Scenes from sunny today

Getting a drink:

Begging:

Standing one-legged:

Shy (and blue-eyed) Clyde:

Rhubarb:

Just-budding lilacs:

Watch dog:

Goats behind bars:

The march to dinner:

Sunset over the chicken coop:

Pretty much a perfect day.

Slug Art

Formerly known as "Daffodil":

Also known as my very first Photoshop Elements project.

Here's the original photo:

And here's a picture of two chickens telling secrets, in case you don't care about photo editing software. :-)

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...