Sunday Relaxing

For the past four years or so I have tried to reserve Sundays as chore-free days.  Days of relaxation and recharging.  And simple enjoyment.  Think Barney and Aunt Bee sitting on the porch listening to Andy play the guitar.

So, today I invite you to join the scenes of "ahhhhh".

Years ago friend Mary introduced me to Sky chairs.  This summer I splurged and bought one for reading.

Mug and book are within an arm's reach.

From the chair vantage point, this was the view.

Peaceful.

Wonderfully peaceful.

Gunner joined me for some quiet time.

And then there's the cat.

What a goof.

Snoozed most of the afternoon on top of the hot tub.

Of course throughout the day there were donkey and chicken chores, but somehow those don't count.  Mid-afternoon I was able to storm the kitchen to make an Asian Quinoa Salad (new recipe).  And then wandered out to the donks to just sit in their company.  I don't do that often.  I happened to take out some treats and, of course, got mobbed.

  Well worth the trip out to hang with the little devils.

Flower Power

I am not a gardener.  Which among my friends is abnormal.  Ah well...
I would much rather muck out a stall or clean out the chicken coop than weed.  And my flower beds back me up.

But...

There are some that are fail-safe.
They are past their zenith, now, but, boy they were lovely a couple of weeks ago.

The Eeuuww Factor

Most creatures don't spook me and send me scurrying.  Well, maybe wasps.  Not spiders, not snakes, not most insects.

But then there are slugs.

Gross, gross, gross.

The buggers show up on the sides of the donkey water trough.  OK, I need to fill the darn thing and they're in the way.  So, it's a matter of picking each suctiony slimy beast off and sending him/her on his/her way in the weeds.

This is a pretty good photo of the little slimer, you can see his little horny things by his head.

I can't tell you how slimy my fingers get after this ordeal.  Yuck, yuck, yuck.
At times there have been up to eight in the trough at one time.
Let's throw in an extra yuck for good measure.

It occurred to me to take a quick look-up of slugs to appear somewhat knowledgeable.
No, don't wanna.

Thank goodness I'm not finding them everyday, as I was about a month ago.  Don't know why.  Don't care.

Yuck.

Chicken Moochers

It seems we are surrounded by food moochers.

Dudley (big dog on the right) believes it is his inherent duty and right to clean out Gunner's food bowl after Gunner has concluded the meal.

Same rules seem to apply to the donks, except the rules change as to who has the god-given right. When donks are given their teeny portions of grain or supplement, those bowls are cleaned to the n'th degree.  Hard working tongues.

Well, now the chickens feel compelled to tackle the donkey bowls following beet pulp days.  As part of the regime to bulk up Luigi and Gabariella (we've talked about this before, please take notes) they receive a modest portion of beet pulp on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  For those horse owners out there, YES, I soak thoroughly in hot water for an hour.

Chickens are drawn to the remaining micro-specks.

  



Jo (always immerged in the bowl), Sweet Pea and Buffy investigate.

The bowl the pulp was soaked in is always of interest too.












And speaking of Jo, and her penchant for sitting in bowls (if you recall, she likes to sit in the treat bowl in the coop), she joins the ranks of manure queens.

I've only observed one other of my flock do this, and for the life of me can't remember if it was Golda or Emmy Lou (both sadly gone).

I must tell you one other story which, unfortunately, does not have accompanying photos or video.
A few days ago, I was just inside the barn, tending to some chore, when around the corner comes Sweet Pea running full tilt and slides to a stop right in front of me.  Just like your favorite baseball player sliding into home base.  No, there was no threat, no predator lurking.  She thought she was missing out on a treat.  It was probably the funniest thing I've seen one of the girls do and laughed at her outright.

What a bunch of ding dongs.