28 out of 29

These are the number of days in March that it has rained here in my part of Oregon. --> 28 out of 29 days <--.

Stop and think about this for just a moment. And now, let's quickly move on.

Rather than belabor this sobering bit of weather trivia, I'd much prefer to share a few things that I've seen around the farm recently. You see, my little farm remains very sweet to me, even though the weather surrounding it has been unusually sour.

Last week, I pulled a kooky egg out of one of the nest boxes. It wasn't fully formed:

The inside membrane was in tact, but the shell never fully fused shut. Such a strange thing:

I watched my nephew's face speak volumes about the tactile experience of touching Roopert the rooster's wattles:

I observed my two nephews being more fascinated with the fire in the fireplace than with their elaborate Star Wars game:

I watched my donkey, Beau, watch my niece, Julia:

He was enthralled with her:

and she with him:

And the two connected in a very gentle way:

And the one day this month that it didn't rain? Please note the squinting llama and my heavy farm coat hanging on the post. It was delightful:

Later on that same day, everyone took full advantage of the warmth and had a delicious afternoon nap:

Yet, while I've been dodging heavy rain showers and dealing with dead mice in goat water buckets, my barn cat, George, has been conspicuously absent:

This is where I found him, smart guy that he is, obviously waiting for drier weather:

See? He really is a barn cat (and doesn't this look like a cozy-dry place to hang out?):

For the first time, one of my hens flew up and landed on my arm when I walked into the run today:

It made me feel really good until I realized that Honey's sole motivation was the corn I had in the orange bucket:

Another first today: George has made it clear that the *entire* property belongs to him. This includes the donkey/llama paddock:

This boy cat has no fear:

Kai llama was her normal inquisitive self:

and needed to get much closer for a good look:

At which point, George quickly and solidly put her in her place:

No hard feelings, though. Kai was happy to escort George out of the paddock:

And had Kai been any closer, George would've been happy to give her another smack:

When last seen this evening, I was sitting on a stump, cracking myself up because I realized I was living an idiom. I was...waiting for my chickens to come home to roost: