You know you live in the North Country when....

Time for everyone's favorite game: "You know you live in the North Country when...."

1. It's 20F and you remove a layer of clothing because "it isn't that cold out".

2. It hits 40F and everyone is wearing shorts.

3. It's sunny with clear blue skies and snowing.

4. It's -10F out and you think it could be worse, at least it isn't -20F.

5. It's -20F out and you finally put on your mittens because last time you froze your bare fingers to the door knob.

6. You're driving 55 mph in blinding snow and get passed by a Ford Focus.

7. Everyone passes the plow truck .... always, no matter where.

8. "A dusting" equals 3" of snow in 1/2 hour

9. The weatherman on TV says "and more snow in the mountains" and you know that means 6" - 12".

10. You automatically discount the predicted temperature on TV by -10F no matter what it says.

11. The snow you saw hit the ground in October is the same snow you see when it thaws in May.

12. It's okay to walk/drive/snowmobile on the ice of a frozen lake 24 hours after it was open water.

13. You actually can point to the "North Country" on a NYS map.

14. A hot date night in the winter is english muffin pizzas, a bottle of Jack, and Jeopardy.

15. You see more than two people walking through the mall with crampons on their shoes.

16. Winter is your favorite 8 months of the year!

The Truths of Winter

I have come to realize over the years that there are several truths to winter in the North Country on a farm. One truth is that there is snow and cold. Another is that it will be dark 18 hours a day and snowing the other 6 hours. Here are some more truths of winter farming that I have discovered:

1. A complete thaw will come 2 days after you've cleaned the frozen poo off the chicken house floor with a pick-axe

2. The smelly buck goat will escape his winter enclosure just before you have to leave to go out to dinner but just after you have put on your nice clothes.

3. The "freeze-free" water hydrant will freeze solid only when you are gone from the farm and a neighbor is doing your chores.

4. You will decide it is time to rearrange the fencing only after there's 2 feet of snow on the ground.

5. The spot where you have been dumping the ice from the frozen water buckets is in the direct path of where you need to push a wheelbarrow after you have a 5' tall mountain of ice accumulated.

6. You will need more hay in the hayloft only after you decided you didn't need to plow the road to the barn anymore.

6a. You will need more hay in the hayloft only after you realized that your husband/plow truck driver has been piling the snow in front of the hayloft entrance for 2 months.

7. The one tool you will need will be the only tool you left in the pasture where you were working before there was 3 feet of snow on the ground.

8. You will feel bad for the goats and leave them in the barn only to find that they escaped their pens while you were at work and spent the entire day out in the snow anyway.

9. That new rabbit you have been eyeing will come up for sale just in time for 4 feet of snow to be deposited on the rabbit hutch that was clear of snow all winter.


That's all I can think of for now. I am sure as the winter continues on, I will find more.

Bloggin' Away Again in Vermontville

I am back. I had taken the blog down for a bit as I pondered my role as a blogger. Since my blog is mostly just junk that I make up, I decided that there wasn't much harm in reinstating the ol' web log and beginning again. I started to miss it, actually. I started to miss having a place to post random thoughts and wanderings in a more contiguous format than Facebook or other social media outlets. While I did continue to maintain my alter-ego blog Lucy the Goat (www.lucythegoat.blogspot.com), I found that I was denying myself a place to express feelings and other nonsense that came straight from me. Well, I am back and ready for more randomness. (I hope you are also ready).

It's Fall

It's fall even though fall doesn't officially start until next week. It's fall because it is cold and rainy out. It's fall because it is frosting in the mornings. It's fall because I have to wear a coat to do chores. It's fall because the apples are ready. It's fall because the goats are coming into heat and the buck is stinking. It's fall because the leaves are starting to change. It's fall because ..... it is!!

CUTE!!

I'm Back!

I am finally back in the land of the internet. I have spent the last 11 weeks on maternity leave and in the land of evil dial-up connection. Dial-up is so medival! It already took forever to use dial-up, but now with all the fancy "flash" websites, it's damn near impossible to get anything done! Alas, salvation is nigh! I am at work and on a cable connection. Whoohoo!

So, what has happened in the last 3 months you say? Well, first of all, I had a baby. She's a good little baby and we're pretty happy with her. She likes to eat and sleep (as I am told is the norm for babies). She also likes to go for walks in her stroller and in her baby pack ("infant carrier" is the official term).

Baby and me have been doing chores together for a few weeks now. The baby is much more happy with the whole "chores" idea now that she can see better. Before, she would cry because she didn't like being ignored while I milked the goats and she couldn't see well enough to be entertained one bit. But now, I can point her stroller towards the chickens and she is happily occupied by staring at their pretty colors and irratic movements. She also likes it when the goats peer over the top of the gate at her. She's a very alert baby and really likes looking around at everything that is going on.

I started work this week. It's back to the mouse production facility for me. In a way it is like I have been gone forever, and in a way it is like I never left. The baby is going to daycare. She seems to like it so far, except she won't take a nap there. She stays awake from the moment I drop her off until the moment I pick her up. I think there is so much to see and get used to that she just can't let herself go to sleep for fear she might miss something. Luckily she can be totally exhausted and not be very grumpy.

I like having a baby (I hesitate to say that I am a "parent" or "mom" because I still haven't gotten used to those titles). I was worried when I was pregnant that I was too selfish with my "me" time and that I would have a hard time with the baby because I wouldn't have any more "me" time. It's funny, I don't have that problem at all. That isn't to say that I have any "me" time, because I surely don't, but the thing is that I don't care. I now see everything I do as something that the baby might want to do with me. I have a hard time doing something by myself because I think that she would like to be with me and would enjoy all my activities. It's a funny thing.

Well, back to the grind. I should be reporting more often, so stay tuned!

New Farm Help

My new farm help arrived after 37 weeks. She's only 5 lbs, 14 oz and 20" long right now, so it will be a while before she pulls her own in the goat barn. For now I will start her on the slow program for getting ready to do chores.