Farm Life Myths

Happy Saturday friends!

I've been thinking about people who live on farms this week. Out in the elements, doing all the things to make sure that their critters are okay in the weather. We made it through last weekend's storm intact, no power outages, and about an inch of "wintry mix"—not bad, not slippery, we and all the animals were okay, whew!

As I write this on Friday night, I'm watching the newest storm roll in and we're expecting 5-6" of snow. At least that's what they say. In North Carolina, like a lot of places, you just have to wait until it's happening, there really isn't a lot of weather forecasting that means too much it seems. Snow would be nice! But of course the roads will be a mess and the lows will be in the teens which means melting will just turn into ice the next day. Oh well, what can you do? 

Oh wait! I know! Play in the snow, rearrange your house, paint pretty pictures, and cook, that's what. That's my plan for the weekend!

But back to my musings, thinking about farm folks. It's often assumed that because we live on a farm that we are out at the crack of dawn, hucking hay and shoveling shit lol. A lot of farmers are, hobby farms included. But I thought I'd let you in on a little secret:

We don't.

Yes, we have to do all the things to make the farm run but nowadays with Brad mostly retired, me with a flexible schedule, and ManChild also with a flexible schedule (for now anyway), we have figured out ways that we don't have to get out of bed in the wee hours to take care of everyone anymore.

What is this magic I speak of?!?

Yeah, it turns out, you don't have to do that, if you have a certain set of circumstances like ours. 

1. We don't have stalls, just shelter, so the horses are outside 24/7. No feeling bad for them being stuck in a 12x12' space and needing to go let them back outside.

2. We use hay bags with 1 1/4" openings (to slow their intake since ours can gain weight on air) and we pack them more full at night. Packing those bags means that they have hay 24/7. We don't wake up to whinnying horses at 5am.

3. Before we started this life (10 years ago this year!) my friend Jewel told me, "Don't feed your animals their grain on a strict schedule, it keeps them from getting demanding at a certain time." Truer words were never spoken. 

4. Be lucky enough to have a "footie" horse (looking at you Tori and before her, Rayn) who will use a front foot to crack the ice in the water trough so everyone can drink. No running out early to break ice.

5. We blanket the horses in really cold weather, it keeps their hay consumption down to normal. horses eat to stay warm, keep them warm and they don't go through all their hay at night.

6. Having 3 people really helps. Brad and I typically go out to do morning chores. One feeds grain and stuffs hay bags. The other cleans the goat barn and rakes up piles of loose hay under where the hay bags hang. ManChild goes out at some point during the day to pick up the manure and old hay piles in the pasture. We don't have a large enough property to leave it or drag it. We had 15 acres in Colorado, that was big enough to drag and not have to pick it all up. 

So, all that to say, this is doable, for the most part. I mean yes, there is still a lot of work compared to when we were living in the suburbs but this is good-for-your-soul work :-) And figuring out how to make it not kill us has been good for our souls too! 

A few photos from our last winter storm:

As I always tell you, she likes the snow, can you see The Polar Bear? I do think she spent the night inside the barn with the goats though, not outside like she normally does:

The Polar Bear's outer fur was crunchy from sleet. Deep inside she was warm and dry:

I put WD-40 on all the gate latches and snap clips but wasn't sure if it would be enough. So I covered one just to be certain we could get in if the farm was covered in ice. Brad laughed at me:

Tori girl...lol she was a mess when we came out to do chores. She had been rolling all around. I posted this on Nextdoor and someone had the most perfect southern response, "Oh my. Bless her heart."

All the horses had frozen hair, so we knew they had been out in it, even the Duchess of Cashmere :

Do you like Blu's little double forelock swirls?

But the donkeys...dry as a bone. They really don't like stuff coming out of the sky thank you very much. They are a lot like goats in that:

But then everything melted, blankets came off, and life with Sweetness went back to normal, "I help."

The Red Winged Blackbirds came back:

This morning we decided to move the herd to the upper pasture for the day and found an inch of ice in the trough:

Last week it was a rodeo to get Blu's blanket on. Usually I let them choose if they want a blanket but it was going to be really cold AND wet and that's where I draw the line. Unintentional horse rodeos are no fun :-( So, I decided that we would take them all up to the upper pasture for the day and in the evening bring them back down to shelter. To bring them back down, they have to be in halters, ha, so I just tied him to a post and put his blanket on. No rodeo, yay! 

And then, randomly, I will include this because I just can't get enough of my brother and his little dog Princess Penelope having a little rest after morning playtime. And because I always get asked, no we aren't twins ;-) but seriously, what the heck, could we look any more alike:

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If you've been hearing a lot about the Year of the Fire Horse and would like to create one, join me in a live online art class starting this Monday, 2/2/26, 7:30-9pm EST. It runs 4 weeks, is $140, dates are 2/2, 2/16, 1/23, 3/2. Call/text/email me to join: 720-635-7015 [email protected] This is my watercolor we will be recreating:

In case you're curious, this is the supply list:

This group skips 2/9 because I have a free online class that evening, also 7:30-9pm EST where we will be painting watercolor poppies! Click here to join!

THE MEMES:

I wish I had this:

I know this to be true because I rarely turn my heat on in my bonus room bedroom but if I wake up and feel cold, I draw my canopy around me and it quickly becomes warmer. Sometimes I write this newsletter in there ;-) Soooo cozy and I feel like a kid in a blanket fort:

HOW TO WORK WITH ME:

For the months of January and February, I'm offering $25 off hourly coaching, so just $100! With horses, without horses, in-person, or online, your choice.

Neurofeedback This is a great time of year to treat yourself to a tune up and train your brain to calm and ease. The most common response I hear about neurofeedback is, "I'm so much less reactive!" It really does smooth out the sharp spikes. Super helpful if the world feels harsh and spiky to you too right now. $70/hr

Reiki Another way to facilitate relaxation, calm, healing. In the summer an option is outside in the herd. This time of year, it's always in my office where it's warm :-) $90/hr

And of course Women's Circles! The Wednesday circle has a waiting list, I will add you to it if you'd like.

And art classes! Hmmm...I need yet another website redo. I don't think I have a specific page for this. Online or in-person, group or individual. Send me an email and let's talk!

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This is an AI-free newsletter! While I love to use AI to help me figure out a piece of software I don't understand, my intention is to use it to help me with the drudgery, never with writing, art, creation. All em dashes are intentional and mine, I was using them way before ChatGPT was a twinkle in Sam Altman's eye :-)

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Thank you for reading :-)

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