Okay.
There is nothing to really do when it’s terribly cold.
AND
There are some BIG! SCARY! THINGS on MY FARM!
They scare me so much I growl at them and run to the house!
MOM!!!!
I’m ready to come in.
TLC Cai-Cai
We are working daily (still)
Three loads of wood a day
Back and forth
Cut, load, stack, cut load, stack
The Pile is Shrinking
It’s starting to look different (this is before)
This is now. We are more than 1/2 way done
Slow and steady, slow and steady
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. — SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
We are very cold right now….7*f -13*c. The morning light is so incredibly beautiful shining through the crisp cold air
The colors streaming, and dancing on the peaks is very attractive.
The world is rather beautiful, as the day evaporates into bits of whirling sunlight.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
Our earth is very old, but to me, it doesn’t seem so. There are so many, many things of wonder I stand in awe every day.
For one thing…the Red-Winged Blackbirds didn’t leave this year. Why I don’t know. But their joyful songs make every day of winter a miracle unfolding.
Even the wind touching on the land, in the bare trees, and blowing cold upon our faces is a remembrance of how old and marvelous this ancient earth really is
The feel of the wind is a reminder of all the places the wind has been…all we have to do is listen
And within the wind, if you stop and ‘feel’ (don’t concentrate.)
You can hear the Angels breathing
From my world to your heart,
Linda
We are in the last of what we can do this fall on the building. Terry finished adding in the wood stove this Friday–
While I was helping him, I saw our youngest grandchild matching her Grandfather in time and space—
Only her activity was a tad more easier. 🙂
Then as the chill wind from the Uncompaghre Plateau picked up its normal speed for evening…
We all gathered around the woodstove in the wood working shop.
Outside the the wind gusts whirled across the corn field lifting and swirling last years golden leaves, the winter birds sang their evening song, as they looked for the perfect field to bed down in for the night; the shadows lengthened into the lavender light as the earth cooled.
Shadows filled the building (although there ARE lights); we stayed beside the fire. Grandpa, a little darling granddaughter, Boomer and I…the outside wind sounding like angels wings heralding comforting peace.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
We pretended decided to get ready one more time,
One field is very, very, close. By our moisture tester is says we are there. But the corn sample Terry took to the Elevator said it was still too high. The second field is still over-the-top wet.
No matter what your corn moisture tester says, it’s what the Elevator’s moisture testers reads. 
Today, around noon, we will get different sample from the third field and take it to the Elevator…maybe this one will be good to go. Maybe.
Three fields waiting. We’ve checked them one by one.
December is flying by…what an amazing year for corn harvest. Although, to be sure, we are NOT the only ones with this problem. A few of the farmers have gotten ‘some’ of their corn in, but not many, and not a lot of their fields. Together we all wait.
Your friend on a Western Colorado Farm,
Linda
THANK YOU! THANK-YOU One and ALL!
The lady took the cat! I am so grateful and thankful for each of your prayers, magic thoughts and crossed arms, legs, toes, hands and fingers!! YIPPEE!!!
She also will take the female cat, if I can find her and trap her. Oh the joy of good friends and people who love animals!
As for the other cat…I can’t find her. I’ve been watching for her for three days now; she seems to have disappeared. It is possible she worked her way to some other house along our country road; searching for a male.
Or….this big bird took her for lunch.
I tried to blow up the photo to see what type of bird it is
It just turned fuzzy on me.
Does anyone have an idea. It looks heavy…is it carrying something I wonder.
IF this bird made lunch out of the very sweet little cat…there is nothing I can do about it.
Predators…another reason people really need to NOT DUMP ANIMALS!!! If it wasn’t a bird it could very easily be a fox or a coyote . I guess those who dump don’t really care…out of site out of mind. It’s gets eaten…Oh well, that’s how it goes.
I will keep looking for her, but I’m thinking I really don’t have to any more.
Your friend,
Linda
Yesterday was just like all the other days…way too busy and yet not over the top (yet). Our eldest daughter lives two miles from us and works about an hour away. I always go down and check on her wood fire to make sure everything is still toasty warm. We do this because she lives alone and we would hate for her to have frozen pipes. That has happened before, which requires Terry to go down and help her thaw them.
We have a new mailman…a really nice kid. He is still learning the route that we live on (it’s a big’un 75 miles) so he sometimes doesn’t have our mail to us until late in the day. (I feel really sorry for him — he said he is getting better, it just takes so much time to sort the mail before he can get started in the day.
Anyway, I stopped at the mailbox on this trip down…no mail. Next trip down around five the mail was there having come sometime between noon and five. Inside was a box addressed to me!
Cool!
Back home I opened it up to find that FarSide had sent to Terry and I and each grandchild a hand-carved ornament for our trees!
These whimsical ornaments were from the huge branch that fell last summer from our Cottonwood tree.
I have followed FarSide’s blog for several years and knew that she and husband loved to do wood carvings. They particularly liked to use Cottonwood bark. I gathered a box and shipped it off to her to see if she could use it. She could. Wonderful!
I did not expect to have a craving from the wood, I just wanted her to have some of the bark. Gradually over-time I forgot about the wood, knowing that, if and when, it was carved it would be blogged about with pictures for all to see.
The gift was a total surprise!!! Just plain delightful! Terry and I commented how creative they are to be able to ‘see’ what the wood is saying. I’m afraid I only see firewood, mulch, wood chips…ack! I’m not able to see what stone or marble or wood really is projecting.
Thank you so much, Connie! They are just perfect!
Your farm friend,
Linda
I’m getting a tad tired of all the clouds
Although, there is snow on the mountains and around us.
Dreary is well….dreary!
But today…this morning…I CAN SEE SOME SUN…so I’m heading out for a walk.
Happy Monday!!!
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 