I have been excited and looking forward to Britney coming to town in a few days. We also have Iowans coming for Christmas. And we, and my siblings with their families, are going to leave town to spend the week
after Christmas with Mom in Long
Boat Key. And then in January Dan will be coming to town, home from Afghanistan for a few weeks. I am so excited to see all of these loved ones.
Pictures last week off Facebook of Britney stretching after a run while reading her Bible, and the tough-man tire flip led by teammate Daniel during the Company Fun Day.Saturday morning I had good intentions of getting a bunch of school lesson plans for January done, but was a bit distracted with the chatting on AIM I was doing with Britney. She had been gone on a retreat all last week (with no computer) and we had some catching up to do. After morning chores I caught the moon setting in the west as the sun came up behind
me. By noon I realized I wasn't near
done with lesson plans and my heart and mind weren't into school work, so I switched gears. After lunch I went out and messed around in the barn. Joe has been wonderful about getting all the labor intense work done out there each day, since my wrist is still unable to bear much weight. But I thought it needed cleaning up a bit. So I swept, put things away, and organized stuff, especially in the tack room. I walked out into the pasture to visit the horses. Amiga and Roni were both nearby and came over. Amiga (seen below) was a bit stand-off-ish when I went to pet her, but Roni let me pet him and scratch his ears and back. He was so relaxed he even rested his head on my
shoulder. Then I took Kaysha for a walk. The wind wasn't too bad and the sun was quite nice, even though the temperature was in the upper 20s. I had taken a grocery bag with me and on the way back filled it with trash that had collected in the roadside ditch along 150 in front of our place. I spent the 
afternoon and evening working on Christmas cards and chatting with Britney again. During evening chores I caught the night moon rising in the east as the sun set behind me.
Sunday morning I was gung ho about getting school work done. This may sound odd, but as I was preparing lesson plans for next semester, I was getting excited about teaching after vacation in January. I actually worked at it a little too long and had to rush to get to church 7 minutes late. Joe was tied up at work again and unable to join me. Once home, I
graded papers for awhile and then
went out into another sunny day and took Kaysha for a walk. 
Coming home I caught each of the horses with the sun on them. Amiga left, Zorro right and Roni below.
Back at the farm, I checked on Baby who I had let out of the crate because most of her feathers are nearly grown back. I cleaned up dog
messes from the yard and then started
in on evening chores. When I brought Tiny back to the coop from Amiga's stall rafters, she settled in on a roost beside Baby. Blackie is Baby's hatch-ling, sitting behind her. You can't really see that Baby's feathers are not fully in, but she is doing so much better.Monday.... school, therapy, shopping, cooking, chores (including getting Tiny down from the barn rafters above Amiga and back to the coop) and then we were off to Growth Group pot luck. I was sleep deprived and dead tired but couldn't go to bed as soon as we got home because my belly was too full.
Tuesday was damp and gloomy. I rushed home to meet the farrier who ended up being 25 minutes late. While in the barn waiting, I gave each horse a good brushing. Roni was the muddiest. I was glad to hear their hooves all looked good, because they were packed with mud, and I was worried about thrush or hoof rot. Here they are just leaving the barn.
At chore time I was glad to see Tiny in the coop next to Baby but the ducks were more of a pain than usual. It was raining lightly outside so they decided it was too nice out to go in. Not doing any grading yesterday, I had a larger pile to attend to... so hit it pretty hard. This is Floppsie in a manger feed box that has been converted to a nest box. Mr. Rainman came to town Tuesday night and stayed until Thursday morning. We got a total of almost 2 1/2 inches in those 36 hours. It rained all day Wednesday, sometimes coming in downpours with thunder and lightning.
was doing its job, being fuller than I have seen it since last spring. I had left Amiga's gate open during the day and she and Zorro were standing in the barn out of the rain when I got home. They would not let Roni in, so I put them each in their own stalls. It poured during chore time and I was missing 4 hens and 3 ducks but decided to wait and look later, after it let up.Thursday we didn't see much sunshine, but at least the rain had stopped. I walked around looking at the water way and got some pictures.
Today was a beautiful sunshiny day. I didn't leave for school until 10am, giving me a very leisurely morning.
Our two flags in the morning sun gently flap in the light breeze.
The horses enjoy the early sun as it warms the air and dries the ground.
My exam was over at 1:10, but I stayed till 3:30 xeroxing for next semester and grading my exams. When I drove in the drive, I caught the dog, turkey and cat sunning, but...
they all moved before I could capture it. Can you see the cat jumping off the air conditioner? Below, Hercules is trying to figure out how to get past the dog.
Nothing like late afternoon sun to warm an old dog.
Getting the horses in at night is fairly easy. Usually Roni goes right in to his stall and then Amiga into hers. Getting Zorro to come in is sometimes tricky. These photos are all of Roni
I had to get Tiny down off the rafters tonight and move her to the coop. While putting her on a roost, all three ducks came scampering in at a fast waddle. Perfect, all poultry were there and I shut the coop for the night.
I wish Old Man Winter would come to town with a Christmasy snow fall.
But probably I should be careful of what I wish for.
Oh, another thing coming to
.
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