s farm, in a huge farm kitchen with a real wood range. And then you looked up and saw dead and half dead flies stuck to the fly paper! Real life.
Good morning! Those papery bags pile up. I used a bunch to lay beneath mulch to keep down weeds in a new garden. now I’m looking for more bags! Faith Veley.
Good thinking Faith! c
I didn’t know what you mean about Viv. I didn’t know her, but we always miss people in the places where we expect them. The thing that pops into our head to tell them. The expected comment you know the person will make at a situation. etc. It’s the little things that don’t happen that sharpen the loss, not the big ones.
It sounds like the weather is pulling you into a bit of a hole. I hope today proves to be better and more cheerful and hopefully cooler.
Yes I agree I miss Viv too. It’s strange not having her comments. I think you barns look great 😀
I’ve been watching your heat wave from here. I have an ex SIL that lives in Missouri so I know how miserable 90 plus degrees with the same amount of humidity can be. I spent many years in that area and just can’t handle those temps anymore. I hope it breaks for you soon. Ours is on the way but nothing like what you have. It seems relentless. Life has lots of ugly bits. Part of the package. I have a friend coming for a glass of wine tonight and my house looks like a tornado hit as I’m purging, rearranging and organizing. There are lots of ugly bits. Farm life is too much hard work. I love to see what you are doing but could never pull off all that hard work myself. And then people complain about the price they pay for food! It’s not that easy to grow it. Thanks for sharing to truth with us. I miss Viv’s comments too. And her blog. Have as lovely a day as you can. I don’t know how to do instagram but I’ll look into it.
I miss seeing miss Vivs comments. I like the way she would end saying “your Viv” I’m sure you were very special to her. I have only been here for a little while and I already love having my tea with all of you each morning. I live in the city so visiting your farm is such a joy for me.
I love the quote about life being like a dropped pie. Perfect. Your animals are so well cared for, and your barn too. Hot and humid really make it difficult. Yesterday I tried to sit outside my gallery to paint during the farmer’s market and just couldn’t do it for more than an hour. I really feel for all the farmers who had to haul everything in, set it up, and then sit there for hours.
I had to chuckle at the cat photo. At first I thought it was a pride of lions 🙂
I do still miss Viv.
The world is so full of ugly bits. The farmy’s are barely noticeable. It’s only the barn’s darkness that creates a somber tone, which some might interpret as meditative, peaceful. The barn as a cave, a still place, a giant sun shade. The mess is just earth, water, and possibly fertilizer. I actually think the pictures today are nice, compared to what I’ve been seeing on my screen from in-the-news cities. Your place is a haven for many of us.
I laughed about the pie on the floor- and I feel for your hot tired pregnant pigs- have a lovely day in spite of the heat and untidiness!
I see your tidy paws in your photos and hear your organizational skills in your writings. I always enjoy your post.
Somehow your photographer’s eye still makes a barny barn look beautiful! I’ve just had my first tub of Tanglefoot delivered. It is a tub of the gooey sticky adhesive that is used on fly strips. I can now make my own. I reuse the rolls from plastic wrap and cut up cardboard strips. I’ve also seen people use it on recycled plastic containers – like margarine or honey containers. It has been very satisfying to tuck them into places that the fly tape doesn’t cover!
Great post with marvellous photographs
I just love your big old barn. Whenever I pass a big old barn I always fantasize what it might look like in side and what it’s used for.