Polling day –
So this morning I thought I would ask you a few multi choice questions about your experience here. It will only take seconds. Even if you have never commented before I would love you to join in. It is a mix of a bit of fun and some real questions about the readers of thekitchensgarden.
The questions are the ones I woke up with in my head this morning. Nothing is terribly deep. If you have questions you think I should ask (or you would like to answer): pop them in the comments and I will include them in another poll.
Remember this is NOT A TEST! (laughter.) Just a few questions over a cup of tea.
Cats just generally sit about looking sweet don’t they.
Last question.
Thank you for joining in! It is raining this morning and warm still and I need more coffee. Usually my brain does not have to work this hard in the morning. Have a lovely day.
Love celi
87 Comments on “Polling day –”
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thekitchensgarden 
I assume that’s Geraldine being naughty 😉
Yes, that was Geraldine – cleaning up what TIMA started! Timma got out in the night and ripped open as many bags as she could reach. Fat pig. c
Of course!
Yours is my go to blog each and every morning. Love getting a daily farm fix as I live in town now. Love your honesty, fantastic pictures and your writing. Hope you and the farmy and the farmy fellowship have a great day! Forecast is a high of 63 today and 66 tomorrow in SE MN.
Thank you. and so far we are having a grey wet warm day – only one runaway pig so far!! c
So, I live in a town of about 100,000 in East Texas. I wouldn’t consider it a Big City, but Small Country Town isn’t quite right either (although that one is the one I chose.) Sometimes I think I read your blog to remind myself not to complain when I feel like I’m busy and having to work hard. I can always thing, “Yeah, well my job isn’t herd pigs or bale hay hard.” Hahaha.
Hi Melissa! I’m from a small town north of Fort Worth – but have family in Commerce and Paris….. I know all about Big City with a Small town feel….. LOVE East Texas and many fond memories of summers there.
Hey! I grew up in Forth Worth!!! I worked for Harris Methodist Hospital for years before meeting my beloved and moving to the great white (cough~ oh so white this year) north.!
I have to agree that the hay days are probably the hardest – lucky I only have to bring them down three at a time..c
That was a fun poll to wake up to! The first question was a bit of a booger, as all of the topics you write about are of interest! Like Vesta8, I wake up to the wonderful THEKITCHENSGARDEN daily to start my day off! We are a very fortunate farmy family indeed! Thank You!!! 🙂
We are indeed. Have a good one! c
M-F – you are my first read while I wait on jobs to run at work. I follow you, the Daily Coyote and Red Dirt in my Soul – which I think I found you from Red Dirt…… Just love checking in and seeing the goings on.
I must check out those other two – though they both sound familiar I am not a big browser of other blogs – I prefer to spend the time in here talking to you all.. c
As for the pictures and the words…I do also read it for something else, but since I can’t put that into words, I let it go. I love the pictures and the words…maybe it’s something that emerges in the mix that attracts me so much. Something ineffable.
It was from your question the other day that this post came – you asked me how many of the readers were farmers. It made me wonder how many actually lived in cities like you do- too.. c
I was surprised to see, at least when I took the poll, how many are from big cities. Lots! We need your fresh air, evidently.
I love your blog it is part of my daily routine. I read your blog with a nice glass of tea first thing in the morning.
A nice glass of tea sounds just lovely.. c
I check for your new post every single morning, I love both how connected I feel to your world (as I feel cross over to my own) and yet you see things and write things in a way that is so fresh and you.. I like it very much!
Yes! During the day I do something then wonder how you do it. I think we think in a similar way.. c
I have never actually timed how long it takes me to read a post , so – as long at it may take, and I usually pop in several times a day to check out the lounge of fellowship comments. I have on occasion wondered if that is like reading somebody else’s mail? You are warmer than us today, still being drenched with heavy rain as the cyclone passes us by 🙂 Laura
I think others do that too and we all learn so much from others comments and answers.. Hope your cyclone is over with soon!.. c
I read every day, and if I miss a day here and there, I jump back in but I have missed something…if I have already started reading today’s post it is like a spoiler! I have to go back and read each day in order to get the whole story. Each post is like a chapter in my favourite book that goes on and on…
This is SO how I feel too. My favourite book … I can read a little each day … and the characters become so dear to me I would sorely miss them should the story end!
I am sure that is the Soap Opera genre. I often tell people it is like a really really slow moving soap opera with animals.. c
Darling, it’s Dickens-quality serialization. Large, complex cast of detailed (and often eccentric) characters, both ongoing and quickly-passing storylines, and the sure knowledge that the story will always be lively and fascinating, whether the liveliness is all action or more quietly philosophical musings that challenge the imagination. I’d say you’re a Dickens of a friend!
xo,
K
I agree! Well said. And to Miss C : The animal characters seem both real and larger than life. I smile at their “human-ness” without laughing at them. You have so much respect for their individual qualities, but you don’t dip into sentimentality. A nice balance.
Isn’t there a song like that – the never ending story? c
Now I’ll have to do some research! 😉 But first, bedtime. 😀
xo
Of course you didn’t ask, but I’m in for all of the centerfold pictures of Sheila. She is all pig – hubba hubba. XOXO – Bacon
Snorts and rolls with piggy laughter ❤
Of Course – Sheila!! c
OMG I laughed out loud at this centerfold comment!
I wish I could remember how I found you – I think it was a search on WordPress, back when I knew how to do that. Things have changed so much on WP, it doesn’t feel as intuitive as it once did. Or maybe I’m just getting old! Sure am glad I found you when I did!!
Not old yet I think – but things change so fast I sometimes think – “I will let this one pass and catch up when they change it all again next time.” And this is not just wordpress – all tehchnology changes when we are looking the other way.
I try to go to your blog every day… but there are times when I’m not online for days and days. And then I do try to catch up! I totally understand what The Daily Cure meant when they said it’s hard to put into words why they love reading your blog so much. To me, it’s always a great visit with a good friend… catching up on all that’s going on with you & yours around the farm, whether it’s freezing water buckets, a new calf being born 0R a naughty pig causing destruction – it’s unfailingly interesting and touches our hearts. Sending lots of cyber hugs your way!! ; o )
Hugs for you too, Cecile, c
I read that how long question and realized I have NO idea how fast I read. But I do know that I have a terrible sense of time. I’m always sure things take longer than they do. And then I’m also always surprised at how quickly time has passed.
Anyway – I read the whole thing as part of my morning internet browsing. I read the internet in the mornings like I used to read papers. All the same comics, all the same blogs and a quick scan of the headlines for things that seem worth reading.
Hopefully I am in the comic group! Hope your day goes well .. c
I love reading about the way you farm, the animals, and I love your rants and aside thoughts. It’s all good. To be a good farmer you have to be a thinker! And I read for however long it takes, and I love reading the comments, but I am usually too busy to get back and read all the comments later. Your photos are amazing, as well. A good camera really makes things come to life :*)
Yes, I am lucky with this camera – it was a gift from a reader – do you remember – lucky I am.. c
That’s right, I almost forgot about that! Well, it for sure makes a lovely difference!
I read your blog every morning and miss it if I don’t have time. Since I live in the city, I love reading about the farm animals and how you manage them all. (But I love your rants, too.) More than anything, I love your natural, unedited voice that comes through so loud and clear. (So many writers I know would kill for such a distinct voice.) Because of this, it really is like spending a few minutes with a friend every day.
morning charotte – yes, unedited and early morning -that about sums it up! c
In reality i am a city girl and wouldn’t relish the smells of manure, but your blog is a place i go to to feel a soft warm spreading of comfort in this crazy world. To me you are the Woman Who Can Do Everything. Your writing is superb. Boo from the beginning enchants me. Sheila is a literary figure now. Your cooking superb. Your practicality and warmth having farm helpers, your appellations of beasts and people droll and thoughtful. It is a warm and real spot this virtual morning visit snd whether sad pr happy lights up my day. I am not a big fan of the birds tho. Dont know why. You are an incredible woman of great warmth and tslent. Your posts are a gift showing the nobility of the ordinary which is one of my favorite themes.
My daughter is like that too – she does not like the birds one tiny bit.. and of all the manure the birds are the worst i think. The eggs are good though! Thank you for your kind words. have a wonderful day.. c
Yes, like so many others here, I read your blog for all the reasons stated and each one is my favourite on the days they occur. It is what happens in real life’s ups and downs and it is that very reason that keeps it fresh and something I look forward to each morning as I fire this beast of a computer up. And I love all the comments in the lounge as well, ones that comment each day and others that jump in sporadically…. but Bacon always makes me smile, if not outright laugh. ~ Mame 😉
Bacon is a DELIGHT! I love that naughty pig.. c
I said I read for something else…and that’s you and your voice which come through so clearly, love it!
That is a good something else!! c
I like to come here because you are so real. Real is a good thing. I also read because I feel like you are a friend…friendship is also a good thing.
Farming certainly brings the real out in a person… c
I read your blog every day, and have loved it from day one. I came across you through Viv in France, who sadly is not with us any more.
Your blog is very special and warm, and I love reading the comments too, and that in it’s self is nice recognising people in the comments.
Ah – Viv – she did keep is on the straight and narrow didn’t she.. I miss her.. c
I read you every day, but the time of day depends on the Husband’s shift. If he’s on days, I’m up at 1.30am to get him away, and read you with the cup of coffee that pries my eyelids open. I come back later to have another read and catch up with the comments. If he’s on nights, I read you later, and am often one of the last to read and comment, at around 9.30am our time. On off shift, I read you whenever we wake up, and again later in the day. I do love to follow up and get a second dose of Farmy at the end of the day if I can. I live in a very small country town of 500 or so, 3 km south of Mackay, which has a population of about 80,000.
That husband of yours keeps some interesting hours.. c
Four day shifts (3.30am to 4.30pm), four night shifts (4.30pm to 3.30am), four days off. It’s hard to establish regular sleep patterns, but we get by, and the four day weekends are great!
I enjoy the collective likemindedness of The Fellowship… we are A Tribe, there is comfort in recognising our sameness, and interest garnered from our diversity ♡
A tribe is an excellent way to describe it !
Just so you know, I’m running late today heading to quilt group in the pouring rain but I have to stop and read your post before I can do anything else. Having my first cuppa and this is what I need with it. I learn so much from you and your readers. I live in a mid sized town just at the perimeters of Portland. A good 20 miles out and still lots of farm land that I wish I could have afforded. I’m in a trailer park with leased land and not that much of it. Not even chickens allowed. 😦 But I’m older and taking care of all that would not be so easy for me alone. I live vicariously through you here. You make my day here.
Do you have a cat? I have always thought you might have a cat.
No animals at all anymore.
I’ve probably just skewed your statistics … I came back to see how the poll was doing but in order to do that I had to vote again
Same here – hopefully C will publish the poll results tomorrow, I would be interested to see!
Oh don’t worry about skewing the statistics – it will make sense in the end. If you click in results you will see the percentages immediately. I might leave this up for a few more days so everyone gets the chance then I will collate the results.. c
Your blog is part of my “morning coffee” collection that I start each day with : ) It’s like having coffee with a friend each morning, only I don’t have to comb my hair and look presentable.
Me too! My hair is a birds-nest!
Your blog is the only one I read every day, even when I am due to go out, and shouldn’t have a spare moment! I had become rather sceptical about blogs, and probably don’t spend enough time on my own. But yours is compelling – a link with my country youth and with the English animals and farms I still see regularly. The everyday, and sometimes painful events of your farm are enthralling. I also very much value your insights into farming practices, such as dangerous animal substances in animal feed, and into highly mechanised contract farming. These are international issues in farming… Please do keep blogging, and very best of luck with those would-be Houdinis, the Pigs! Very warm wishes to you and your loyal readers, Alison (Brackenbury) http://www.alisonbrackenbury.co.uk
Houdinis indeed – I have one who got out Three times today – she wanted to be with the steers.
I enjoy the variety on your blog — I get great ideas for recipes (lavender cake & no-knead bread are two favorites); when I feel like our ranch is a lot of work I remind myself that you have pigs and cattle and we just have horses (and goats and chickens) and I don’t feel so overwhelmed; I love your rants and I love your summer workers. Oh, and I can’t forget the bastard mink (I think it was a mink) — it made me feel a kinship when the bobcat started raiding the coop. Its not a boring life, that’s for sure. (I also love your stories about your childhood and early motherhood days — not really rants, more like musings).
That bastard mink your that damn bobcat. Life gets hard for chickens! c
I learn so much and have acquired an even bigger appreciation for the hard working small farmer…..big hugs to you and ALL the animals!
Thank you Kathe
We love your Blog. Couldn’t pick just one category. Love them all. We are 75 & 80 years of age. Have raised everything. Meat, orchard and garden. Your ideal about your food source is our ideal. We live in northern CA, near Mt. Shasta. We enjoy hearing about your daily life. One thing I like is the way you can leave a comment I never mind that a blogger wants to edit or delete a comment. I don’t like signing into a google or other type of account. If I have to sign in that way I will not comment. That would be a bloggers loss. I am sure that is why some bloggers don’t get many comments. Love your pictures, all your topics, your travels, etc. Your trip to Milan was great. Love your guest bloggers. Some of your topics stir up much thought and the comments likewise. Your yearly book list is wonderful. So you are obviously doing much right! Thank you Celi. Hugs.
And thank you BEV for reading and commenting – it makes the blog greater with so many knowledgeable people involved. c
Well as others above have said, I love this blog. It’s the only one I read. I never thought of it as a soap opera for animals, but gee, I certainly laugh and I certainly cry over so much that happens on the farmy just as people do over soap operas. Maybe we city folks are downright envious of your life. But you’re not simply someone who stays on the farmy. I always think of “How Ya Gonna Keep “Em Down On the Farm, Once They’ve Seen Paree” because you’ve seen Paree. You’ve done both–and love both.
I am reading a book called “Happiness is a Serious Problem” and Prager the author talks about some people who go through life trying to avoid pain. You are a person who has not and do not . You embraced every moment–the joys and the sorrows…and everything in-between. This author says that is the ONLY way to live. This I think is that “ineffable” something that draws us day after day to you. It isn’t just the animals but your “I-Thou” relationship to the animals. Not to mention your CAN-DO attitude–so very appealing! I admire you and I think we all do.
Isn’t ineffable a lovely word. And you are right about me loving both – I am actually very easy to please! c
Think the poll was a brilliant idea both for you to know and us to read others’ comments. Being a city gal living in a rural gated village community which still presents as urban I am more in for the words and ensuing ‘rants’ on so many topics. Make me think 🙂 ! I could not bear to have a computer open during a relaxed breakfast of both dreaming and planning for the day, but first ‘find you’ ere I begin paid-work, studies, reading all the worldwide papers and on-line shopping an hour later . . . . *smile* no wonder I have occasional time problems: truly have halved my over-100 post blogroll, but still love travelling right around the world learning how people live – fave places at the moment: Mexico, India and UAE . . . oh but I do come back to Boo and Sheila . . .
We all have our different mornings – my first coffee is when I WRITE the blog – nice to be so different really..
Just as well Milady: otherwise many of us would be sadly staring into space 🙂 ! With me it is strong black, a little relaxation ‘therapy, long,long ‘to do’ lists none of which are ever fully ticked off and then the phone calls begin 🙂 ! Thank God, the big desktop computer is in the library three rooms away . . .
Your blog and the folks who comment, all the critters and their antics (piggies in particular!) – all of this makes up for the family I am missing these days. I came from farm town, to little town, bigger town, huge town, and I’m now back where my heart lies – little mountain country town. I long to join in the conversations more, but don’t really feel qualified and am usually a late-in-the-day reader. What I would have said has already been said – so, I just read and enjoy! I love the ‘clean’, honest, and down-to-earth feeling, I can just relax, read, enjoy, learn and transport my thoughts to other locales. Thank you, Ceci, and thank you other readers for this unexpected pleasantness in a chaotic world! Thank you, THANK YOU!
Hi Sunny, I love your comments when you have a chance to jump in and always feel welcome to do so – all are qualified!
And I will jump in more then! Thanks, again!
Loved the pictures of the peahen getting up to mischief, and your suave ginger cat.
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Cecilia… these are such cute pictures ❤
Thank you – they are all very photogenic
That’s the knack! Capturing beauty!