It was the kind of day that surprised me each time I would come out of a barn or the coop. There always was ‘that much more snow’! Right now it is soft and powdery and halfway up my boots. By the time the rain comes through tonight it will have a hard crust. I hope the Bully can grip under the ice and push it aside tomorrow. I see hours of plowing in my future!
Teddy, Ede and I have hung close today. We are all missing Rufus and his funny little antics. I’m having to curb my ‘fix it’ tendencies … hold myself back from going out and adopting another cat pronto. (If you are reading this Tracey, thank you for your consideration and kindness!) I think Teddy may enjoy a little one-on-one for a while. Rufus needed lots of extra care and attention lately and Teddy, in his humble, gentle way, always just held back. I need to allow Teddy, and us, to settle in together for a bit to see what seems to be the best course of action. He has always had a cat buddy to wrestle with. But perhaps he would like to be a one and only… He has certainly enjoyed having my desk and my chair to himself!
The outside critters are riding out the storm. I’m glad the Guineas are safely tucked into their coop. When sitting with them today I noticed that Miss Charlie is still on the ‘outs’. I think it is mostly Beaker/Bea who drives her away… What’s up with that? She seems to have learned to make her forays to the food after the roosters have moved up to the perches. The coop is cozy – not all that big. Once all three roosters began to crow all at the same time … not sure I’d call that noise a … crow … more like dozens of door hinges screeching all at once. I got laughing out loud it was so ridiculous!! And laughed even more when I realized I couldn’t even hear myself over the din! No wonder it sends the donkeys scrambling if they are in the hay barn on the other side of the wall.
The jennies are feeling a little cabin fever. We looked out this afternoon to see Bella leading them all on a walk over the hill top and down through the front paddock. They didn’t stop once for a nibble … just looked like three ladies out for a power walk. Straight back they went to get out of the wind. Tonight they are doing the barn shuffle. I’d say Bella and Darby are just about ready to hit their cycles and are … well … grumpy! So it seems that each time one of them settles in a spot the other will come and bump her out of there and all three then have to move barns – walking out through the snow – getting wet. Finally Rosie backed herself into the slot between the Bully and the wall. That way she could fight anyone off that decided she had to move again. I went out and piled loose hay in with her so she could at least have something good to eat while she waited out their mood!
It will be interesting to see what kind of weather we wake up to in the morning! Stay safe everyone.
The Meadow View 