做牛做馬 (to bear the hardship; to work hard)

The Chinese idiom of  做牛做馬 (to work like an ox; to work like a horse) means “to bear the hardship; to work hard”.  The other day we tilted until the snow came.  Gene Kelly was Singin’ In The Rain; we’re tilting in the snow.  One cannot work in the garden in the rain, but it is OK to work in the snow; we've so discovered.