Happy day....

I woke with a start at 4:00 AM to hear a woman screaming just outside. Eyes wide open in the dark, trying to get my bearings. Chris muttered, "What IS that?" The screaming came again, closer still.  "Fox," I told him.  He was asleep again 2 heartbeats later. I lay awake till dawn, wondering if the chickens were locked up appropriately, the rabbits, the ducks... I knew they were, but in the groggy early hours ones mind tends to run amok.

The puppy whined softly at 6:00. I hopped up, threw on some clothes and took him outside.  I bottle fed the baby goats, let the birds out of their coops, fed the horse and milked and grained the goats. It was a blue sky morning, birds singing, flowers blooming. The best that spring has to offer. I am feeling a little better each day after my injury, so that buoyed me, too.  Rachel and I had a full day of grooming slated, and our friend was scheduled to join us for supper and watching the Preakness horse race.  So much to be happy about.

The day went along nicely, except for a brief power outage that slowed our work down a bit, but we worked around that smoothly.  All the dogs and cats were groomed and headed home by 3:00.  Then Rachel planted some things in the vegetable garden while I looked on.  And Marion arrived bringing enchiladas and salad.  Chris had made his famous hot wings, and some spinach dip, so we had a tasty feast planned. And then, from the bed of my friends truck, I heard, "Baaaaaah!"

I had planned, very early in the spring, to buy two lambs that had been born at Marion's farm.  Then, when I fell and hurt myself, I asked her if she could sell them to someone else. I knew I would be out of work and didn't want to spend money I didn't need to. And, being injured, taking on more animals to care for seemed like folly. When my daughter heard that I had changed my plans she went behind my back and arranged to buy those lambs for me as a Mother's Day gift.  And here they were, in a large dog crate, delivered to my door.

They had a lot to say about the transition, but are settling in now.  Adorable spring lambs for Mother's Day. A sweet gift that was the cherry on the cake of a happy May day.