Today was good. Really good. I spent more time outdoors today than I have in quite some time. While my children enjoyed most of the day’s animal related activities, I realize that I am the one who benefited most. I rarely take the time to do these things lately: to stop and pet my cats or throw my chickens some scratch; to walk through the garden and see how many sunflower seeds are left for the birds.
Things turned out okay for Gabe, but really it’s never a good idea to lay down in a chicken coop.
With a fresh bale of straw to scratch in, many of our chickens preferred to stay in their coop today rather than free range.
Jonny calls these “turd on a string” pictures. Sorry to be vulgar. It is true that these aren’t pretty, although I am sure that it is possible to make prettier ones. I should add that making peanut butter pinecones would be better left to warmer weather and an outdoor table. It’s really messy.
I am sure you would realize this without me saying, but, no, she isn’t really driving the four wheeler, nor is it even running. But she did lick the salt lick along with her brothers and sisters. They all have to copy each other.
Keats’ outfit…
His explanation for wearing shorts and a t-shirt in the cold was that his pants got muddy. This made little sense to me. He clearly went inside and changed out of his muddy clothes, and chose to put on summer things.
I ran inside and grabbed him pants and a sweatshirt because I don’t fall for the “I’m not cold” nonsense when it’s thirty degrees.
For the deer and other critters…
I had to go grab a coat for this one too.
Trudy got this new toy.
She really likes it, which is good because she has been back to her old ways of chewing up things that don’t belong to her.
I made chicken with rice for my outdoor cats and for Trudy for dinner.
My cats turned their noses up at the food. I should have just given them sardines, but Jonny hates the smell.
I did give the porch where I feed the cats a good scrubbing, but it only took a minute before a chicken ran over and left a present. There is no teaching them where to go to the bathroom. It’s somewhat discouraging.
My cats continued to look through the glass with pitiful expressions after I served up their chicken, so I ended up filling their bowls with dry cat food as usual. At least I tried!
I think that taking a day to focus on doing special things for all the animals that surround us will be a new Christmas tradition. We ended our afternoon with hot spiced cider and a nice feeling of accomplishment.
I have been thinking I need some time unplugged, but will probably be back here at least a little bit next week. I’ve got an ultrasound scheduled for Monday (I am hitting that 20 week mark next week), and my birthday is Thursday, so I will most likely post a picture here and there and let you know what we find out on Monday!
Merry Christmas!
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