Day Is Done

The morning feeding at Farm Two went pretty well.  The animals were all glad to see me, the alpacas behaved well, and there were no floaters in the pool.  Back home, Sheila and Inga got into it, breaking it up just long enough to get milked.  I needed to finish those chores because Deb and Craig were coming up.

When they arrived, they were laden with gifts...for me!  Two peony plants and a delphinium (early Mother's Day presents), and an ebelskiver pan.  The special, formed pan for little, ball-shaped Danish pancakes evoked memories of trips to Solvang, and we decided to make some for lunch.  Holy Toledo!  Four or five bowls to make the batter and forever to cook the little boogers.  Lunch turned out to be early dinner.  They took the pan home, with my blessing.  My dear ones planted the white and pink peonies out in the front garden where I can see them from the kitchen window, and potted the delphinium on the (deer proof) deck.

Sheila and Inga were still battling at sundown.  I don't know what gets into the girls to make them fight like that.  Sheila had Inga forced up into the tree and both ignored my pleas to come into the barn.  Everybody else followed the routine, but I had to leave those two so I could get to Farm Two.

The morning ease had lulled me into a false sense of security.  When I got to the barn, Frick and Frack pushed Shadow out of the way and it hurt his feelings.  His food goes down first, but the Evil Twins growled at him and he wouldn't come over.  Their bowls were much easier to find since it was still light and I tried to coax them to their own food without much luck.  What finally convinced them was when Shadow snatched a bite from Frack's bowl.  Each species gets a different chow.  I left them to sort themselves out while I tucked the errant chickens in their room and hunted for eggs.  I was running out of daylight.  That done, Shadow put his head against my chest for a cuddle.  He's a sensitive fellow.  With his muzzle under my chin, I looked down his long nose into his big brown eyes.  What's not to love about that donkey?  Everyone fed and bedded, I was leaving and locked the last gate when I looked back up at the house and saw a light in the kitchen.  Drat.  I got turned around and drove back up, only to find that it was a night light and that I hadn't forgotten to turn anything off after all.  Dark by the time I got home, I stumbled down the path to give Sheila and Inga another try.  Realizing they were out alone and on their own, each went readily into their rooms this time.  Poppy was bellowing for her roommate and only shut up when Sheila came in.  Done, at last.

The highlight of my day was time with Deb and Craig.  The critters, not s'much.