BEAUTIFUL DAY !!!! For staying in by the fire

Yes, it was a beautiful day, cold, cloudy, a breeze and SNOW.  The kind of day that you curl up by a nice warm fire with a good book and great cup of coffee (or cocoa, or whatever you prefer), and enjoy looking at it through a big window.  Since it is Sunday, I decided that I would do just that,  OR NOT.

Seriously, the first sentence is true, but I live on a farm.  The rest of that first paragraph is my wildest
Rockwellian fantasy.  I have always heard that it is supposed to be that way, and I have even tried to pull it off a few times, but that is simply not farm life.  There is actually more outside work in bad weather than in good, and generally less time to fit it in, since the days are shorter.

Here, the animals need extra bedding, extra feed, warm water (at least warm enough to be liquid), and don't forget that the predators that would take the small livestock are hungry and restless too.  Added in the mix, is the fact that the garden has not yet been tilled under after harvest and the cover crop is already a month late in being planted.  There are at least a dozen other projects on the list that are at least that far behind as well.

It wasn't snowing too heavy, so I decided to till up the garden so it would be ready for me to sow rye as soon as this cold spell passes.  That went pretty well, at least to start.  The tiller started and ran nicely and the soil was only a little on the wet side of just right.  As you can see from the photo, that went pretty well, at least to that point.  Notice the considerable amount of un-tilled ground and the location of the tiller at the far end?  At exactly that point, the tines struck a rock and the drive belt broke.

Refusing to let such a trivial matter spoil such a beautiful day, I checked the price of a new belt (not as pricey as I thought), vowed to pick one up next trip to town, and went for a leisurely walk in nature to reflect on the beauty of the day.  Alright, it WAS a walk in nature.  It was not leisurely because I didn't have a lot of time before the animals had to be cared for.  My reflection on the beauty of the day was more like checking for pecans (which the wildlife have already devoured), checking to see that hunters hadn't cut fences on the back side, and the off chance of bringing back some of said wildlife for supper.  No nuts, no meat and fortunately, no hunter damage.  Still a beautiful day.

I got back in time to start the cook fire, and take care of the critters while potatoes and cornbread cooked (no meat this time).  All done by dark.   Now I am sitting here, having eaten far too much, and drinking some really good campfire coffee.  Yes, though not my fantasy day, a really beautiful day for which I am truly grateful.