Silver with a Splash of Red

Brrrrrrrrr

Having a welcome spell of cold, dry weather..well, the cold isn't all that welcome, but the dry surely is. Still the boss got badly and serially stuck in the mud the other day trying to chop the last of the forages, so that is not so good. Sunrises are pretty anyhow. Pic above was taken at dawn and only cropped a little. It was still too dark to tell who the heifer is, but she looks kind of chilly.

Every morning every twig and blade of grass is frosted silver; every footprint leaves a trail across the yard and every kitty stands out like a stop sign. They are quite entertaining when they try to drink from the garden pond, which is skimmed with ice these days. It is just thin enough to dampen their paws and they don't think much of that.

Opening day of the southern deer season here. I expect plenty of fallout from that, especially with only the boss home these days to keep an eye on things. We're feeding the stock in the close pasture this morning instead of letting them up in back. Never can be sure that some folks can tell golden Jersey cows from brown white-tails. Oh, well.....

Missing our boy quite a lot even though he is living home....sort of...he is working a job that calls for six ten-hour days a week, welcome in terms of having a job while so many don't, but he comes home at night, staggers to bed and is gone before we get up in the morning.

And now he has to work Sundays too, making for weeks rivaling farming in the summertime, only spent somewhere else. I'm glad he has work though and not getting the hours cut or anything.

Finally got some bird seed yesterday, although I haven't put it out yet. Still, I was cleaning Nick's crate...old age is causing accidents...and a glorious male cardinal came so close to the office window I could look right into his eyes. He seemed wild and yet as warm and friendly as a pair of wool socks. Of course when I grabbed the camera he broke off our staring match and pumped off across the frosty yard, but what a delight.

Today is Dad's birthday, if you see him, wish him a happy....Happy Birthday from all of us dad, love you.

And this story made my morning. Go, read, laugh, and celebrate the Second Amendment.

HT, Jeff at Alphecca

Shiverish, Windy

mourning doves

Last night, it was gorgeous at sunset. We all stood around out in the yard talking (and taking down laundry) after chores and just reveled in the lemon-gold sky and the tender air.

Robin

Then somewhere in the early hours an insane wind sprang up and things started popping and rattling and shaking. Sleep was pretty much impossible.

Robin

And baby it is cold out too. April in the Northeast is not to be taken lightly I guess.

Song Sparrow

We had a lovely Easter...a nice ham dinner in between chore times and the weather was the best it has been in a week or two. I went out to try to get a video of the mocker, but he was kind of just mumbling and the real blue jays and a song sparrow, which I think he had called in, drowned him out. Had fun taking bird pics at least.

Eastern Phoebe

Can't wait for grass though. Buying forage this year is not for the faint of heart or light of wallet....would be a lot better time to be selling it I think.

Yippy Skippy

When I came indoors from yet another trip to fill the tiny little pseudo stove yesterday there was a message on the answering machine.


Our real stove will loaded on the stove-moving truck next Tuesday. No idea how long it will take to make it east or for our stove guy to get it on HIS truck and haul it down and hook it up, but the days of freezing are finite or so it seems.


I am happy. Even my eyeballs are getting cold.

In the Misty Morning Fog

With our hearts a thumpin'

Well, kinda sluggishly....but they are thumping. Alan rigged up his mini-boiler again yesterday. Too soon to know how much heat it will provide, as it has to be uncoupled and unplugged when not actually working....and no one wants to stay up all night feeding it. Time will tell.....hopefully it will tell us we are warm.

Update

The good news is a couple of warm (ish) days in the offing. The not-so-good news is, that although at least the factory did not condemn the wood boiler, it will take around six weeks for them to get it repaired.

Maybe more.

Hopefully less.

(It is in Wisconsin now. If any of you live there and happen to see it, tell it hi for me and that I miss it.)

Six weeks ain't much in the grand scheme of things except when it is six weeks of November and December in the Northeast. Then the death of the oil burner becomes a bit of a crisis.

Only to us though. The boss has spent hours on the phone trying to track down a new firebox for the old wreck to little avail. Everyone wants to sell us a new furnace. Yep got those thousands of bucks sitting right here. Hard enough to find the cash to pay for repairs to the wood boiler, but dang, how are we going to do it twice!

Little brother had a thought. We have a small propane furnace in another location. Might could be that it can be installed in our living room or somewhere to hold off just the actual freezing thing for the next few weeks. Kind of hard to pursue it on the weekend but it is high on the agenda for next week.

Meanwhile, I have been reminded that I have been cold before. It is more comfortable to forget moving to an ancient farm house when I was 8 and heating with antique coal stoves. We were never warm, but we survived. I can remember huddling next to the stove in near darkness (lord only knows why we didn't have good lights, but it seemed like it was always dark there) reading and putting off going to bed in those icy upstairs bedrooms.

Then moving to my grandparents summer camp in January. Unheated. Sticking a stove pipe out the window for a little sheet metal stove designed to heat maybe a shoe box. "Burning" wet, dripping wood. (Burning is a euphemism for striking a lot of matches and trying to light the paper under the pile of soggy junk then watching it steam while we froze.) That was the cold of despair. I have never been so cold. I didn't know then how to get warm without proper heat.

That is when I learned to really build a fire though. When we bought the wood boiler the man who installed it was astonished how fast I got it up to operating temperature. Heck I had dry wood.

Anyhow, we are getting by. It stinks to be this cold and I fear for my house plants, but we are surviving. And it's warm in the barn.

Chilly

Tisn't Alaska, but it sure is nippy. Kitchen faucet was just a tad frozen this AM. Have to get some things buttoned up around here or we will be regretting it I fear.

I think we are going to have to start afternoon feeding a little earlier too. It was so dark last night when we were finishing up that you couldn't see the feed going into the wheelbarrows from the transport wagon...made it kind of interesting.

Well, have a great weekend. We are supposed to get a bit more decent weather and I am downright grateful....something else to be thankful for...October in November.

Sounds of Spring

You will want to turn your sound up, as this was made just so you could hear the din of this mixed flock of red winged black birds, starlings, grackles, and whatever that little yellow thing in about the middle is....gold finch maybe....

I was out with Nick and these guys were tuning up in the tree right by the house. Loud enough to hurt your ears almost.

Meanwhile we are wishing that winter would go into remission. The normal daily temp for this time of year is 46. Instead we are getting up to low single digits and not warming up much all day.

We Have Met the Enemy

.....and I hafta admit....he is kinda pretty.

Ice Bringer Moon

Monster Storm This Weekend

Or so the weatherman says. We are not supposed to get much here but wind and small accumulations, but our friends and neighbors to the Northeast may really get nailed. (Deb has a new farm website here...it is pretty darned nice.)

Anyhow, those of us who did chores this morning got in extra bedding and got the first feeding done early and the boss sanded the driveway for the milk truck. (Our hill is wonderful in flood times, but we pay the price in winter when the ice comes. I am glad we have a good guy to bring in sand for sure.) The boss leaves a skid steer bucket load by the back steps for me and I dump on some salt and take care of my walkways over here by the house with it. This year some enterprising soul left a bag of feed grade salt on the porch so I am using that.

It has been so cold already this season that the guys have stapled plastic up over windows we never have covered before. It certainly helps with the indoor temperature.

Lately I have been brushing my old cow Beausoleil after milking. She is such a sweet old thing....if she had her way I would just stand in her stall and brush her maybe twenty hours a day. Alas I am only good for a few minutes worth, but she and I are pretty good friends just the same. There isn't a drug on the market better for stress than brushing a nice old cow.
Stay warm!

*****If you get a chance today, go see Linda. She has some REAL cowboy poetry that will make you glad you are warm and cozy.

Cold With Possible Irruptives

Yep, it's winter. Not my favorite season. Barn has flooded three times this week because of sump pump failure.

Hope they got that fixed finally. I am sure the men hope so more than I do, as they are the ones who have to pump water out of one gutter and into the other...Alan got kicked pretty good working behind one cow named Baha. Don't know what has gotten into her lately but she sure has turned miserable. Liz got kicked too, in the knee just like Al.

What is up with these cows? Really I think they just don't like this kind of weather either. They are inside a fairly warm barn and have what they need to eat brought to them, but it is still probably not as comfortable as when it is say, fifty degrees, which our milk inspector says is a cow's favorite temperature (I lean towards 70 myself.)

Anyhow I am working at grinning and bearing it, as there are plenty of people who are experiencing much worse weather than we are....it is winter after all.

The cold sure does bring in the birds. I think I saw a red poll day before yesterday when I was on the phone with the milk inspector (discussing Liz's upcoming trip to Iowa). I didn't have my glasses on so I am not going to be betting on it yet....but I think so.

I won't lie. I am real nervous about that trip. It is an honor to be chosen to represent the entire Northeast region of the National Farmers Organization and I am excited for Liz. What an opportunity!

On the other hand, guess where she has to change planes.
And January is winter there too, with all sorts of accompanying weather possibilities. I will be glad when it is done and she is home and regaling us with stories of all the goings on.

Well, time to milk the cows and then polish up my own year in review essay for this week's Farm Side. Stay warm if you can.

Went Looking For This

For you and for me too....Yeah, it's just a dandelion, but wouldn't it look good right now? Especially if it was surrounded by knee high green grass? Balmy spring breezes, birds singing......

I know I'm whiny, but it sure is cold. The guys worked three hours yesterday fixing the reverse curve on the stable cleaner, not a fun job in the best of weather, but brutal when it is so cold with the wind a'howlin;. It meant they never got in to sit down for more than maybe fifteen or twenty minutes all day. The heifers are in so they are another job to be added to the list. Never got the last field of corn in, although maybe we will get a short thaw so they can get it.

Anyhow Liz made them some venison and rice for a really late lunch (like maybe 4PM) and then made us all grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for supper after chores (we usually get in around 8). That meal is not exactly punishment, what with her homemade bread and the award winning cheese the milk coop gave us for Christmas....and even a cup of humble Campbell's tomato soup is pretty darned good with a little rice thrown in and some Italian seasoning. Pretty welcome when you are cold all the time...

Hope you are all staying nice and warm.....me, I am wearing so many clothes that if I fall down on that relentless ice out there I am just going to roll away...so if you don't hear from me, check the bottom of the hill.

Wonders of Home Weaving

My talented sister-in-law hand wove this wonderful blanket for my especially special younger brother. It is patterned on an antique blanket my parents have had since I was a kid. The original came into the antique shop where we all grew up some long, long time ago. (Growing up in an antique and book store was an experience that had to be lived to be imagined. It was cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and dusty all year round. We read the merchandise and took for granted being able to play in three seat cutters with tiger and horse head lap robes to keep us warm. Thus I have read all of the original Tarzans, Roy Chapman Andrews, Osa Johnson and a vast array of other books that not too many people have had the opportunity to peruse. I didn't appreciate the history surrounding us then but these many years later I surely do.)

(That is a tall brother there, so you can tell it is a BIG blanket)

Matt and Lisa were kind enough to take this photo for me and allow me to post it for you. It looks wonderful to me.
It looks warm too....(which also looks wonderful to me). She made me a blanket a couple of years ago and that puppy doesn't want to wander far from my Sunday chair, else heads will roll. Even in the summer I keep it handy....just in case!

Signs of the Season

The fall migration is in full swing

These are nearly gone now

I keep finding these in the washing machine.

I gather them when I am outside....stick them in my pocket...
and forget them.
Every time.

This is not just welcome now


It is plumb necessary

Hard frost last night

The TV news report says that it is the official end of the growing season....maybe.....I haven't taken the canvas off the tomatoes yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if we still get a few more. They ripened late and very slowly but we have had all we could eat plus lots to freeze.




The fire in the outdoor woodstove is very welcome these days. This old house is cool in summer and absolutely frigid in winter. (All you folks who have made us blankets and lap robes...you know who you are...we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Our toesies thank you too.)




As soon as all the geraniums I am giving up on (I normally bring in every single geranium and struggle all winter to keep them lush and nice. This year...just a few...I grow them from seed anyhow so I end up with a ridiculous number of them) actually freeze I am going to refill the pots with a little fresh earth and plant lettuce in them. We have grown lettuce indoors for a couple of years now and you can't beat it if you have a bright window.




Liz is off here for this today. Her favorite cowboy, Cord McCoy, is there to sign autographs and ride and her other favorite, Kody Lostroh is too. As of yesterday they were first and second in the standings, which was pretty cool.




It is a long drive to a different state. As the official motherperson I will worry all day and night until she is home. (It is my job and I take my work seriously.) She wanted me to accompany her and I would have loved to go, but it was felt in certain corners that I should stay home and work. So I did. No morning off this week, but it was a pretty morning and I didn't really mind all that much being out. I hope she has a great time and brings home lots of good photos. I hope she meets that nice cowboy that she talks to on the Internet. I hope she calls home soon........

A milestone

Tree sparrow cussing out a junco

With the new camera. I can pick it up off the desk before the sun comes up, take pictures of the moon and its little star and the dawn and load them onto the computer without ever turning on the light or looking for buttons. It took so long to get to that point with the little camera, perhaps because it was the first digital. With the big one...it is such a darned delight to take pictures with it, that in no time I have found the easier buttons....still have to learn the more complicated things but....wow!

East ...the sun is rising a little more to the north every day even if it is still freezing cold

South..click for the star

And because I have the big camera to play with the guys took the little camera to the auction with them yesterday. (They have been taking it along everywhere they go....Alan is pretty good at taking pictures and is bringing home some great ones.) Spring is auction time in the farm world and there are usually several every weekend. The boss loves them enough to have gone to Missouri Auction School (with me in tow) and the boy is fast becoming a BIG fan. They went to McFadden's famous spring auction yesterday and nearly froze but enjoyed the socializing as always.

Here is a road picture Alan took with the little camera.

Road trip...detour

Beaver dam on Goldman Road

One of my favorite swamps

"Get offa my cloud"...these Canada geese are already pairing up and staking out territories

If you don't like the weather in Upstate NY

Wait a minute....or maybe just a little more than that.....The first pictures, including the pink heifers, which is unedited except for cropping out the pink-for-minute heifer barn, were taken at 6 AM. At that time the sky was even pink in the west!

The last photo was taken just before ten AM. Same day. Almost the same spot as the first one.

Brrr

This is a completely unadulterated picture of the ice on the windows

This is another

This is another picture of a happy person with a Christmas present

Looking for something to put in the coffee

(Besides sugar and milk that is. It is so cold that anything that might add warmth would be welcome.) Yesterday afternoon you could feel it coming in. The cold I mean. Bone chilling, heart stopping, rottennasty, miserable cold. I moved the tender house plants in the parlor away from the windows and grouped them around the heat register and piled blankets, old coats, pillows, and anything else I could find against the windows. It may look dumb, but it works...sort of. (This house was built for summer and I don't want to staple plastic to the golden oak, hand carved woodwork, so when the north wind blows...brrrrr.)

Alan and I taped the kitchen door shut, like Grandma Peggy used to do. It made a big difference too, as did the heavy cloth objects piled against the bottom of all the doors. Extra blankets on every bed. 3 liter soda bottles filled with extremely hot water tucked in every bed before milking. Then they will be semi, sorta, kinda warm when we get in em. The boss fired up the oil furnace to supplement the wood, but it smells so bad that everyone begged him to shut it off. The wood furnace is mostly keeping up, and it is not too bad this morning. If you wear enough clothes that is. I really should go out and throw in some wood, but I am honestly afraid of falling out there in the dark before anyone gets up to miss me. It is really icy.

When the sun comes up I will get you some pictures of the amazing ice on the living room windows. It glitters right now in the light from the office like Christmas lights and fireplaces and things that are warm...which it isn't. Meanwhile here are a couple quick shots I got of the really wonderful Christmas presents a certain pair of someones gave us.




Note the shirt with farm name, cow and person's name...we have wanted to get show shirts so we all look smart at the cow shows for years. Now we all have 'em. Note the board game, Farmopoly. This game started as soon as Alan got out of school and continued until bedtime (with a couple of intervals for chores and milking). The rules kept bending until it sounded more like a casino in here than a version of monopoly for farmers, but they sure had a great time. There are some other pretty special things as well, including the coolest tractor pulling video I have ever seen. I generally don't watch TV, but I was glued to it when the guys watched it the other day. Made by a local guy and he is GOOD
.



And, no, Becky has not been hitting the stuff I want for the coffee. She was just telling me that if a picture of her showed up on the Internet I was in trouble. (Oops)

The little chickadee in the top photo is enjoying our Christmas tree, which migrated outdoors on Tuesday. The wild birds love it! There were birds in it before Alan even got back indoors from tying it to the swing set where I feed them. Now they huddle under it and skip around through the branches just as if it grew there. Nice