And Another Thing...

I'm starting to feel like one of the characters in "The Cat In The Hat."  Thing One lives in the feed barn, It burrowed under the shed porch, and now Thing Two has shown up.  That mountain of dark-colored dirt appeared in the barn yesterday.  I can find no tunnel from where all this dirt was dug, and there are no footprints to help identify whatever did the excavation.  With all the ground squirrel, gopher, and mouse tunnels and mounds I've seen, I've never seen this much loose dirt thrown up, so this Thing must be pretty big.  Too big, I fear, for tiny little Missy to take on.  There is a difference between a mouser and a mooser.  I like a mystery, but I prefer one in the pages of a book.

Speaking of books, I finished "Beneath A Scarlet Sky," all 514 pages, yesterday in time to take Bess down to the cookie store for birdseed.  I'd finished my transaction, but had to go back in because I'd forgotten to pick up two (always two) cookies for my girl.  The look on her face!

I called Arden to tell her thanks for the loan, and she said she had another book she wanted me to read.  "NO!  I have to get something done around here!  Maybe soon, though."  No time spent reading is wasted, but even I have my limits.  The next best thing to turning pages for a reader is to discuss the book with someone.  Arden belongs to a book club, but I'm not a joiner and have declined her invitation.  I do enjoy talking books, however.

All the rain followed by warm days has really brought out the frogs.  Last evening I let Bessie out for a potty run and the frog chorus was in full voice.  We're due for more rain and I hope it doesn't dampen their spirits.

Ambushed

Stalls in the barn were built with just half walls.  Steve added hog wire panels on top of the walls later when we discovered that goats could and did jump over.  I can see in, the girls can look out, and the panels keep the barn from looking like the catacombs.  Yesterday as I was going down the aisle in the back, suddenly Missy leaped at me from Tessie's room.  I was the one who jumped then.

When it's cold, Ralph and Celeste cuddle together on the bed and spend most of their time sleeping.  They are definitely more active on nice days.  Yesterday they took turns hiding around corners, in the stairwell, and behind doors to wait for the other to come by.  Then they'd race around the house, and that always ended in a tussle.  Goofy cats.

There were things I could and should have done, but I was ambushed by a book Arden had loaned me a week or two ago that I hadn't even opened.  She'd asked me several times how I liked it, and I had to confess I'd not started it yet.  After chores, guilt and a warm, sunny morning without any wind sent me out to the deck, book in hand.  Moving from outdoors to in, two hundred-plus pages later, I had to put the girls to bed.  "Beneath A Scarlet Sky" by Mark Sullivan is a docudrama set in Italy during WWII, a terrible time in history.  Like Ken Follett, Mr. Sullivan obviously researched the facts and then wove a fascinating story around them.  I don't imagine I'm going to get much done today, either.

It was still quite light when I went down to the barn.  I never hear the neighbors' big dogs during the day, but they do come to the fence to bark at sundown.  Tessie did her thing again and it was nearly dark when she finally decided to come in.  The photo doesn't really show the highlighted red and gold contrails. Drat.

It was a good day.

Cold Start

There is a saying, "Cold hands, warm heart."  Perhaps that applies to Nature, as she's giving us mornings down in the 20s. but then relents and afternoons are close to 50.  That's doable.  It allows me to conserve firewood.  When low temps are sustained, Stove can gobble up a wagon load a day.  It's always a race to see if winter or wood is going to win.

By the time the girls had had their breakfast, nearly all the snow had melted away.  When the race started (NASCAR Sunday) there wasn't a vestige left.  It was too nice a day, but when you're a committed fan, you're stuck inside.  Sigh.

Missy and I are going to have a talk.  She so wants petting and purrs loudly, but then turns to grab and nip my hand.  Unfortunately, biting to show affection is a cat trait.  Being winter, I've got gloves on and she does no harm, but come warmer days I won't have that protection.  We're having training sessions now.

We're in the process of changing seasons.  Sunrise is earlier and sundown is later.  One of these days whoever is in charge is going to change to Daylight Savings Time and the goats and I will get thrown into a tizzy.  Aarrgh.

Slow Going

Even though the sun had been up for a couple of hours, there was a pretty good ice crust on top of the snow and it was slow trip to the barn yesterday.  Opening doors, once again I was surprised (shocked, is more like it) at the ability of rain or melting ice drops from the roof to unerringly hit the margin of bare skin between my collar and my hat.  Talk about a waker-upper!

The photos are from the night before last.  All the snow was gone and the ground was clear when I put the girls to bed.  In the five minutes or so that chore took, it began to hail, and I mean it came down hard.  The top shot is as I was leaving the pen.  The other was as I approached the house.  It felt like getting hit with shotgun pellets (not that I've ever been hit with shotgun pellets).

By 10:00 yesterday, nearly all the overnight snow had melted, the sun shone brightly, and it was a beautiful morning.  When my friend Arden mentioned she needed supplies from Holiday, I offered to drive.  My truck has 4WD and her little car does not.  Even though the ground was clear here, I wasn't sure how the roads would be and it's better to be safe than sorry.  I knew it could be slow going.  We agreed to go in a couple of hours, but then I looked at the dark clouds to the west and moved the time up.  They can close in fast and it wouldn't do to get caught in a storm, rain or snow.  It's always good to spend time with my friend, we ran into no ice slicks, and we were home again, home again, jiggity jig.

In the afternoon, there was a rerun of the day before.  Hail pounded down and covered everything just as before.  What's up with that?  I brushed the pellets off the goats as they went into their stalls, imagining how it would feel when they melted.  Brrr!

There was just a light snowfall last night.  I think we're due for a couple of nice days before the next storm comes in.  I'll take 'em.

Night Life

Five a.m.  There is a full moon, and moonlight on fresh-fallen snow is lovely.  No snow on the satellite dishes is better!  There was actually more snow in the afternoon and evening yesterday than the day before, but no wind.  Regardless, Bessie's trip outside was brief today.  Not that anyone is paying attention, but if they noticed I wonder what people would think about the lady on the hill who turns her porch light on then quickly off in the early morning hours.  Is she signaling in the dark, and to whom?

Going down to the barn on a snowy morning is educational.  Not all creatures go to bed when it gets dark.  Tracks in the snow tell an interesting story.  Deer had jumped the fence to have an alfalfa snack and maybe get a drink of water.  Rabbits went back and forth on the driveway, going about whatever rabbits do.  The goats and I may not, but many others seem to have a very active nightlife.

Stove has developed a voracious appetite and I had to bring up a couple more loads of firewood to keep him happy.  When Stove is the only source of heat, his satisfaction is a primary goal.  If I couldn't tell the house was warm myself, I know we're up to temp when the cats and Bess stretch out by the hearth stone to soak up the heat.  They abandon my lap in favor of the warmer spot.

So far, so good with power.  We're not out of those woods yet, but fingers crossed.  I try to keep ahead of those things that need electricity, just in case.  It's a bit like knowing company is coming; do the dishes and run the vacuum while there's time.  Dusting can wait.  (Dusting is always last on my list.)

We're due for more snow today.  I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere...except to the barn.

Country Life

Oh man, we had some hellacious wind yesterday.  What started out in the dark o' morn as bad turned into worse.  Up here on the top of the hill, we got battered.  My sit-on-the-deck bench got moved here, there, and everywhere.  Rain blew sideways onto the porch and soaked the pile of firewood.  Sigh.  It rained, but snow held off until after dark and I'd put the kids to bed.

And then it snowed.  As far as snow goes, it wasn't a lot, but the wind packed the satellite dishes to the TV and computer and it didn't melt off until 10 this morning so I was without either.  The couple of icy inches on the ground made for an exciting slip-and-slide trip to the barn.  Missy had gotten tired of waiting and was on the lookout in the milking (feeding) room.  She spooked Tessie big-time when she made her way through Tessie's room back to "her" stall.  "Where were you?  Don't you know we're starving down here?"  No one can give you grief like a cat.

Bless my Kids for checking in with me this morning.  "Yes, I'm fine.  It's all good."  It's nice to know they've got my back just in case.

What are ya gonna do?  That's country life.

Three Little Pigs

Waldo is currently just chillin' in the bathroom, completely ignored and probably feeling sorry for himself.  Al hasn't been seen for days.  What I did find in the wastebasket yesterday was not one, but three little pigs!  One might have been an accident, but three?!  I envision Celeste hitting her mark and yelling, "Score!," and possibly doing a little touchdown dance at the goal line.

Since my main work in the barn is with the goats, Missy sometimes gets short shrift.  I had a little extra time yesterday and picked her up.  She seems to crave affection, loves to be petted, and would follow me if I allowed it.  What I found when I had a chance to really look at her was that she has a "tipped" ear, indicating that she was possibly a member of a feral "care colony" who had been taken to a vet and spayed.  The very tip of one ear is removed during that procedure.  The bad news is that she probably belongs elsewhere and is just freeloading here.  The good news is that she has been spayed.  I'd been worried about how I was going to get that done.  Wherever she actually lives, she's got my schedule down to the minute and is ready and waiting for me to fill her bowl.  Oh well, she earns her keep.

In addition to other prep work, I got the laundry done and ran the dishwasher.  Lack of water in a power outage is a prime concern.  Stove has a good supply of fuel, and bills got paid while I still have electricity.  The cellphone is charged.  The timing of the storm's arrival was somewhat delayed and the wind didn't kick in until after dark last night.  It's blowing big time this morning with just sporadic rain.  I'm about as ready as I can get (she said hopefully).