30 Days of Ag Blogging November 18: "Were you born in a barn?"

How many of us have been asked this particular question?  It implies that you have gone through a door and neglected to shut it.....  I'm not exactly sure why people think we leave our barn doors open. We try very hard to keep our animals IN the barn, which just reminded me of another barn-related question usually asked to the gentlemen out there,.... anywho... I think Mother Nature has gone and left her barn door wide open or maybe she even blew them right off the barn.  It's pretty darned cold here in northwestern Indiana, and I am sure most of you reading this are experiencing the same thing.

This is why I LOVE our little green boiler out in the back of our yard.

It's a simple concept.  We feed it wood (it can also burn corn!), it heats up water that pumps into the house and goes to the hot water heater and a heat exchanger. It also goes to the radiant heat running through our new additions and like Tall Guy says works similar to how a radiator would work to heat the rest of our house. It does take some wood to keep this engine running.

And while it looks like TG was slaving away out in the cold to fill up another rack of wood, I WAS there too and just took a moment to snap a picture of him working hard. ( Such is the life of a farm wife behind the camera lens.....)

 I do love the stone wall in this barn.  It's been a great back drop for pictures.

We seem to have captured the attention of the barn cats.

I can't begin to tell you how much I love our wood stove/boiler.  This love is only amplified when my feet hit the floor of our new bedroom and feel warmth coming from down below.  Radiant heat ladies and gentlemen.  Gotta have it in an old farm house!

I didn't mess (edit) this picture below, but I do think it captures the essence of COLD.  

Later in the evening, went to watch Tink play her first basketball game of the season.  These girls really rock the court and won by about 20 points even though the other team had at least 15 players dressed.  We have six, so there is very little down time for the girls.  Coach M. does such a great job with our girls.  In the 5th grade game, one of our girls came in to the huddle at a time out and was upset that she didn't block another girl. Coach said, " Did she score on you?"  "No." "Then you are doing a great job and have nothing to be upset about."  Great lesson in perspective!

I would love to say that I'm going to stay inside, curl up with my Kindle, and read more about the adventures of Claire and Jamie, but appointments are calling my name!  Have you been reading the Outlander series: The Outlander Series 7-Book Bundle: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo in the Bone ???  I really love them; I'm on The Fiery Cross.  I really do like these books, but the author can be a bit too caught up in her descriptive writing.

Ok, time to bundle up and head back out in to this lovely weather.  They say it feels like -10 with the wind blowing out there.......