Ralph Plays Rough

Ralph got carried away.  It's one thing to explain a paper towel in the living room, but quite another to say that "the cat did it" (yeah, sure) and left shredded paper in the dining room.  I would just as soon not have Ralph learn the joys of ripping up stuff.  With guests coming yesterday, I removed Destructo's latest toy.  I left the Santa teddy and all the others as he would have dragged them out again anyhow.

The morning had started with a rush.  Camille had to make another trip to Reno, leaving well before dawn, so I went down to feed Shadow and Cricket and let the chickens out of their stall.  Cricket, the donkey, is in the habit of waiting for Cam up at the house so they can walk down to the barn together.  Sure enough, there he was.  It took a little convincing to get him to follow me.  Shadow, the mini-burro, could not have cared less who was going to feed him as long as the apples got put in his dish.  That done, I needed to get home and do my own chores.

Dave and a friend, John, drove up as the last goat left the room and I finished up in the barn.  The guys spent a couple of happy hours down in the shop, making sure the big air compressor worked (it did) and browsing through the many, many miscellaneous tools.  As Dave said, every time he does that, he finds goodies he'd overlooked before.  John decided to buy the compressor and a box of other stuff, and arranged with Dave to have the compressor delivered.  That will give me another chance to see my Kid.  I gave the guys lunch, and then they had to take off.

With temperatures rising, not much else got done the rest of the day.