So while we may have had a wind chill of 8 degrees this morning, which is probably not considered top notch weather for a farm visit, there were Seven Great Reasons to visit the farm in the freezing cold. We made a few rather unique discoveries for a bunch of city kids and had some experiences which actually made it a VERY advantageous morning to visit the farm.
1.) The first advantage was that Lindsay got to ride her horse named Spot and that she got her moves PERFECT in her lessons. But I don’t have a picture of that.
2.) Petting chickens! There is a sign posting their rule about NOT chasing chickens but it didn’t say anything about not petting them. Generally, petting them is never open to question since the chickens NEVER hang around long enough and therefore only “chicken chasing” is something I have to scold the kids over. I was really glad the farmer was not out to see this going on.
3). The inside of the barn really IS warm… or at least warmer and we met this bunny who I’m absolutely sure is bigger than our 11 1/2 pound long haired cat, Spooky. I wanted to pick him up and bring him home with me.
4.) Tristan met the newest resident cat who has a little home made up in the barn near where the goats are milked. It was good to see a cat in the barn again after the last one “disappeared”. He seemed rather friendly, just as a good farm cat should be. And he was beautiful too.
5.) Ice Skating! Right outside the Llama’s outdoor pen my kids discovered a solid puddle of ice near the pump which was great for skating and sliding across. This was Kaitlyn’s and Nathan’s first experience with sliding on ice and boy, did it make them giggle!
6.) Cows like to eat snowballs from your hand and they have really long tongues… also a cause for giggling.
7.) The seventh and final discovery, also cause for giggles, is that chickens must get really cold in the winter to allow HUGGING! I was REALLY glad the farmer was not out to see this.
This hugging business seemed to cause an uproar with all the chickens on the other side of the fence… I thought maybe they were trying to protect this chicken from the hugs but maybe they just wanted a warm body to hug too. I could not believe the chicken allowed this but maybe it was too cold to object! I love that last picture of Nathan’s big smiley laugh!
Hilarious!!! It all looks and sounds like so much fun!!! I'm sure that hen was really warmed up after that experience--they (the chickens)probably wouldn't mind if you came often in the cold weather! I remember carrying around my favorite hen on Nana and Mac's farm...good times!!!
ReplyDeleteI love that last picture too! I was thinking what a great picture that is, so cute and great, you captured the moment well. I really wish we had been there too! Porter would definitely have joined in on the hugging! Its not nearly so cold here, so I don't have an excuse but to go find a farm now.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is a side note I thought was funny. My VT said today that "it really feels like winter today, doesn't it?" And I didn't know what to say but, "actually it feels like Spring". That confused her. It does NOT feel like winter and never has. She seemed to think it felt really cold and I wanted to say that she apparently didn't know what cold was. But she is very nice, and I remind myself that the locals don't know any different.