We had such a Spring-like day today. It got all the way up to 40 °F, with big blue skies. We’ve got well over a foot of snow still on the ground, but it got all smushy and heavy, full of water. The pathways are starting to look grungy. Wow did all of the critters like it. The horses were running nearly all day. The fact that they got a new bale today had something to do with it, but not all. The turkeys were quite, well, Randy. They decided if it was spring, it was party time! The ducks and geese were mounting each other in puddles of snowmelt, a little not-quite-freezing snow pond. I forgot how x-rated we are in the Spring.
Doing the chores in the morning is such a fun way to start the day with weather like this. I wore my bathrobe, a hat, and boots. No coat! Not three or four layers of everything. Everyone is happy in the mornings anyway, but especially when the weather is nice. I took little snippets of my chores on the camera video thingie. I kept having to put it down because critters wanted to be pet instead of video taped. (George, Danny, Maggie)
We got some well-needed things done today. Got the chicken coop cleaned up a bit, new hay in the baskets, timer fixed, roosts rearranged. We are going to need another coop this year for sure. We have too many for the size we have. They don’t all even stay in the coop anymore, and are starting to spread out into some of the other shed. I’ve got to stop that if I want those eggs. They are all molting, and look so scraggly! But they still remain troopers, heading out into the snow everyday. They hang out with the mammals, mostly, or in the hoop house greenhouse. Speaking of which, I need a door on that to keep them all out when I start bringing plants out.
I had a really good day with the dogs yesterday. One of the big pigs went walkabout, headed up the driveway toward the house, all calm as can be. I saw her from the kitchen window, where I’d been canning stock and rendering lard. I ran outside, and Bjarki boy was waiting at the gate. He’d seen her. I told him “put her back” “make her go home”, and he went right to her. She saw him coming and scooted right back down the driveway. The whole thing probably took less than 2 minutes. He was so proud of himself!
Frank went to put Danny to bed in the evening with the dogs, came back in and said it wasn’t working, that Danny thought it was way too early. (It wasn’t.) It’s getting lighter in the evening, and we are waiting until serious dusk to put him to bed. But he’s getting frisky and obnoxious lately. He runs and kicks, spins and jumps — I won’t go! You can’t make me! It’s a serious challenge for Disa, who’s quite pregnant and bitchy lately. I went back out about 15 minutes later, and both Disa and Bjarki were great. I got them to separate him from his mama, headed in the right direction, and they worked really well at Mr. Bratty Boy, and we were all quite efficient.
(Just like we now know exactly what “being goosed” means, how big a goose egg is, what a wild goose chase is, what busy bees really means, we’ve learned exactly what “bitchy” means. Sudden, irrational bouts of insanity. Thank God Maggie didn’t eat her. I’m really having to keep Disa away from the other two dogs, here at the end of her pregnancy. Wow. Also? SO CLINGY.)
Have you noticed we put up a page for selling the soon-to-be Icelandic Sheepdog puppies? Email me to get on the waiting list. Tell Frank we really want a puppy cam please!
(Let’s not think about the times it’s not like that and we all get the scenic tour of the paddock through the deep snow, both laughing and cursing our Danny-boy.) Good thing he’s so cute! (and will be yummy. Happy critters make yummy critters!) Sometimes he’s really good and goes to bed all by his lonesome. Maggie walks along behind him. She’s really starting to understand all the routines, and loves them. She, too, can tell time. They all can.