Vignettes around the Farm

I'm really grateful to have my guard horses around. 

Shortly after taking Lefty and CB to the barnyard for their breakfast, I led Lily out the door to see prancing horses with tails up and occasional snorts. 

Lily was anxious to get out there and join in on the action. 

With three horses circling the barnyard and stopping occasionally to look toward something east of their pen, I knew that we must have a visitor. 

Twas too dark yet to make anything out, so I took off across the west field, on top of snow, to the far shed, figuring the visitor would be gone by the time I headed out the driveway to get the paper. 

Not so.  While the other horses had quit running long enough to grab a few bites, CB stood like a statue with his head pointed toward the bushes and cedar row. 

I walked to the house, grabbed my walking stick, and figured I'd have a weapon if the intruder decided to take me on.

Taking just a few steps toward the driveway, I changed my mind after making out a huge figure happily feeding at the shrubs just off the driveway. 

Yup, we had a moose, and those horses had warned me. 

I think of the alternative of not having guard horses and obliviously walking out the driveway---most likely meeting with certain death through being stomped or going into cardiac arrest at the sight of the creature right next to me in the dark. 

Turns out that by the time I went into the house to tell Bill, the moose had ambled to an opening north of the cedars.  Bill came out just as it stepped on to the road and right before the school bus came and stopped.

The bus didn't stay stopped for too long as the moose jumped the fence into Taylor's field and began nibbling on branches as I retrieved the paper.  

All I've got to say is "good horses."

Nice way to start a morning, and nice to know "they're out there" for future walks in the dawn darkness. 

It was a laid-back, pleasant afternoon around here yesterday, and, happily, the snow remained hard enough to walk pretty much anywhere I wanted yesterday.

After spending a couple of hours working on writing projects, I headed out to enjoy the opportunities. 

While Bill and two dogs were out in the woods sawing and little Foster was in the barn crying and staring at Sunny who stared back from atop the hay stack, I just moseyed around, picking up branches either lying on the ground or former projectiles, standing straight up in the snow from past wind storms. 

I carried my camera with me, and made several trips to the chickadee bushes and the bird feeder. 

I don't know what our chickadee population is, but they seem to be ubiquitous around the yard, flitting here, flitting there, talking to each other about "CHEEEEEEZEBURGERS" and just enjoying life before the finches, robins and other spring and summer birds show up. 

They do share the feeder with some red-breasted nuthatches and, during the past couple of days, a pine squirrel. 

We can't figure out what happened to all the town squirrels, which up until the last year or so,  pretty much ran the squirrel show around here.  Haven't seen one for some time. 

I'm just hoping those pine squirrels will refrain from making messes once the dirt in the planters thaws.  

Sometimes I go out on the deck after they've been around, and the place looks like a construction zone with numerous piles of dirt anywhere but inside the planters.   

Anywho, a pleasant afternoon here yesterday led to some fun vignettes of the mundane life around the farm when moose are nibbling on someone else's bushes. 

Today, we'll be doing our usual daily projects while revving up for Willie's regional tournament game.

The Bulldogs take on the Lakeland Hawks in the best two out of three contest to determine who goes to STATE. 

6 p.m. Les Rogers Bulldog Gym. 

Come and cheer on the team.  

Happy Wednesday.