Rest

Well, this will be the opposite of my summer blog posts!



During the summer the farm is a flurry of sweat, dirt and ever changing To Do Lists. At the moment now, the farm is a flurry of....well, flurries I guess!
There is still the usual livestock care, feeding, and evenings spent in the shop, but there is now time for some more leisurely activities as well.


This has been a pretty strange winter weather wise. The photo above was taken after a winter thunderstorm, complete with a winter rainbow. I have never seen that before.

We have had some crazy warm days, even up to +10C! Last night it didn't even get to freezing and the flurries coming down now are definitely mixed with rain. It has frozen to be quite the slippery mess in areas, which has created some difficulties for us, but mostly fun!

Our pond in the back pasture has frozen over and we have been thoroughly enjoying it! Everyday this week we have been out skating, sometimes twice in the same day even. The little farmers and I are loving every second of it! Little farm girl is mastering her skates quickly and little farm boy loves to ride in the sled that I tie around my waist. Its excellent exercise and we all come in pretty tired!

The weather has made for some neat ice crystals too!







So beautiful!
Sometimes I forget to come in after doing chores, its little things like these that get me sidetracked. That, and horses, and kittens, and tracks in the snow, and stars, and itchy pigs. Maybe I am just highly distract-able, but I like to think anyone would be distracted by those...



We also have been getting ready for Christmas! We usually wait until pretty close to Christmas to pick a tree but the little farmers just couldn't wait. We found just the right one but somehow it seemed to grow as we got closer to home. What looked like a pretty reasonable tree in the field got a lot bigger once we got it inside!



Little farm boy helps decorate it after we had trimmed a few feet off the top and bottom of it.



And I will leave you with a picture of this smiling pig enjoying the warm temperatures.

I am in the thick of a book I am itching to get back to. Its called Gaining Ground and its the story of a farm start up. It does such a good job of capturing the dream and passion of farming and the ups and downs of trying to get a farm off the ground. As I read it I feel the swell of excitement as the farm grows, the bitter disappointments of failures and the sickening doubt of whether the farm will ever able to support itself. I could hardly tear myself away to write this so I am going to curl right back up with it and read until little farm boy is awake. Its a nice way to spend a break from actual farming...

Snow Pigs

There are two things that I am feeling quite thankful for today. Actually, there are many more, but two of them are on my mind at the moment, and they also pertain to this wonderful but challenging season of winter.



Firstly, we had our first cold snap.
Not an intense cold snap, but it was pretty chilly just the same. I think the coldest we saw on the farm was -29.7C, which is not unusual and was still warmer than some of our neighbours reported. I think though it was the windchill that made if feel so cold. It was cold enough though to cause skin to sting and the pigs to disappear under their hay pile. But, the best thing it did was acclimatize us (or maybe just me) to winter.
Before the cold snap I was so cold all the time, even in many layers with constant slipper wearing. I think I had forgot what actual cold felt like. That feeling when you step outside and the air refuses to enter your lungs, or you slip off a mit to open a clip on the gate and your fingers immediately freeze to the metal.  Now that I have remembered what it is truly like to be cold, the average winter temperatures are no problem! I feel like winter and I have a bit of a truce now.

The main thing I am thankful for today is our wonderful weather, which I may not have appreciated if not for our delightful and perspective-giving cold snap. Today is a deliciously sunny, throw off your mittens and play -6C. It feels amazing and we are all taking advantage of it!
Here are some pictures from around the farm.



Yesterday I was extremely spoiled when Matt gave me a Mom's morning off! I hauled Charlie down to our local indoor riding arena and got to spend a bit of very refreshing horse time.
When we are home we have been pulling them into an open space in the hay barn to play. Here is little farm girl and Tex working on their side pass.



The pigs even had some play time in the snow. We have two gilts we are hoping to breed for next spring. The close one is Popcorn, and the one behind her and leaving a face print is is Lady.

I thought Lady looked particularly elegant in this picture.

The pigs were charging about in the snow and having a great time. I always enjoy their expressions when they run. Its like their faces defy gravity for a split second.



Well, I have about 2000lbs of feed to move, so the little farmers and I are going to head out to enjoy the sunshine some more! I hope you get to soak it in as well!