A Bathtub Full of Water.

Happy summer days are upon us, my friends. Days where I can pull weeds in my jammies and not wake the starving boys up until after 8am.  Days where my gas tank remains full and my kitchen a complete and utter disaster.

My new thing is audible, and I love to put my wireless earbuds (airbuds?) in and putter around the place.  I pretend to not hear the boys fighting and all is happy in the world.

I went and visited Hazel this morning.

Reader.  She didn’t follow me.  Nor did she knock into my legs to get milk.  She wanted to eat hay and just “tolerated” me.  It made my feelers sad.

I love her.

I checked in on Matilda’s calf, Tillie, and she is looking like the spitting image of her mother.

Hearty, robust, and a brat and a half.

And, of course, Maisy’s calf.  She is, to quote David, “A wiley little bugger,” so we are unsure of her gender, but we want her to be a girl, and we are holding on to that hope.

Are you wondering what a “wiley little bugger” is?  You are not alone.  Think of a hyper calf who chooses not to be roped.

Also, she has a cute, white face, like her mama.

Pita and Little Red have not chosen to flee.

So that’s good.

Thanks to David and the boys, I have a few areas now that I really love and enjoy “tending.”

I have lots of flowers to water and chickens to watch.  We transformed our overwhelmingly large garden into an orchard/strawberry patch and it is much easier to maintain.

Lest you think all is happy and merry over here, I would like be fully transparent and show you that there is a pig foot in a window well.

Why?  How?

Don’t know.  Don’t care.

Let’s focus, yet again, on the pretty clematis.

That’s better.

There is a part of our shop that has always been somewhat ideal to convert into an apartment.  We are contemplating doing that now because we kind of need space from our adult children, but the housing market in our area is ABSOLUTELY insane and no one who is from here can live here anymore.  Which is a travesty.

So, we are not completely sure, yet, but we might convert this room-

into an apartment.

Stand down, Reader!  We will charge rent of our offspring!

I don’t know.  I am stressed.  Life has thrown us a lot of curve balls lately, curve balls that I cannot yet discuss, but I am trying to stay positive and happy.

And, look!  A strawberry hath begun!

So.

Hope.

Since I am home more, and no longer teaching precious first graders (sob), I am able to observe the puppy brothers more, and I am sad to say that we have a problem.

The puppy brothers guard the cow water trough.  And they let the cows be as long as they stay in the area the puppies have allowed. But if the puppies are outside-and the cows wish to quench their thirst-the puppy brothers chase them off.  And I know from doing research in first grade that a cow needs to be able to drink a bathtub full of water each day, so this is going to be concerning.

Anyways.

Life is tricky.  I am stressed.  LD turns thirteen on Saturday.  Hazel doesn’t need me anymore.  But I might get strawberries soon.

Happy Thursday.