Our Country Friday......

Dean and Sherry arranged for a friend to come over and tend to the goats.

He arrived shortly after we went down to feed the chickens and ducks and let them out for the day.

Amon brought his niece and granddaughter with him and they went with me to feed the ducks.

Since the coyotes killed a few of them recently, they are held safe in a big chicken coop at night. I threw some cracked corn in there - it's not such a big coop that I can walk in - and let them eat that before opening up the door to let them go out to the big tank.

The thing is......when I opened the pen door......they went straight to their old pen fully expecting to be fed there. I fetched more cracked corn and obliged them!

Both girls laughed and enjoyed seeing the ducks but that youngest one was squealing in delight!!

I spied the duck and goose up on the bank of the little tank and they looked like they were talking to each other. Of course, by the time I got my phone out, entered my password and clicked on camera......they were in the water.

They reminded me of this Super Bowl commercial!

Our morning chores were finished and we went back to the camper to do our Stupor Time followed by our devotionals and out loud reading. Our current book is General H. Norman Schwarzkopf The Autobiography - It Doesn't Take a Hero. I believe it DID! Right now we are back in 1990 when the Middle East was in turmoil and Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait. We talk about what we remember about this time and where we were and what we were doing. We look forward to reading another chapter every morning.

By the time we were done it was time for lunch. Then Louis Dean went out to work on the plumbing - he inadvertently cut a pipe - two times - and had some repairing to do before he could move forward on his project. I tucked myself into the girl bunk and read, played Scrabble and napped for the next 5 HOURS! I wasn't sick. I wasn't even exhausted. I simply wanted to stay in bed and so I did.

Louis Dean was sitting on the deck when I finally got up at 5:00.

We watched the crop duster flying over the fields beyond the ranch.

As we sat there, the cows on Jackson's place must have known it was dinner time because they headed to the barn all at the same time.

While Louis Dean went to gather firewood, I wandered down to the meadow for some quiet time.

This is my favorite place on the ranch!

The trees and grass are greening out more every day!

I sat here with my book and then I called a dear friend in Oregon to chat for a few minutes.

Isn't it wonderful that we can have dear friends whom we have never actually met in person?

They are gifts!

I posted the 'real' photo on Facebook.

 This one has been softened and color intensified.

I'm nearly 70 and want to keep it real - but not overly so!

This chicken came down to keep me company.

She was scratching around looking for insects, I presume.

Then the prettiest rooster on the place joined us.

By this time the ducks had arrived and it was that magic moment when they need to get penned up for the night.

All went in except for ONE!

He went to the old pen and Louis Dean spent one whole hour before he caught him and popped him in with the others. We are bound and determined that we will not lose any critters on our watch!

Dusk fell and the air grew cooler.

It was 80 degrees today but it felt good. Soft warm air....not steamy.

Amon had not returned yet to tend to the goats so we decided to put them up.

Once darkness fell, Louis Dean would not be able to do it!

I fed the horses carrots and then took all our table scraps down to the now penned goats and our chores for the day were done. I came back to the camper and made Louis Dean a banana pudding before loading my photos on the laptop and starting my journal entry for today.

We sat on the deck with our wine and noticed a glow above the horizon.....a round ball that looked like a fire. I had asked Louis Dean if he was going to build a campfire tonight and he said he was too tired but it looked like someone had a big fire burning.

Turned out it was Amon!

That's why he didn't come earlier to deal with the goats.

He arrived about 8:30 and said he had a HUGE brush fire that was under control but it was REALLY BIG!!! He had called the Limestone County Fire Department to tell them about it and that it was big but under control. As soon as it had burned down some - he came straight over here and was so glad to see the goats in their pen! We exchanged phone numbers so we can keep in touch when something comes up.

Louis Dean is in the camper napping as I am winding up here.

It's been a good day in the country.

I kept thinking it was Saturday so it's kind of nice to know we have two more days to this weekend!

And we will be here for another 10 days or so.

I have a roast out to thaw for what I thought would be Sunday dinner....

Goodnight to all our friends and family from the country!!