Beautiful Sky

The farm is so lovely in the spring night-time sky. The waxing crescent moon lights up the puffy clouds dotting the sky behind the silos. I love my silos. They serve no purpose now, but make a magnificent agricultural statement, rising majestically into the sky. Stars are sprinkled around like diamonds. I like to stand on the hill and take all this in, with the barn beneath me. The sheep know it's time to come in, and all I have to do is get one or two started and the rest follow. Izzy would love to help me but with so many lambs I don't want to start a stampede down the hill into the barn yard. With the sheep out on grass I don't have to sling the heavy bales - what a blessing. I feed the chickens, rabbits, cats, ducks and dogs, and fill the water buckets. I found where the ducks have been laying their eggs, in a lovely pile on the far end of the barn. No one is sitting on the nest, so I didn't feel bad about taking most of them for the cats to eat. The ducks have the run of the farm now, but chose to stay close to the barn and play in a soggy, marshy area. I sure don't want to lose my ducks. They could be picked off so easily by coyotes, but Thor, Finn and Knut have the area marked with their scents, warning the coyotes not to come too close to the barn. Still, I can't count on the coyotes not giving it a try. They are the "tricksters" as the Navajos say. I got a batch of hand creme made tonight before dinner, and will cut out a bag now. Don't know if I'll get any of it sewn tonight. I spend a lot of time in the barn with the animals at night, but I love to be with them. My wonderful Canadian friends, Darryl and Kim, are coming to take me to New Hampshire Sheep and Wool this weekend. Mapquest says five hours to Contoocook, not the eight hours I was anticipating. I'd love to have more bags, but there is not enough time in the day. "That's just the way things are..." said Ma to Babe.