That Was A First

While trying to avoid being trampled in the morning turkey stampede, I glanced down the slope of what I had hoped would become an orchard and saw the first daffodils of the year.  Ta da!  Over time, I'll bet I've planted and replaced twenty fruit trees of many varieties.  Ground squirrels would let the trees have maybe one year to bear and then eat the roots.  That slope is now a sad graveyard of trees.  Only the preexisting almond tree made it.

In the barn, instead of hiding in her room, Missy was waiting for me in the hall and greeted me with a tiny meow.  She led the way to her door, waited while I served her breakfast and, for the first time, let me pet her just a little.  I didn't want to push my luck.  I would, however, like to know if Missy is a Mister.

Inga had seen the cat and I anticipated another of those mornings when Inga would panic and head out into the pasture.  She gave one snort and then went out and directly into the feeding room.  That was a hopeful first.

It was a beautiful bluebird day and Bess suggested I come outside with her in the early afternoon.  I'd bought a new Stephen King novel some time back, "Sleep Doctor," sequel to "The Shining" (the first Stephen King book I ever read).  A lifelong bibliophile, I haven't done much reading lately, but it seemed a good day to take a book and sit on the porch for a bit and keep Bessie Anne company, thinking to read only a chapter or two.  That was my first mistake.  It wasn't until the goats' bedtime that I was forced to put the book down.  Not for the first time, I'd shot the day down the tubes while turning pages.

Missy has definitely gotten with the program.  Walking down with the girls at sundown, I saw the cat racing across the pasture to the barn.  Mealtime is mealtime, after all.