2011- Day Nine; Sunday...

An early post today, just because that is the way I roll! AND, because it is chilly (46*) and drizzly outside, we have a nice fire in the stove, and I am going to go and lay on the couch once I have this finished.

In the last twenty-four hours, we have had ALMOST two-inches of rain. I took this photograph earlier this morning, and it has been rainy for most of the day. It is cloudy right now, not raining but not inviting either. It is 'raw' outside, so I have decided to put it back in. Figure it out for yourself! There used to be a joke about 'It feels good outside, so then you should leave it outside'. Whatever, that is one of those things where you 'had to be there'!

I decided to go out this morning and check on Minnie to make sure she had not taken a turn for the worse; the chickens has absolutely NO interest in going outside their coop and you could not blame them. When I walked back to the middle pasture (I walked instead of taking the Mule, I have learned what will get the Mule stuck in the mud and what won't) it was still raining pretty briskly, and when I got to the barn back there, the rain on the metal roof was really nice. If it had been a little warmer and did not smell like a barn, it would have been nice to take a nap.

All the cattle were doing well, Minnie MIGHT still be favoring her foot a little bit, I am pretty certain of that, but she is still up and around, so I am hoping she will recover with no problems. She and Orchid were out by themselves, and I did not really want to bother them, so she just stood there and they both stared at me. I have been reading a book (actually reading, not on CD) called 'The Longhorns' by J. Frank Dobie (a gift from Michael and Lynda), and it says that cattle (back in the day of 'driving herds' liked to be sung to. The old cowboys would sing to them at night to calm them...so there I was in the rain, singing to Orchid and Minnie. I chose 'Unchained Melody' and took artistic license quite liberally since I would forget some of the words, but it seemed to work nicely. I kept singing, and finally all the cattle had moved from where they were to where I was singing to Orchid and Minnie. I thought that was pretty interesting, and I will keep doing it in my 'rich baritone'. Box office opens in the morning at 9AM! This is a picture of the Chairman (Chairman Moo) playing Peek-A-Boo. I like this picture a lot!

Later in the morning, Jody and I went into Georgetown (imagine that) and did several errands. We went to Home Depot to get a few things, then to Wal-Mart where I returned something that I bought yesterday. Then we went to the Georgetown Farm Supply store where I bought an infra-red light to keep the chickens warm for the next several nights. Supposed to be kind of cold, so there is no reason to take any chances. Then we stopped at (you know where) for a spoiler, and finally we stopped at Wendy's for take-home Chili for dinner tonight. YUMMY! On the way home, the clouds were breaking up a little bit, and we decided to go home by way of one of the low-water crossings. As we were going down this deserted road, I thought this photo of the clouds (Hi Jeanne!) was pretty interesting. It kind of reminds me of something that might have been in the movie "Giant'. Okay, maybe I give myself WAY TOO MUCH credit, but that is what it reminded me of.

Home now, the infra-red lamp has been installed, and I gathered up five eggs from the girls. They are out running loose right now, and if you could see them, you would not believe how much mud one chicken could have on their feet. It is their coop, they can muddy it up if they want to!

This is a picture of one of the Amaryllis blooms that our friends Joe Mac and Carolyn brought us over the Holidays. They brought us three, and this is the last one to bloom. They are just beautiful. We were planning to plant all the Amaryllis in one of the front beds (we actually transplanted three or four), but now we discover that chickens and loose dirt or mulch are not really a happy combination. I now know exactly what they are talking about when someone says 'chicken scratch'. They certainly do scratch up everything they can, the little scavengers!

Heading off to College Station tomorrow for a work shop, and then another week in the office. It is still looking to be an EXCELLENT YEAR, and that is not just my opinion!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, INTERESTING STUFF, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!