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.