Success

The day began with a snap yesterday.  The day before, Cam had brought up a trash barrel with just a little chicken scratch at the bottom to hopefully trap rats in the feed shed.  Orphaned bobcats at the animal sanctuary are getting big and need to catch and kill live rats if they're going to survive when they're released in April, and I certainly have enough "product" for them.  Coming back from the barn, I went in the shed to check.  There were none in the barrel, but, after months of sitting open and useless, the trap I'd set had snapped on a big, pregnant female, still alive.  I picked her up by the tail, put her in the barrel for safekeeping, and called Cam.  She came immediately, bringing Sammi, her rat killer, because the rat was injured.  Sammi was disappointed because in that brief period, the rat had died.  It would still feed the bobcats, and I'm down not just one rat in the shed, but a whole litter of ratletts, too.

It rained off and on all morning, and Clay had a wet trip up the hill.  The chili was ready when he got here, but he'd had lunch in the valley, so we had time to sit and catch up before dinner.  And then the rain turned to snow!  It was Clay's first time to see snow up here, and it was beautiful, big fluffy flakes floating down.  It didn't last long and there wasn't enough to stick, but candy for the eyes, all the same.

Camille called, done with her chores for the day, and I invited her to join us for dinner.  She arrived just as Clay and I were almost done unloading a pickup load of wonderful, already-split oak firewood.  Of course I brought a wagon load to the porch and threw a couple of pieces to Stove right away.  It was like giving him the main course after days of appetizers.

Coming in from the cold (I had to put my hands under running hot water to thaw), we were all ready for bowls of thick, rich, and spicy white chili with chicken, hominy, cannellini beans, broth, and herbs, finished with sour cream.

A snack for the bobcats, a visit from my Kid, firewood piled up, and my friend's company.  That's what I'd call a successful day.