We woke up this morning to a little sleet/frozen rain giving a light coating to everything outside. There are many folks around that have weather much worse than ours, especially up in the northeast. But, out in this neck of the woods, when we get this type of weather everything shuts down until the roads all thaw out. We've heard a few folks on the VHF radio this morning that are out and about 'going to get something' they need. We always ask ourselves, "Why didn't they need this a couple of days ago when it was sunny and 76*?" That's when we filled up both vehicles with gas and bought what we needed from the store. We can't help but shake our heads and wonder what is actually contained within their craniums that causes them to throw all caution to the wind and venture out in their immortal skins, knowing that all will be well regardless of the weather conditions. It kind of reminds you of all those folks that know a collapse is coming but refuse to prepare anything for it's inevitable arrival, doesn't it? Take hurricane Katrina for example. People knew for days and days it was coming, but some didn't prepare. The video clip that really got to me was the one with some folks out on their porch asking, "Where's my water? When is somebody going to bring us our water?" We will never be able to understand the thought processes of people that throw caution to the wind and expect others to take care of them if something bad happens. Remember the story about the grasshopper and the ant? We're ants.
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| Our pine needle covered path is extra slippery this morning |
Every so often when I am out taking pictures, I get a variety of shots from here and there that don't fit into any particular theme or post, but I like them and keep them. Today seemed to be a good day to dig some of them out to share. So, in no particular order, here is a view of life on our farm.
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| This is a great little lantern that is charged with a small solar panel on top. |
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| Our funny Pearl, waiting with me for baby goats. |
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| My first attempt at fermented cabbage that I haven't told you about. |
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| The salad is growing. Lettuce seedlings |
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| Mixed baby greens |
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| Spinach |
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| Lunch & Buttons, 5 days old |
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| Patch running around like a nut. |
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| Patch |
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| Lunch & Buttons. The lighting makes them look lighter than they are. |
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| Buttons |
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| The wethers and billy goat |
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| Eating hay in the manger |
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| One of our oldest cats, Pooh (there used to be a Tigger) |
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| Frost on the turnips |
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| It's back to milking twice a day. Yea! |
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| This is the first year I've been able to get a few decent bird pictures. |
Before we became bloggers, we really didn't take very many pictures. There are still many times we will be in the middle of something, or even finished with something that would have made a good post, but didn't think of the camera. Very little effort has been made to figure out how to take decent movies and upload them to the blog. The first time I tried, Blogger wouldn't accept whatever format our camera uses. I tried again a few days ago and figured out that I can upload short movies now. Here a few short shots of the kids playing in the barn today. Please forgive the wiggling and sometimes blurry shots from zooming in too close. The quality of the upload is not the best either. You'll notice I am not the narrator. No one is. You may hear goats munching hay in the background or moving around in the barn. Or crows calling. Life in the barn is generally quiet and peaceful. I like it that way.
There are many times that the peaceful, quiet days we enjoy on the farm belie the distant rumblings and groanings of the discord that is growing across the globe. Some days it seems louder and others more distant, but there is no denying the fact that the discontent with life as we know it on this planet is growing and growing at a rate that is visibly escalating. Almost everyday we talk about the blessing of being tucked away from most 'happenings' out in the everyday world. There is no TV or radio blaring here. There are few neighbors and most of them are known. There is no desire to 'go' and 'see' and 'be a part of' anything happening 'out there', like we might miss out on something.
There is contentment with who we are, where we are and the work we have to do here. There is a true blessing in living a quiet, peaceful life on the farm for us. This contentment can be found most anywhere if you choose to pursue it. It won't come knocking on your door, but if you look for it, you will realize it's always been there, waiting to be discovered, waiting to be found.
Until next time - Fern
