Everything is Relative

Ten degrees is warm compared to zero.  The first intense cold snap took a bit of adjustment for sheep and shepherd.  I was worried about pipes freezing, hoses freezing, animals freezing, but we got through it.  The right clothes help.  I get dressed twice in the morning - first, to go out and do chores and that requires several layers of silkies, ski pants, turtleneck, sweater (just the right sweater - it's a very personal thing - now it's an angora/wool pullover knitted for me by Lisa Merian's mother that fits just right under my Carhartt) hat and thick gloves.  The jacket pockets are necessary to hold scissors and  the gloves which I have to take off to get a hold of the baling twine in order to pull the big bales across the barn to the boy's end, and when I have to turn the nozzle on the hose.  I use leather work gloves with fleece inside as they are thick enough to afford me some kind of warmth and don't get wet.   Joseph and Gabriel get their bottles first.  They jump up and go nuts when they see me come out.  I'll be happy when they are drinking water but I haven't seen it yet.  I drag the hose out and fill water containers that are hanging on the fence first.  One would think the sheep would be less thirsty in the cold but it's quite the opposite.  Ducks, chickens and rabbits all need water before I climb up into the hay mow to drag bales.  The bales fell off the elevator track and fell in a giant pile.  I can't pull the lower bales out from under the ones on top so I have to climb up to the top and throw them down.  These lovely bales are thick and heavy, around 50-60 pounds at least, which require a mighty heave to get them down to the floor of the hay mow.  Then I have to drag them across the barn and throw them down the ladder chutes.  I climb down the far ladder and cut the bales open to pass flakes to the silo room for the boys...cute little boys whose destiny is to go in the freezer.  I'm making sure they are enjoying life for the short time they live it.  Then it's climb into the duck pen to retrieve the beautiful, large eggs from under the one duck who wants to hatch them and is keeping them in a lovely feathery nest of hay.  Funny there is only one duck desiring to do this as there as several females.  She is taking care of five or six eggs for the others.  I then cut the bales for the sheep on the near side of the barn and distribute some to the kindergarten pen that contains the lambs, and carry hay over to the rabbits and little Sidewinder, the pregnant goat, who has her own pen.  All this goes on while the barn cats are waiting for the little handfuls of food I give them in the morning to keep them happy.  I know they are catching mice and rats as my barn is blissfully free of rodents.  Thank you Kitties.  Don't need rats chewing on electric wires or killing my chickens.  Only then can I come back inside and think about getting myself ready to go to work.  Today is a rare day that I got my clothes ready the night before.  It's usually a free for all with me sorting through piles and piles for something clean and relatively wrinkle free.  I like getting a little dressed up for work as I'm quite the opposite at home on the farm.  Little do they know at work what I looked like an hour before I arrived there, thankfully.   All this is making me realize I should get out there and get this show on the road.