Alpha and Omega

Yesterday ended as it had begun, with a light pattering of rain.  How welcome it was to walk to the barn with skin damp from an external source for a change.  Not enough to even settle the dust, anything falling from the sky discombobulates the goats so our rehearsed routine went kablooey.  At first they didn't want to go outside, and then they broke back into the milking room twice while I was cleaning the stalls.  I heard my neighbor who was working in his vineyard laughing as I was yelling, "Bad goat!  Bad goat!"  (And other epithets.)

Another ten-degree drop in temperature brought us down into the eighties, wahoo!  Absolutely invigorating!  I know it can't last, but I can most certainly enjoy it while it's here.  For days, the most exercise Bessie had was moving from one spot to another, trying to find someplace cooler to sleep.  Yesterday she took herself on a little walk all the way down the drive and back, checking the perimeter, as it were.

The battle with the army of ants continues.  There must be a huge colony in the walls, as they come out of the electric sockets and light fixtures.  I kill them by ones and by hundreds.  Being in the kitchen, I can't use spray on the counters so swipe them away with a sponge and drown the enemy.  Paranoid, I peer under cabinets, behind utensils, and along baseboards every time I walk through that room, breathing a sigh of relief when none are found and cussing a blue streak while reaching for sponge or spray can when one of those long black trains is spied.  This is an annual event.  One of these days they will go as quickly as they came.  I hope that day comes soon.

There was no problem in putting the girls to bed last evening.  They beat me to the barn.  Ants notwithstanding, it was a good day.