Surprise Surprise

Either Miss Patty is trying to break the record for oldest egg layer-

and I thought her last egg a few years ago was amazing-

Or Naomi has laid her first- 

and as she is only 4, that would be much more reasonable-

but I was surprised with a very interestingly shaped egg when I went in at bedtime.

Merry Christmas

Family visits with Family dogs.

I told Teeny Tiny to sit pretty and smile. No kidding- she runs over, plops down, and bat-ears me. 

I spent such a long time searching the internet for the right dog for Mima and Papa,

and whatever Teeny is, she is perfect for them. And pretty funny.

Like that footstool from Beauty and the Beast. Or an undiscovered Dr. Seuss character. 

Or maybe just a flying pillow, as George says.

Gwen, in her super fierce Christmas necklace. African Queen inspired, you might say.

Poor Fritha, she had to stay home and guard the chickies and goats.

But Gwen enjoyed the visit- she likes Teeny Tiny, who cannot jump her.

Definite plus, in Gwen's book. She has had to take to running under Fritha at times.

Hope she sees fairly often and mostly ignores except when cold and she wants a sleeping companion.

Hope with Mima.

She never did find the cat.

Can you find the dog?

Huh huh?

Gwen finds all the excitement tiring. 

And she is 14, so I can't blame her.

Happy Winter Solstice

I recommend lying down in a big mess of dead leaves in the woods,

and laughing your head off in the company of baby pines.

This, by the way, ensures you are certifiably clinically insane, and free to enjoy life.

 Having a cat almost suffocate you by walking on your throat and face

while you try to enjoy the day is entirely optional.

However, if you ask nicely, Rionach will likely be willing to help you out.

She is very obliging that way.

Obligatory "Arf Arf!!"

Sunshine, oh Happy Day

12.20.14

I should probably be doing something useful right now. Like making sure that crash a second ago does not mean Brighid just broke something overly important.

So much for the predicted snow..... just lovely and crisp outside. And yes Dad, Fritha does say hi to you, too. She is absolutely thrilled you might be visiting for Christmas. Or she is just generally thrilled about life. But I'll go with former.

Chickies

And there is this.....

Day

Sunrise

 Good Morning Goats!

Chrysanthemum is rather a loner- but that actually seems by choice.

She was the only kid and bottle fed, not a good deal-

she can't seem to decide whether she really is as much a goat as her mother.

Watch the day pass....

I was playing fetch with Fritha in the field

-so she has to work to find the stick in the mounds of grass and dead wildflowers-

but she looked so funny coming out covered in stickers!

Unfortunately most had been rubbed off with a good roll before I got the camera.

Evening

Bits of Bird Moments

I love how comfortable the wild birds here are with me. Whatever I am doing they just go about their way so I can walk right among them, which is wonderful. While getting pretty close is easy, still, sometimes a little moment stands out. Like today, walking to the mail box, when a Carolina Wren stayed on her branch as I walked up, and just watched me as I came within a couple feet, and there we stood. Then after a bit, she turned, and hopped away to another perch. Simply very still.

Moments that stand out aren't all like that. I came upon a Junco in the driveway that seemed ill- acting like a fledgling that couldn't quite fly. Slowly he did take off, and in a very low arc flew around me and straight into the basement window- not at a great speed, but Rionach was sitting on the sill right beneath and so grabbed him when he fell. I have never seen her, even with much watching, hunt birds- she much prefers rabbits, which given her small size I find amazing- but this one fell into her lap, so I can't blame her. I did try to get him back in case he was still alive- often they are- but I think this one died hitting the window or pavement, his neck was already broken. To see one so close, holding the cat as she choked him down... was striking. And oddly peaceful.

Also- it perhaps is standard feline diet to eat with hardly any chewing the whole bird with all those feathers, but it seemed to me like rather a lot of keratin. But then, what do I know?

Ciao Cows

In the cold rain of today, a faction of my neighboring cows has come all the way up to harbor beneath the pines right in front of my house- the front goat pasture has a joint fence line with them.

Shhh

Surreal Explosion

These 10 minutes actually can make the rest worth it.....

Turns Out This is a Treat

At the end of the day, the ice dumped from the water buckets is sometimes still not melted. It is now a highlight of young Fritha's life. If she gets this excited about ice cakes, what thrill will a real storm give her?

Whatcha got, Fritha?

 Myice! Myice!!!

I eat my ice. It's almost gone. So sad.

Dinner, Darling Goaties.

That is Rionach behind Somerville, and Whisper chowing down.

 Somerville just wants to know if Spirit has anything better.

Hello Chrysanthemum, you little poser, you. 

Caught you in a funny face this time, ha. Not always a perfect smile, then.

It is Grey Today

No picture of the Grey, though- instead Chester and Cupcake. Only a few days in to the cold snap, they miss being outside already. Can't blame them at all. And I am sad that this cold snap was the final one that triggered Cupcake's barbering. She was such fluffy-fully-feathered-glory; hard to walk in to the room in the morning and see the pile of feather shreds. Chester is still doing well, maybe *just maybe* he will be fully feathered soon! Or not.  Oh well.

We, by that I mean they, are singing to various folk tunes. I am still recovering from the flu.

Storybook Window

I like my view. Recovering from a virus as now, it is nice to see from my bed. Even if I can't enjoy the few remaining warm days- here yesterday before the grey and white chill of today- I can see it, and open my windows for the breeze to wander through.

But Rionach wants to know why, 

when she is sitting there and calling from beneath my window,

I would spend any time hanging out a window rather than joining her on the porch.

Good Morning

It's a beautiful chilled day

I am in love with my Camellias

Just ask my sister- it is true. I could wax endlessly about the charms of my Camellia Sinensis, the Camellia from which tea is made. Possibly this devotion is a bit disturbing, at least to some people- regardless, I got them both as teeny itsy bitsy seedlings, and I love watching them on their shelf by my bed. They have grown so enthusiastically, surviving a rogue grasshopper that found its way to my room and ate mercilessly until caught- hence the ragged leaves in some of the pics- and then both starting little "babies" of their own, little sprouts next to the original stem. The first bloom either has ever had opened a couple days ago. The statement that I burst with happiness waking up to that almost passed beyond the land of the simile. Somewhere, my sister just rolled her eyes and snorted.

The brown powder is cinnamon I use against fungus and those little annoying fungus gnats, 

both of which I sometimes have trouble with in the winter.

Lost a beautiful African Violet to fungus gnats, 

first I had dealt with them- not happy.

A cutting from one of my grandmother's Camellias. 

She used to love propagating her Camellias (and Gardenias)

but honestly not sure what cultivar this is, other than that it flowers red.

Doing very well, though!

 And of course my beloved red hibiscus! Intense "true" red,

 clear and deep and velvety in person,

but she just loves photographing with an intense orange reflection.

Oh well, still pretty, even if my photography skills are not such as can 

figure out how to get her actual color.