The Ordinary Beautiful

The lights have been taken down, the New Year has been rung in. It seems that for this farm girl the season has turned into just plain, old, winter. As I confessed in the last post, I do love the Christmas season, so I am always sad to see it come and go. Today we took down our tree and I do believe my cats are much sadder than I am. I'm sure they'll find something else to destruct soon.

Last week was a bit colder than average for us here in Southwest Virginia. I should have learned by now not to check the temperature on my phone before I get up. Ten degrees is not what I would call an ideal temperature for working outside.

I put on every piece of under armour I own, my insulated coat, and a tobogan. I squeeze my feet that have been outfitted with two pair of socks into my Muck boots and grab my Nine West purse. Good thing the "girls" at work won't judge me on my style.

 As I was scanning through my photos to share my week with you, it seems I didn't have many to choose from. None of them were of a beautiful sunset, or a tiny new baby calf. None of them had stunning colors and some weren't even in focus. The beauty seems to have blown away with the leaves. I feel a twinge of longing to see those cows grazing on the hillside with the gentle breeze blowing. Spring seems like a million miles away.  I felt disappointed. And cold. The wind seems to never stop blowing these days. As I was looking around for something stunning to photograph I got distracted by this...

And then this...

This particular day I had a few minutes to spare while waiting on the vet to come. We had to call for one that morning because "Bugsey", one of the milk cows, had a sore foot. I had planned on taking some photos of that to share with you. Wrong. 

You see Bugsey doesn't really like to have her feet touched. Ticklish I guess. 

So instead of being at the back where I could take an informative photo, I was at the front, scratching Bug's head. I did manage to capture these one handed while keeping my sweet girl appeased. 

A little treat for being a good girl

Curious about the camera

Gentle eyes

F.Y.I. For those of you who are wondering, we work on a cows foot while she is standing upright in a hoof trimming chute. Her head is restrained so that she can't hurt herself or those working on her, and support bands are placed under her in case she loses her balance so that she will not fall down. We pick up one foot at a time and check for issues or do maintenance work. Think of it as a pedicure :) 

It stayed cold for the next few days and I still didn't have any beautiful sunsets to capture. But I did have my buddy, always found walking by my side (or riding in the back seat of my car).

And I did take a moment to be silly

And I did have a cup of coffee with pie at lunch time

And another cup that night

And I did have healthy calves that drank their bottles

Made a new friend

Found an old friend

I was entertained by the barn cats - 

Some with big green eyes

Some that huddled to stay warm

Some that have a lot of trust

I did have help from my love

And a laugh or two

So as I bundle up for this week, I'll keep looking for the beauty to share with you. 

But I think I might have to start looking for it somewhere different.

Right in the middle of my ordinary life.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!