Open And Shut

It's a clear case of total confusion.  One day it's throw all the doors and windows open wide because of the heat, the next I run around closing up everything because it's cold.  I needed a quilted jacket indoors all day yesterday, and triple digits (plural) are predicted for the weekend.

The rain actually worked in my favor with the pullets.  New chickens in the big pen take some time to get used to the nighttime routine.  Rounding up sixteen skittering pinballs and herding them into the coop as the sun sinks would be a bit of a workout.  The rain, if nothing else, put the pullets in place their first night.  Most of them went in on their own last night, and the few stragglers weren't that much of a challenge.

This is Al, named for Al Pacino in "Scarface" because of the evidence of past fights on his cheek.  He is a daily visitor in the barn, sometimes joining me in the milking room.  He's fearless.  I took his picture on Tuesday, before the cloud cover moved in and while it was still sunny and hot.  He sat and watched for awhile, and then stretched out to get maximum coolness.  He looks like a furry pancake, or perhaps he's doing his Superman impression.  Either way, it cracks me up.

A squirrel is going to do what a squirrel must do.  I can't say how many times I've plugged those openings under the barn walls, nor how many times I've stuffed goat poop down that cavernous hole next to Al.  I still shove dirt and the dirty stuff down the hole every day, but my heart's not in it.  I think it truly is a losing battle.

It is getting light enough to see outside, and I see not cloud one.  I think later I'll have to go around and open windows again.