Business As Usual

With all the comings and goings of late and whining about heat and smoke, I haven't been reporting much about the animals at Farview.  Regardless of what else is going on, they remain ever constant, ever changing, and always keep me grounded.

Kinks, the mouse with the crooked tail, shows up nearly every day.  He's the only individual in the tribe that I can readily identify, so I miss him when he's absent for roll call.

Much of what I do in the barn is done by rote and my mind wanders while performing the same chores day after day.  Get the goat up on the stand, grab the brush and get the girl prettified, pull two wipes to wash her udder in preparation for milking.  Oops!  Somehow that udder didn't feel quite right.  The look I got from Esther when I started swabbing brought me to my senses.  Esther has not given milk for a couple of years.

Cindy continues to have good days and not-so-good.  A couple of days ago, she was off her feed and refused to come in for breakfast.  I didn't push the issue, but it put the sequence out of whack.  Normally the last thing I do before leaving the barn is to open the gate to the big pen.  Somebody or other was due to arrive and I was hurrying to get back to the house.  Later, I noticed that all of the girls were lined up by the gate, staring longingly toward Robert's.  Boy, my name would have been Mudd!  Robert and his crew were doing another grape crush and, to the girls, that meant treats.  I went down and opened the gate.  I need all the points I can get.

With company here, I was running behind at dusk and reached into the grain bin without looking.  There was no time to deal with Thing, who was hiding at the bottom and raced over my hand in the dark.  I don't know which of us was the more surprised.  I rather unceremoniously scooped him out with a bucket and dumped him on the floor and went on about the business of putting the chickens to bed.

Honey bees cluster on the lacy white blossoms of the garlic chives.  As always, I wonder what that honey tastes like.  I'm thinking eeuw, but that's just me.

Hummers continue to come in droves to the feeders, sucking up over two quarts of juice a day.  They will literally bang on the windows if the bottles are empty.  One staple I must not run out of is sugar, bought in 25-pound bags just for them.

Business as usual at Farview Farm.