slowly upstairs, faster down

I had to provide my date of birth several times this week, and each time I thought,

"Oh, my birthday is next Tuesday! Maybe I should do something special."

The fact is, I already bought myself a birthday present months ago, and put it aside because it's for my *birthday* and it's a book, so not likely to spoil in the meantime.

Today I realized something: my birthday is not Tuesday.

My birthday is Monday. Tomorrow.

Time can really sneak up on a person.

I'll be a whole year older, one day sooner.

The up-side is, I can open my book tomorrow!

~~~~~

another nation heard from

 

~~~~~

ruts

A morning sky, November.

In November we had a lot of rain. The little yard in front of the big barn and all the direct paths between the paddocks became muddy. Every footstep, human or caprine, became a pocket to catch more water.

Then the freeze began. Hundreds of little muddy pockets became high-edged frozen craters; uncomfortable walking for anyone, booted or hooved. At least once each day, glancing out the window at the herd, I thought a goat was lame. Then I remembered the craters. The goats weren't lame, but they were walking the way a human might walk through a room full of lego.

Fortunately we also had some lovely days in November, cold and clear. Here is Campion, Azalea's brother, enjoying the Winter sun on his spine. And beard.

Campion's mama, Lily of the Valley, ditto:

Now we are back to warm weather, buckets of rain, and deep mud, and I've been dropping boards here and there to make little walkways. Most of my extensive collection of salvaged lumber has already been re-used in dozens of projects, so new(!) lumber has been sacrificed to provide footing in a couple of very wet spots. Moving a couple of gates to reroute "traffic" could help, but there isn't a lot of leeway in my fencing arrangement. A vet once described my tiny paddocks as "like a jigsaw" which is both humorous and accurate.

Anyway, dealing with the mud takes some time every day, and hooves need to be checked and trimmed more often than usual. Absolutely no one enjoys this, and it's hard on my back, but it's one of those things that Must Be Done, and is never finished. With 56 hooves on the place, I'm pretty pleased if I can just keep up with the constant rotation. A spreadsheet that automatically calculates the time since the last hoof trim for each goat has proven very helpful indeed.

How are things with you? Is it early Winter or early Summer? Is it mucky or parched? What are you doing to take any rough edges off life these days?

~~~~~

guests

 In the spirit of a holiday that has come to be associated with feasting,

I threw handfuls of unsalted peanuts out in the wildlife area today.

"You threw what now?"

"Where?!"

"Found one! Wow, this thing is huge!"

"I'd better eat it right here instead of trying to carry it back to my nest."

Meanwhile...

"Huge peanuts are all well and good,

but have you seen the state of this suet feeder?"

I hope if you celebrate Thanksgiving Day it is a happy one.

~~~~~

good eggs

Two youngsters examining a rip in my trousers. I felt thoroughly judged.

There are currently seven hens here. Ethel the Elder was briefly alone until I could find six baby chooks in the Spring. Two of them have already started to lay, although not consistently; there are usually two eggs - one from Ethel - in the nest boxes every day, and occasionally three. The more the merrier from a practical standpoint, since they are all being fed expensive organic layer feed. But now that the Cold Times seem to be very much here, I did not expect anyone else to start laying until Spring.

However! This morning there were the usual two eggs in a nest box, but it was quite exciting because one of them was this (candlestick not included):

Which means another hen has begun to lay!

Here's how we can tell:

The little one on the bottom is the new arrival - the hen is wisely starting small.

In other news, last night I finally got the camera battery and the charger in the same place! I can take pictures again! Tell you what, there are some unexpected glitches created by trying to clean and organize the entire house. For two days I couldn't find the charger, and when it finally revealed itself, the battery was gone. Especially baffling since there was no reason for either to be anywhere other than where they are always kept. But they weren't. Something similar has happened with my new solar motion-sensor light, my supply of sketchbooks, and my Winter clothes. That last one needs to be addressed today, as it is Winter.

I hope everyone is planning a lovely weekend! And I hope you all know where your seasonal clothing was nicely folded and put away six months ago. Because it feels pretty silly when you can't find your own clothes, I can tell you.

 ~~~~~