Big and Little

There is a potted lavender plant on the deck that is just coming into bloom.  Bumblebees are particularly fond of lavender.  A really big black bumbler landed on the very tip of a young stem and it was like watching a kid on a trampoline; it bounced him up and down so.  Perhaps it was a young bumbler, too, because although there were other, more mature flowers, this bee landed there again and again just for the fun of bouncing.  All work and no play....

Down in the barn, the baby birds are getting big enough that I can see their little heads when their parents bring tidbits.  They stretch their thinner-than-pencil necks and open their gaping maws, all the while yeeping at the top of their lungs.  They keep up a constant chant of, "Feed me!  Feed me!," that gets louder and louder when a weary parent appears, and then it turns into, "Me!  Me!  Me!"  There are at least three in one nest (maybe more), and only two parents, so competition for breakfast is fierce.

Cindy has got her girlish figure back.  The darnedest thing happens to her; it's happened twice before.  She has a periodic problem with fluid retention.  She swells up like a toad until she looks five months pregnant and stays like that for weeks.  It must be uncomfortable.  Then one day some balance shifts in her body and she starts to lose it all.  The flood gates open and she pees without control until she's back to normal.  She's the only goat in the herd that is affected in this way.

It's been hot, really hot, and the barn squirrels stretch out on the cool dirt inside, yawning and dozing while they wait for me to finish milking.  Even the mice are somnolent, one sitting on the lidded milk bucket for the longest time (that was a first!), right at the side of the milking stand.  I think it's summertime.