North Wind

A pretty big wind storm blew in the other night.  Worried, as always, about damage to the trees, I went out after daybreak to survey the property, thinking also that I'd find the deck knee deep in leaves again.  (I'd just swept it the day before.)  Trees were intact, and it was a pleasant surprise to find that it must have been a north wind because the deck was entirely free of leaves.  Would that I could call it up at will, the best leaf blower made!  Most of our wind comes from the west or southwest.  It also blows leaves, but piles them on the deck.

I thought I was putting up the bed frames in the front yard as fencing.  The ground squirrels have turned them into a jungle gym.  The little ones perch on the posts and walk the rails and have a high old time.  I walked through the house yesterday, listening for what sounded like a smoke alarm battery getting low.  That chirp I'd been hearing was from a guardian squirrel keeping watch while the children played.  Another noisy neighbor.

The chicken pens are pitted with holes the little girls have scratched for their dust baths.  I've said they are digging to China for take-out dinners.  It seems the goats also have a liking for Mu Shu as they are pawing out deep wallows in their yard.  The bucket is there for perspective.  It's a bit odd to look into the pen and see just the head of a goat sticking up.  This particular pit must be in prime real estate as the ground squirrels have claimed the property next door.

Pearl has a pet of her own and has developed a training program to bend it to her will.  It took her very little time to get the pet to open and close doors for her, but longer to have said pet to give her a treat at five in the morning.  Pet was willing to wake up when Pearl sounded the alarm, but mistakenly thought that coffee should come before treats.  Pearl is persistent and consistent, making her wishes clearly known, and Pet is beginning to come around.  It's nice to know that Pet is still trainable.