The last few mornings it's been especially hard to roll outta bed. I'm not a morning person by nature and it's so tempting to just swaddle back into my cozy flannel sheets and multiple fleece blankets when my other option is to throw back the toasty covers and step onto a chilly floor in a cool semi-dark room. 6am comes around alot earlier it seems when you beat the sunrise every morning and the temps are hovering just under 10 degrees in the pre-dawn hours. Then I still have to bundle myself and the kids into multiple layers of clothing, brave the breeze to the van and head to the barn fighting yawns the whole way. There the cement floor is slick and icy, the wind blusters it's way thru every crack it can find, and my fingers begin to fumble from the cold.
You'd think I'd be pretty miserable at this point, right? Sure things are slippery and I spend the first 10 minutes of chores getting my shivering back under control but this cold snap brings about a certain feeling, a sense that Winter is at hand.
There's a magic in the air when those few snowflakes drift down and tickle my nose as I'm heading out to feed calves. There's something so charming about seeing rosy cheeks on my children as they come in from outside. There's this sense of anticipation as calendars begin counting down days til Christmas. I start dreaming of afternoons spent cross-country skiing, ice skating, or sledding followed by mugs of hot cocoa and snuggles under cozy warm blankets. I consider Winter as time for our family. For us, it's the slowest time on the farm so we are able to enjoy evenings instead of the hurry up rush-rush pace of Spring planting, Summer haying, and Fall harvesting. L is around a little more and there's time to work on housing projects. We are able to travel a little more (depending on the weather of course) and the holiday season gives plenty of opportunity for visiting with family we don't see on a regular basis. Outdoor activities become family outings. In fact, this year V might even fit into his skis! And since I apparently have a fishing license (the hubby bought it but didn't tell me) I'm guessing ice fishing just might be added to our list of things to do together.
Sure there will be the frigid days where it's so cold vehicles won't start and your eyelashes freeze together as soon as you open the door. There will be snowstorms that dump inches of snow, winds to build drifts across the driveway, and ice-covered roads to make driving perilous.
But just as I find the magic in new life burgeoning in Spring, in watching the crops and pastures growing lush and thick in Summer, and in walking through the colorific splendor of an Autumn forest, I'm seeing magic in the crisp snowy Winter.
So while I'm attempting to keep feeling in my fingers and toes while doing chores, I'll be dreaming of all wonderful things I'll hopefully get to do this winter and it helps warm me from the inside.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Thursday, November 7, 2013
A day in the life of Me
It struck me after a recent conversation with a family member, that many people may not know what exactly goes on on the farm. It varies depending on the time of year (spring is planting, summer is haying, and fall is harvest) but here's a glimpse into my daily life.
Rise and Shine! The alarm goes off at 5:30am and while we are slow to rise from our warm bed with it's cozy flannel sheets, we beat the sun on a regular basis now. She doesn't poke her nose above the horizon for another hour so its dark, frosty mornings that greet us each day. After bundling into as many or as few layers as necessary depending on Mother Nature's thermostat, I drive five or so miles to the winter barn to milk our herd of cows, feed calves, and help with the general set up/clean up in the barn. This usually takes 2-2 1/2 hours right now but sometimes it's longer if we have troubles and sometimes it's less if things go extra smooth.
Once chores are over, we head back home where I whip up a quick but hearty breakfast (more like brunch since we usually eat around 10am) before L heads out to do whatever is on the agenda for the day. In Spring, there's fields to be plowed, prepared, and planted. In Summer, there's hay to cut, rake, bale, haul, and wrap or corn and black beans to cultivate. In Autumn, there's grains to be combined, corn to be chopped, and the last of the hay to be hauled. Winter is slower since we can't work in the fields but there's always repairs to be made, places to be cleaned and tidied, and equipment to be worked on. Sometimes L will work on several of these a day but, while his days are busy, they usually aren't that late as the sun sets earlier now and it's hard to work in the dark.
While L is out in the field, the shop, or elsewhere on the farm I'm typically found working at home. I do all the usual things-wash dishes, tend the house, raise the kids, (not) weed my garden, etc-that most stay at home moms do but I'm also partly in charge of the books for the farm. I am responsible for entering information into our computer program for tax season as well as updating our cow records with health and breeding stats. L does some of this too but he does more with field and crop information and keeping track of what we feed our cows. Today I made breakfast, swept the floors, washed the dishes, made supper, worked on books for a half hour, and cleaned up the multiple messes my children are so great at making.
In the evenings, I will make supper and (if it's my night for chores) I'll bundle my kids up before heading to the barn for evening milking. Cooler evenings mean many layers, even in an enclosed milking parlor. But things seem to click along easily most days and I'm back home by 7:30pm, just in time to feed the kids, let them play a while before sending them off to bed. If I'm not milking, I keep on with my daily work until L comes home, when I serve supper. My day ends with a few minutes to myself to read or work on a puzzle before hitting the sack around 9:30pm. 5:30 comes awfully early.
Rise and Shine! The alarm goes off at 5:30am and while we are slow to rise from our warm bed with it's cozy flannel sheets, we beat the sun on a regular basis now. She doesn't poke her nose above the horizon for another hour so its dark, frosty mornings that greet us each day. After bundling into as many or as few layers as necessary depending on Mother Nature's thermostat, I drive five or so miles to the winter barn to milk our herd of cows, feed calves, and help with the general set up/clean up in the barn. This usually takes 2-2 1/2 hours right now but sometimes it's longer if we have troubles and sometimes it's less if things go extra smooth.
Once chores are over, we head back home where I whip up a quick but hearty breakfast (more like brunch since we usually eat around 10am) before L heads out to do whatever is on the agenda for the day. In Spring, there's fields to be plowed, prepared, and planted. In Summer, there's hay to cut, rake, bale, haul, and wrap or corn and black beans to cultivate. In Autumn, there's grains to be combined, corn to be chopped, and the last of the hay to be hauled. Winter is slower since we can't work in the fields but there's always repairs to be made, places to be cleaned and tidied, and equipment to be worked on. Sometimes L will work on several of these a day but, while his days are busy, they usually aren't that late as the sun sets earlier now and it's hard to work in the dark.
While L is out in the field, the shop, or elsewhere on the farm I'm typically found working at home. I do all the usual things-wash dishes, tend the house, raise the kids, (not) weed my garden, etc-that most stay at home moms do but I'm also partly in charge of the books for the farm. I am responsible for entering information into our computer program for tax season as well as updating our cow records with health and breeding stats. L does some of this too but he does more with field and crop information and keeping track of what we feed our cows. Today I made breakfast, swept the floors, washed the dishes, made supper, worked on books for a half hour, and cleaned up the multiple messes my children are so great at making.
In the evenings, I will make supper and (if it's my night for chores) I'll bundle my kids up before heading to the barn for evening milking. Cooler evenings mean many layers, even in an enclosed milking parlor. But things seem to click along easily most days and I'm back home by 7:30pm, just in time to feed the kids, let them play a while before sending them off to bed. If I'm not milking, I keep on with my daily work until L comes home, when I serve supper. My day ends with a few minutes to myself to read or work on a puzzle before hitting the sack around 9:30pm. 5:30 comes awfully early.
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