Frosty Friday

 

It took its time, and that's quite all right. 

Today marks my first morning of writing windshield messages for the fall/winter seasons.

We finally had a full-fledged frost overnight. 

So full-fledged, in fact, that it was difficult pressing my writing finger through the thick frost to the surface of the window to form my letters. 

Yep, it was cold outside.  Vehicle windshields and silver blades of grass told the cold story. From now on, gloves will be essential.   

The past few mornings have also seen another new accessory to my ever-increasing morning clothing ensemble.

   

A couple of days ago, Bill pulled out one of his head lamps for me to use during morning chores. 

What a difference a little light on the subject makes! 

Securing the face-mask straps and opening and closing gates has been a lot easier, thanks to light from the head lamp. 

No more fumbling in the darkness, and that makes the whole operation of moving horses from the barnyard to the pasture much easier AND safer. 

Every little bit of efficiency counts as we move closer to winter.  I'm still thinking each morning how I'm going to progress into the winter barn chores as painlessly as possible. 

One strategy will involve cleaning the barns later in the morning when I can actually see where I'm going while unloading manure and bedding from the stalls. 

Another will be to accept the fact that I don't have to over load the sled, and that it will be a lot easier pulling it out the door if it has only one stall's worth of manure and shavings. 

Adjustments.  Adjustments.  They seem to rule our lives as our bodies get older and less willing to endure all that hard work. 

My mind likes hard work, but my body has been in constant resistance mode for the past couple of years. 

While brush hogging yesterday, my body also really noticed more than ever how rough the surface of our second pasture is.

Maybe I'll learn that it's important to make the adjustment of going No. 1 immediately before climbing on the tractor. 

Maybe if I would do that, my bladder would not feel like it has totally expanded to the brink of explosion.

Not too comfy bouncing about on punishing hard ground in that situation. 

Still, I bounced around happily on the orange Kubota and marveled with each round around the field at just how nice the newly groomed areas looked. 

The neater the field looked as I putzed along on the tractor with two Border Collies racing alongside or in front of me, the less I was concerned about the need to go relieve the bladder discomfort. 

Fortunately, the field is not that big, so everything came out just fine, and I'll go at it again today. 

Brush hogging is as close to "farmer" as I can get, so I enjoy every minute of it.  

Plus, this year, having the dogs escort the tractor will add that much more ambience to my thrilling moments of autumn agrarian pursuits. 

Yesterday, in between brush hogging, I enjoyed visiting with my freezer hog source. 

Yep, she's a Farmer too.  

In fact, she even has a new manure spreader for her farm, and she's been out there using it as she attempts to add some fertility to her fields which sustain cows, goats, chickens, etc. 

We country women had a good time talking farming and a whole lot of other stuff while sitting in the front yard drinking coffee and sampling pumpkin bread. 

The usual barter took place too.  Homegrown eggs for homegrown and processed jelly. 

Guess that's enough about farming.  I was scrolling through a poetic/philosophical site this morning.  I liked and actually understood a lot of the offerings.

So, I decided to intersperse some of the more meaningful works with my photos. 

So, enjoy, and Happy Frosty Friday. 

"Autumn is the eternal corrective. 

It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. 

What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon?"

~ Hal Borland (1900-1978)