How do I ever get anything done around here?

Today was the perfect day to get a few things done around the property.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it:

(And as is frequently the case here):

I had a lot of help:

This made it almost impossible:

for me:

to concentrate at all:

on my tasks at hand:

And I found myself frequently distracted:

Oh no, here come the chickens:

So you know what I did?

I took off my gloves...:

Sat down...:

And watched the show:

I'll mow the lawn tomorrow.

Tiny and hard-boiled

I wasn't sure at first who it had come from:

At only 1.3 ounces and white, it was either a very small Skippy (the Leghorn) egg, or a very odd-shaped Dottie (the White-Crested Black Polish) egg:

But, although odd looking, there was no reason not to treat it like any other egg, right?

One of my favorite quick breakfasts is a hard-boiled egg on wheat toast:

I peeled the little egg. The shell came off easily:

I toasted and buttered my bread and put the egg in the slicer:

And that's when I noticed it:

It would appear this little eggy anomaly has no yolk:

But then I flipped the last few egg slices over, and there it was...the smallest hint of a yolk:

Yup, that's it. That's my story for today. Chickens, and their eggs, are funny, funny things:

Enjoying the moment(s)

Have you ever noticed how a day is often made brighter by seemingly unrelated, happy moments... moments that, individually, make you smile but, when tallied all together, can make you feel like you had a really wonderful day?

Here are a few of my seemingly unrelated happy moments from today....

Waiting for the hummingbirds:

Having my mom drop by for an unexpected visit (and a cup of tea):

Thinking about the package I got in the mail:

...that had a beautiful painting of my sweet donkeys inside:

Spending time outside with Chester and Beau:

Loving that my llama smiles at me:

Watching Beau notice that somebody's coming:

and seeing him go out of his way to make the visitor feel welcome:

The older I get, the more I realize how important these small, happy moments really are...

More rainy day activities

4-word recap summarizing current Critter Farm weather status: Continued cold and rainy

Yesterday, I only shared how the chickens are spending this time, so I thought - in an effort to reduce any jealousies that might pop up - that I should share what my other "babies" are up to currently as well.

Chester and Beau have been enjoying relaxing breakfasts under cover:

I asked them to smile for this photo, but the best I got was heads-out-of-buckets for a split second. That'll do:

Pete and Reggie, my Nigerian Dwarf goats, have made it very clear that they will not be stepping outside when the sky is falling:

Though Reggie did give it extensive consideration:

In an effort to avoid the rain at any cost, he has been very happy to explore every inch of the open doorway - from inside the goat house:

And I mean every inch:

Look at the belly on that boy:

How many pictures of things wet from the rain do you think I will show in this post?:

Oh look, here's another one:

Wait. One more:

George, the barn cat, decided to move from his napping spot on the top-most hay bale to a window seat for a better view of the rain. See him there in the left-hand stall window?:

Here's something that's not wet...my grape hyacinth are blooming. The weather really is getting better, you know:

Though I think it may still be a while before I don't have to wear my long underwear in the mornings under my jeans...

An inside day

Today was definitely an inside day:

The weather took a cold and rainy turn overnight last night, which meant nobody wanted to go outside this morning. You didn't hear any of us complaining (for a change), though. The critters and I are pretty tired from all the spring clean-up work and activity of the last two weeks. We were more than ready for a break.

It was raining so hard, I decided that the chickens needed some chicken run entertainment to help pass the day:

New things are often scary, though, and most of them placed immediate distance between themselves and the odd thing dangling from my hand:

It took everyone a couple minutes to determine if this white and green ball was friend or foe:

"That's not gonna swoop down and get us, right?":

But once I hung it from the roof beam, everybody knew exactly what to do:

I know I've said this before, but I could watch my chickens for hours. It's incredibly entertaining yet unbelievably relaxing at the same time. Here, see for yourself. The background noise is the rain hitting the plastic roofing panels on top of the chicken run:

"Ah," I thought to myself, "this will keep them busy for hours":

Don't you think?:

Thumper called me "silly" to my face:

Because when I did a cauliflower-check less than an hour later, it was totally gone. Except for the string that hung ominously like a noose. Better look out, Roopert:

You know, it's funny how happy I was on this very rainy and cold day today. Do you think it might've had anything to do with the fact that my man arrived safely home last night?:

Dinner for one

Here's what I had for dinner tonight:

This is a toasted peanut butter and Critter Farm strawberry jam sandwich with BBQ potato chips. Mmmm....one of my favorites.

I've been manning the farm solo for past eleven days and, when you're on your own, your vote is the deciding vote on what's being served in the kitchen. Funny how that works.

But even though I was tickled to have one of my favorite lunch meals for dinner, you can bet that I'm even happier my man is coming back home tomorrow. In his absence, I've learned that I really can live out here by myself for an extended period of time (and re-seed pastures, rig up new fencing, and empty mousetraps - ick), but I know for certain that I much prefer having him around.
:-)

There are a number of others around here who are anxious for his return, too:





And there's nothing like a huge farm welcome to let you know you were missed.