It was – 7 this morning when Maria went out to take her video, and I went out to help feed the animals ((in my bathrobe and take a few pictures. Maria stayed a lot longer. It was cold, but I got inside quickly enough to warm up. Zip and Lulu (above) work on their friendship. Zip is like Maria; the cold is just part of life, and I remember my first day at the first Bedlam Farm. A blizzard from Canada, -30 one night..
I’m catching up with work today; see you in the morning. We look forward to Christmas, including me, my farm, my wife, my partner, readers, dogs, cats, donkeys, etc. Got lots of good to do and so much to be grateful for.
Paper Whites are graceful and beautiful.
Lilies are opening up.
Callas always. Thanks to Georgia O’Keeffe for all she taught me.
Lilies and red roses
Callas
Sarah continues to help her Pantry customers get two things they will need for the holidays: Paper Towels and Tissues. I’m calling the request TNT. Bitter cold weather like the one we are having now will make life even harder for the pantry families as the year ends and another begins.
Both items are critical for families that must choose between tissues and food. I can think of nothing better to do on a weekend – especially this weekend – than some good.
Angel Soft Toilet Paper, 16 Mega Rolls = 64 Regular Rolls, Soft and Strong Toilet Tissue, $10.99
Member’s Mark Soft & Strong Facial Tissues, 12 Flat Boxes, 160-2 Ply Tissues Per Box, $14.98.
These are difficult weeks for the pantry and the families it serves. Please help if possible. Everything on the Cambridge Wish List is out or gone from the shelves. These kids need diapers, and their parents need baby wipes. Thanks for thinking about it.
I hope you can help.
These items are currently discounted on the Amazon Wish List Program. You can also access the wish list by clicking the green button at the bottom of every blog post. Everything on the wish list is desperately needed. Feel free to browse some good presents on Christmas morning. Some, I’m told, will even be stocking stuffers.
Have a wonderful and meaningful holiday. I’ll post Sarah’s urgent requests daily except for December 26th and 27th. I know you all will be busy, but stick with me if possible. Hunger doesn’t honor the holidays.
Maria and I (and Zip) agree that he should not come indoors in the winter. He agrees as well. Barn cats know how to keep warm, but Maria laughs when I wonder if he is warm enough and if we could or should do anything to ensure that he is. I’m the one who suggested a heated barn house, which is plugged in for the hard winter days and nights.
So I’m the worrier, and she’s the tough guy—a role switch. Zip has taken me over. I’m a cat person now and a dog person. Zip has many warm places to sleep (including the expensive heated outdoor cat house), but during the afternoon, he always comes to one of his blanket-stuffed wooden boxes to sleep for hours.
When I saw his temperature was zero, I told Maria we might want to check on him. I admit to being a squish around Zip. We never worried about Minnie and Flo, our two previous outdoor barn cats. They never wanted to come into the house but loved dozing on the back porch.
Maria laughed at me again and suggested I look at Zip’s favored new daytime headquarters. I was startled to see him happily kneading several pieces of wool fleece padding I used for blankets and seats. The padding was from our sheep, and the wool was beautiful, but the fleece was quite pricy. “I knew you were worried about him, but you can relax now.” And I have.
He loves it out there.
Zip is in heaven with the fleece. He hasn’t come out of the box all day and takes turns kneading, dozing, and kneading. Maria reminded me that I am the one who has trouble in zero weather, not Zip. She says she can get me some fleece blankets if I want.
Also, he’s had access to a heated cat house for two winters. He stuck his head in and plugged it in when we got it, but he hasn’t gone in once. He sleeps mainly in a seedy, old, smelly dog bed beside the heated cat house. We think we know cats, but we don’t—at least I don’t.
When I moved to my first farm, my farmer neighbors scoffed at Weather broadcasts as a weakness. They told me to look up at the sky, and I would know what kind of weather was coming. I tried to emulate them, guessing the temperatures and forecasts myself. “My father never thought the weather was dangerous,” said one, “until we got a TV set.” I admired the farmers, their macho and independence. Later, I gave up on the idea of being macho; it was hopeless, but I stayed away from weather forecasts. I relied instant on a rusting and ancient outdoor thermometer hung outside the kitchen window about the time of the Civil War War, I guessed.
I was doing well until climate change upended everyone’s weather projections. Then, a few weeks ago, a blog reader suggested I was stretching it when I said the temperature one morning was zero by social media standards; that hurt a bit. It’s time to get some help – the Weather Channel.
The donkeys know what to do—they stand outside, facing the sun, absorbing it into their coats. They don’t move a bit all day. Zip has the same habit; when it’s cold and the sun is out, he soaks up by being still. Like the donkey’s, his coat is always warm if the sun is out. Outdoor animals – the sheep, two, and barn cats soak up the sun. When it’s raining, we never see them.
So, I signed up for the Weather Channel, something I have avoided ever since living on a farm. There is a lot of junk on the Weather Channel, things I don’t want or need to read. But one thing about it that seems reliable is the temperature.
When I wake up, I turn on the Weather Channel app on my Iphone. My farmer neighbors all seem to have weather apps now; they insist there is no shame in it. “They get the temperature pretty good,” one of the old geezers told me.
So when I wake up, the very first thing I do is look for the temperature. It was okay when I rushed outside with my camera; they weren’t kidding. It was biting cold, numbing cold. I wore a jacket, but my slippers did me a little good.
Just now, I looked, and it was 10. I can brag about that all I want. Not bad for an older man, I thought. I tried taking some photos to capture the cold – not easy; there’s a blue sky with bright clouds.
St. Joseph, whose forecast I trust much more than the weather people, says it will warm up by Christmas. He says it will still be cold, but not zero.
My camera froze up on me this morning. That was a first.
