Saturday

Spent today cleaning the alpaca paddocks.  I fawd down in the mud.  I stood up real quick to see if anyone saw me!?  The only ones watching were the alpacas. I swear they were laughing!!??

I  have been feeding animals early in the morning before I go to work.   I check the chickens to make sure they have water they can drink and not ice.  Friday, I unscrewed the little black cap on the chicken waterer and it slipped out of my gloved hand.  Do you think I could find a little black cap in the 4 inches of fresh straw I put down last weekend.   NO!  I even had a flashlight!  It  vanished!   The waterer is useless without that cap!  Today, I also looked for the black cap. I scooped straw all over the floor looking for it.  I even had a couple of clucking chickens scraping straw around and they couldn't find it either!   I put a bowl in their coop for water.  That doesn't last long because they try to stand on the rim of the bowl to drink and turn it over!!!   Ah well...such is life on the farm.  Sanetha
Hubster has been sick.  I took over feeding animals.  Only time I have to feed is 7:00 in the morning.  This morning the alpacas were in the field when I entered the paddock.  At first they just looked at me, with really dumb-founded looks on their faces.  Then they looked at each other and said "FOOOOOD!!!!  They all came running at once kicking, jumping and spitting.  "You were fed last night!"  GEEZ!

We had a great Christmas.  All the family gathers at my house on Christmas Eve and I love it!  Grandparents, in-laws, grandchildren, dogs and cat.  Last year we started playing a little game called "Right/Left/Center".  Everybody sits in a (sort of) circle. Each person has $3.  A dice is rolled. If it lands on 2 or 4 you pass a dollar to the right.  If the dice lands on 3 or 5 you give a dollar to the person on the left.  If you roll a 1 or 6 you give a dollar to the center.  Whoever has money left at the end gets the center. Sharon won this year,  G.G. won last year.  It is fun and draws out our gathering a little longer. 

New Year's Eve we had a party with our grandchildren.  We played games, and watched the ball come down and toasted the new year with sparkling grape juice "champagne." Granddaughter Cora got a "kitchen" for Christmas.  She and her brother Lucas set up a Cafe in the front entry way.  It was funny to hear them talk about what they were ordering from the "cafe."

My husband has felt neglected lately.  I've gotten in a reading mode.  I read the entire three books of Stieg Larsson trilogy.  First read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."   Then  "The Girl who played with Fire."  I took a break when I got a Kindle for Christmas and read  "Water for Elephants" by  Sara Gruen. Then picked up "The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest" and read it straight through.   Whew! How did I get anything done for Christmas!

...farm living is the life for me.   Sanetha