Home Again

Back from first day at work in the New Year of 2013.  I confess it was good to see some of the wild bunch in GED class and there were hugs all around.     Must be the fried egg sandwiches I make them every day.   I really like my co-workers.  Poor little Fawn, my studio art aide, is out with the flu.   I have a dynamite substitute, Kathy Reediger, who is also an exercise guru who teaches classes for office workers at the city building in Norwich.  We are trying to get her to lead a class for us after school a couple of days a week.  Robin, my GED aide, is as bouncy and tough as ever.  Her husband has worked at the same factory where Chobani now makes yogurt for 25 years.  Chobani took them to London for the Olympics and treated them to a trip to Paris.   I have some very challenging students, then I have others I just want to bring home with me.  It all balances out.  The toughest part is leaving the farm then coming home on 25 miles of snow covered icy roads in driving snow.   15 of those miles is through twist and turns with  deep ravines on either side in a cell phone dead zone.  I have extra heavy coats, Kimmie Cornerstone's fluffy thrums mittens and Diet Pepsi, just in case.  I picked up lots of Friskies Salmon Kitty Pate at the Dollar General where the cans are almost half the price of other places, along with some smoked kipper snacks for myself.  My father used to give me kipper snacks when I was growing up.  It's a Scandi thing.   Oh, those dogs and cats were happy to see me tonight.  Only damage I could find was a torn up oatmeal container.  I'm suiting up to go out to the barn now.  I hate it when it's soooo cold out there.  Going down below zero tonight I think.   Will put on two big pots of wool to simmer all night in the milk room so the water pipes don't freeze.   Toasty warm in here but frigid out there.  Lots of hay for the sheep and goats which makes them warmer.  Hay combusts inside them creating more warmth than feed does.   Found  pot of chili in the freezer for dinner.  Love chili this time of year.    Will cook up a big pot of sticky rice, which I will feed to the dogs and cats later mixed with eggs and milk.   Having electrical problems in the barn.  Circuit breakers popping all the time.  Matt Redmond needs to change the electric service before something terrible happens.  All it takes is lots of money and lots of time  - two things that are hard to come by.  What we have are lots of happy critters, a big strong funky barn, and beautiful land, here in Paradise, Great North Land, New York State, USA.