Snowy December Red Poll Girls

'Tis the season for snowy fields, cold winds and Red Polls, munching hay:

The girls spend nearly all their time now at the salad bar, their bale feeder:

They get a new bale every other day and I move the feeder ring with each new bale. This helps prevent it from getting frozen in place and also leaves a circle of wasted hay, which the cattle use as a bed:

Sweet Jasmine is shy and reticent, but always pleasant to work with. She often doesn't come in for grain, so I usually carry a small bowl out to her:

The bale feeder moved farther and farther away from the barn until one day, the heavy snow, bitter cold and strong winds inspired me to move it all the way back to east side of the barn. I hoped they'd get some shelter from the west winds there:

Rosella and her calf, Tabitha, rested in the hay:

One horribly cold and windy day, I tried to walk out the barn door and found these anxious faces, wanting to get inside. I did eventually let them in, but first I had to prepare the barn and give them a new (outdoor) hay bale:

While working, I tried to reenter the barn through the usual door but found the girls so tightly packed around the door that I decided to use a different entrance. They wouldn't hurt me on purpose, but they are so big that it could happen accidentally.

Once the bale feeder was on the east side of the barn, life became more pleasant for all of us and I let them spend the night inside the barn. You can imagine the mess I had to clean up on the next day:

Gingerbread House Contest - Part 2

I was touring the 2016 Gingerbread House Contest at TAUNY, Traditional Arts In Upstate New York, in Canton, NY (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). I came upon this entry, titled "Cabin by the River," which won first prize in the Adult Category. It had magnificent detail and I voted for it to be given the People's Choice award. Not surprisingly, given its elaborate ornamentation, it was the creation of a woman who owns a cake shop. She said it took about 12 hours to make:

  The next entry was titled "Holiday by the Sea" and won second place in the Adult Category. Its creators said it was inspired by a beach house in Emerald Isle, NC. I was particularly impressed by the glistening, semitransparent sea, made of tinted, melted sugar:

"The Railroad Camp" won a second place in the Children's Category. It portrayed a traditional Adirondack railroad workers' camp with cabin, tents, canoe, campfire, stream, railroad tracks and a bridge:

The next entry was titled "Adirondack Camp-Sight" and won a a second place in the Children's Category (there were more than one who got second place). It portrayed an imaginary summer camp which its makers, all of them boys, called "a typical boy paradise:"


This entry was unmarked and it was small, though with some impressive detail. A business card seemed to indicate that it was made by an architect:

"Kid's Bliss" won a first prize in the Children's Category. It was created by a girl who wrote this description: "On a hot sunny day, the girls were relaxing at camp when the boys came by......."