Missions accomplished

Don't you love it when you have intentions of doing one little thing, but that one little thing turns into a bunch of chores accomplished?  

I do!  

The Gas Man, aka "Pops" and I headed to Chelsea's today to help put up a short piece of fence, with the hope that it will keep a certain Houdini dog from escaping her back yard and wandering off in the neighborhood. 

Not only did we get that fence up, but we pruned some shrubs, vines, bushes, etc., raked the yard and bagged up the leaves, put away fall decorations, pulled out Christmas lights and decorations, transplanted a redbud tree and some ornamental grass, put up all the lights and decorations and dug up a root that was causing some issues in the driveway. 

When I say "we," I mean the multi-talented crew above. Har, har. 

And isn't it so much more fun to work when you have a big crew?  That's one thing I miss about the old days, particularly 'round the farm. 

Have a big job to do? Get a big crew together and make short work of it!  

If feels good to have helped "the young'uns" out today.  As I said the other day, it's difficult to do much of anything when you have a toddler who is still a little unsteady on her feet.  You have to keep your eye--or hand--on her all the time. 

The biggest reward of our missions accomplished?  

Seeing Miss Ivy enjoying this funny-looking snowman.  That was her dad's idea. Good call, Dad! 

P.S.  I forgot the gutters!  Chris's dad even cleaned the gutters while he had the ladder out.  

Busy as a bird dog...

My day began with a look at the frosty farm through my car window.  I stepped outside to retrieve something from the car and noticed these cool designs on the glass. This photo in no way does the beauty of it justice. 

Frost is such an amazing thing!

The Gas Man had asked me to go with him to make Saturday deliveries again, and while I'd like to have loafed with him in the bright sunshine, there was much work to be done at home. 

I had punkin' chunkin' to do and pepitos to toast.  There were bucket of pears to pare, slice and dice. 

I made a big pot of chili and a chocolate cake.  

I'm still working on stuff in the kitchen this evening--I'm making pear sauce and pear preserves, and I've got a huge pile of kale prepped for making kale chips.  

After The Gas Man got home, I took a break from all the kitchen witchin' and walked down to the pasture to open the gates so he could set out hay. 

I took with me a bucket of pear peelings and cores, thinking I could entice the little donkeys to come closer.  The little ones didn't get a chance to try the sweet treats though, because their mommas fell all over themselves to eat them first.  

Once the bucket was empty, Dolly took it from me after sniffing around inside for more.  I'm sure the grandkiddos would have gotten a big kick out of seeing that! 

Once she figured out she wasn't going to get more, she tossed her head--and the bucket--and Honey and I walked back to the house.  

Welp, I'd better get back to work!  

Rambling on...

Sometimes it's hard to get our head around this simple idea.

What we do with this hour, and that one, well, that's what we are doing.

In other words, it's easy to waste a lot of time.

Such as in scrolling Facebook. You may come across this post while scrolling, and you may think you've wasted your time reading it.

Time is such an interesting concept to me. How momentous occasions can occur in seconds, while long stretches of sameness can drag on for...months?  Years?

A few brief seconds is all it takes to alter the life of a whole lot of people, as we saw with yesterday's school shooting.

A child can be conceived, a marriage proposed, a mortgage signed--in just minutes.

It's the filler stuff that we spend hours on, some of it necessary, some of it not. 

Everyone needs a little downtime, of course, but too much filler makes for dull minds and aimless lives.

Life's too short for that.

Because how we spend our days is how we spend our lives.

Her ears are still floppy, but we don't care

The grand-kiddos rode the bus to Nan and Pop's house this afternoon, so we thought we'd venture down in the pasture to see if we could get a closer look at our newest addition.   

Dolly, above, is usually the first to approach us for some lovin'.  Or maybe Rosie.  She's very affectionate also.  She's the miniature that we are still waiting on to give birth. 

The kids are so intrigued when the donkeys walk up close with their velvety lips and noses that quiver an sniffle.  

Ollie, however, with the new baby, literally steered her away from us and walked in the other direction.  Ollie isn't as friendly as Dolly, Patsy or Rosie.  

Even from a distance, it was clear that the baby's ears still aren't standing up.  Maybe that's just how she is, and if so, that's fine, because she's adorable anyway.  

At least her second day of life was a little warmer.  The sunshine was golden this afternoon, like Oaklee's hair and Honey, who's always happy to tag along when we visit the cattle and donkeys. 

Another arrival!

Guess who showed up today?  This little flop-eared gal!  

I didn't check on our donkeys this ten degree morning, but late in the afternoon, I thought I'd get out of the house for a little while and take a walk.  

From the driveway, I could see a little dark shape by Ollie, the larger momma who had still been expecting.  

At first, I thought it was the first donkey born back around Labor Day, then I noticed this one was smaller, and besides, she was beside the wrong momma.

Honey and I took off, excited to get a closer look.  Sure enough, we had a newborn!  She looks exactly like the first one.  

She was walking around like she was a week old, but something is not quite right with those ears!  

One of them is flopped over, and she (I think it's another she!) seemed to have a hard time holding them up.  

Poor thing.  I don't know what time she was born, but I know she hadn't arrived last night.  Could it be that her poor ears got frostbitten?  

Or maybe she was just crowded in the womb.  

She seems okay otherwise. I  hope her ears don't fall off!  

Some bright spots in a gray day

We awakened to a strange-looking world...snow on the pumpkins, the fall leaves, the foddershocks.

It was beautiful in a moody sorta way, though. 

As I drove to work, I thought what a perfect day it would be to hole up at home.

But our weekly deadline loomed and that thought had to be put on the back burner.  

Not an impossible thought for the school kiddos tho, and those who work in the school district.  A snow day! Lucky pups! 

After our pages were sent and approved by the printer,  I drove the short distance to my baby girl's house.

She had invited me to come up and have some of her homemade meatloaf for lunch. 

Now how could I refuse an offer like that?  

The meatloaf, mashed potatoes and lime beans were delicious! 

Equally delicious was the sugar I stole from miss Ivy's sweet cheeks...when she'd be still long enough to let me.

Into everything,  that little one is. 

Chelsea mentioned her Christmas tree in the basement, and I offered to help carry it up. 

I remember how hard it is to get things done with a baby trying to help.

Besides. What better thing to do on a day like this than deck the halls with festive lights? 

We had the tree and lights up in no time, and Ivy seemed intrigued by the bright colors.

Heading back home in the cold a little later, I tried to absorb the beauty of my natural surroundings as much as I safely could while driving. 

My hubby was here when I got home, and I thought how thankful I am for the comforts of home...companionship, a hot meal, shelter. 

It may look like Christmas outside,  but it feels like Thanksgiving in my heart.

Brayyyy-cing for winter

Stuck on a fencepost?  Nahhh.  Just scratchin' my chin.  

I had no meetings to cover tonight for the newspaper, so I took advantage of the last couple of hours of daylight to take a walk and check on the critters.  With the cold moving in, I may be avoiding evening strolls for a few days.  

Down in the pasture, one of the first sights I see is the cow above, looking like she's got a fence post rammed through her jaw.  But then she turned her head, and it became obvious that she was just scratchin' her chin.  

Our sweet little donkey herd came to greet me.  The two jennies, now about two months old, are growing so fast.  They don't allow me to pet them much, but their mommas sure love attention.  I need to remind myself to take the babies a treat...a carrot stick or slice of pear or something.  

My guess is, the way to a jenny's heart is through her stomach! 

Works for me, anyway.

Our dog, Honey, plays this little game with the young jennies. She chases them around and around, then they chase her.  She's not at all aggressive with them, just playful.  They seem to enjoy the game too. 

Leaving our little asses to their hay, I sauntered on down to the creek and took note of how black the water is.  Despite some recent rains, the creek is still very low.  With all the leaves dropping into it, the tannins in the leaves turn the water black. I always wonder if that is harmful to the fish and other creek life.   Hopefully not.  But it makes for an interesting sight. 

My hubby placed the hay rings close to this lone tree in the field, in hopes that it might provide a bit of a wind break for the animals.    

I'm so dreading the cold for our livestock, who have nowhere to go to warm up.  Sure, they can go to the barn, and it might knock off a little wind.  Still, it's not what you'd call warm in there, not when the temperatures are in the teens and twenties.  

We are still waiting on two of our donkeys to give birth.  

It would be just like 'em to give birth after the temperature drops 50 degrees, the hubs and I agreed. 

Livestock are notorious for giving birth in the worst possible conditions.  I hope the gals can put off birthing at least until the rain passes.  

Being cold is bad enough, but cold and wet?!  Brrrr....