It is a modern dance.
And though common as muck; mud is Not common here for this time of year.
We are back In the Mud for maybe a day.
Then the forecast wanders all over the place but the forecast for tonight’s snow at 4 inches ( not too bad ) and Friday’s snow at 9 inches ( might be bad ) stay steady.
All the other days are up for grabs (at one inch here, half an inch there, .40 there, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!) I wish the forecaster was allowed to write ‘who knows’.
Following the Friday snow will be the cold which will turn it all to ice. That will be lovely for all the hospital visits in our immediate future – starting today. Modern medicine unlike modern dance is desperately time consuming and way less entertaining.
I know that a number of you are getting this weather, these snow storms – some of you even get to wave it off as it lumbers away in my direction! So keep me in the loop.
And if you are snowed-in or on the beach 🤭wander over to my Sustainable Sunday Letter. Letter from The Kitchens Garden Farm. There are two short stories for you there. Writing this letter on a Sunday is the best!
Lovely LuLu who sleeps with pigs is unbothered.
FreeBee and I are working on a new feeding regime where we get him as far from Jude as possible so he can actually get to eat his meals. I feed Jude half his dinner then run around, down the path, through the gate, through dreadful deep mud then into the big pigs field and around behind their calf hut. calling to FreeBee as I go.
FreeBee has made a run for it from the barn through his gate to join me and is usually right behind me, though with his little pointy stiletto feet the mud is much more difficult for him to traverse.
I set FreeBees food down, give him a treat from my pocket when he arrives, pat him on the head, then jog back to the barn (all of the above in reverse) just in time to dribble little bits of grain into Judes hay plate to keep the big lug in there. Effectively giving FreeBee plenty of time to eat and keeping Jude on his diet.
Dear Tree has had that big loose limb removed. She is wearing the Tibetan flags that Diane sent me a thousand years ago (they usually fly out the front) and I circled her with ash (which in hindsight may have been a little insensitive) and soothing words. Even though we are in the dead of winter, and I warned her, I still think it will have been a shock for the tree.
But at least that lean will have been halted. And a great wound averted. She can settle deeper now. And enjoy the brush and whisper of the prayer flags. Is that what they are called Di?
Prayer Flags. I have had them so long now. They are precious.
As are you all.
Have a lovely day!
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
20 responses to “The Transformative Dance of Royal Snow to Common Muck”
That’s quite a dance with the pigs …and there’s dear little Quacker in the snowy distance.
We had lots of sleet this morning, but it’s still above zero.
Isn’t that just the sweetest shot of Quacker. Happy in those snow slush puddles.
The dear thing!
That is boggy, messy, ugly MUD! Good for losing shoes in and twisting ankles and not much else. I think that with advances in technology we need to push for a device that will allow human to animal and vice-versa communication. That way Jude could simply be fully informed that he is not to be taking food that is not his and there will be consequences if he does not follow the rules. Tima may need the same conversation as well 😉 They are a lot like toddlers I think- yelling MINE, MINE, MINE!
Plus Jude is putting on too much weight from stealing food and being a bully. So let’s hope he does not cotton on to me!
Who needs a gym when you have two pigs that you need to separate while feeding from two different locations, running, then jogging and back again. Those two are so lucky to have you, all the animals are, I just hope there’s an easier way to feel their little bellies. We have to separate our dogs when feeling them because just like FreeBee and Jude, one would finish it all before the other. 😊🌟
Ah yes, we were “gifted” with 15 inches of snow yesterday, but now the forecast is for snow then heavy rain by Wednesday! Here comes the mud and flooding. Such a strange winter for us over here in NH. I love how you chat with your beloved tree and explained to them the process. Warms my heart.
The tree looks much more comfortable with that heavy branch gone.
It sounds like quite the exercise to get Free Bee separated from Jude. I taught my dogs (three at the time) that they had a specific place in the kitchen where their food was put in each little table with the hole for the bowl. No one ever tried to get at someone else’s dinner. I had very good boys and Sunny would take each bowl out of the table,bring it to me to be washed and put away and help push the three small tables under the regular kitchen table – something he just started doing on his own, he was a very smart boy.
I’m not looking forward to the snow, but don’t have to go anywhere unless I want to which certainly helps.
Stay warm.
Tree looks balanced and contented. I don’t think spreading ash around her was insensitive; you are returning to her that which she raised up out of the earth to create the branch. When the snow and rain wash that potash back into the soil, she’ll appreciate it.
It was just ash from the fireplace. I be liked how it made a pattern too.
It’s wonderful seeing the prayer flags! And what a great place for them on the tree to help with the healing. I believe your prayer flags are from Nepal, where you see them everywhere, especially when hiking in the Himalayas. They send out wishes for peace and love to the world.
I was sure you sent them to me? I always think of you when I see them. You used to have them on your goat shed remember?
Yes indeed! After sending out messages of peace for 11 years, they completely disintegrated. Aided of course by nibbles from the goats! 🙂 Did you have them on your tree house at one time too?
Yes! The tree house – then the front porch and now The tree. They still looking good!
We are predicted to get 6-11″ wet heavy heart attack snow throughout the day tomorrow. It thereby squashes my wishful thinking of a snowless winter and caused me to have to do the very unfun job of installing the tire chains on the skid steer this afternoon as well as hook up the auxiliary hydraulics. This is all very hard on arthritic hands so I spent the next hour sitting in my comfy chair with a lap robe feeling sorry for myself. Now they’re saying another biggy likely Friday and Saturday. Bah humbug.
Bah humbug indeed. But so proud of you my friend! I would not know how to do either of those things!! I hope you have had a hot bath and a glass of wine.
I have always wanted a skid steer. I am Still on the end of a pitch fork!
I am so glad to see it is snowing today here in southwestern Ontario. I am looking forward to my walk after lunch. I enjoy true winter so much more since I embraced public transit and did not replace my car.
I totally agree! When I lived in London and walked or took the underground- the weather just meant a coat. Not the terror of driving in it.
I love the snow and miss it, not so much the cold, wet, much
I love snow. Good deep snow actually. The people here who grew up in it not so much. I just love the uniformity of it!