Animal News: The Chronicles of Newman and other Stories
A Typical Day at the Farm
or
the Job of the Barnyard
8 November, 2004
Last Saturday was a day that reminded me of just how exciting farm life can be - thought some of you might like to know just what goes on during your run-of-the mill weekend day.
-- Started the day by loading the large wheelbarrow full of exceedingly smelly pine shavings from the duck pen. But it wouldn't move, and upon examination, I found that the tire was flat. Getting this fixed involved manually transferring all those smelly shavings to the smaller wheelbarrow in small increments.... well we won't go into detail but you get the picture.
-- Mid-morning Gardener Dean alerted me to a problem with Newman, who was jumping up into the air, shaking his head, making goaty-screaming sounds, and lunging quite violently at anyone who came near him. It turns out something had stung him and he did recover within about 2 minutes, but he managed to get some good ones in one those unfortunate enough to be within butting range.
-- The tree guys showed up to finish cutting up the 50+ foot gum tree that had spontaneously fallen a few months back. They spent a good part of the day trying to get the remaining trunk down by chopping, pulling on it with a pickup truck, and cursing. Ultimately the 20 inch chainsaw they brought in as a last resort wouldn't start.
-- The middle of the day calmed down with the arrival of two very nice ladies who came down from Hagerstown to visit the farm and make a donation for the care of the animals (Thank you!), although one of the ladies also got stung by a flying insect (she did not butt anyone, fortunately).
-- I spent much of the rest of the day ferrying large truckloads of brush and bramble to the Poolesville Beauty Spot (the unsung "best destination" of Montgomery County), and so left the front gate open since I was in and out quite a bit.
-- Came home from picking up some feed for the animals, but didn't manage to unload everything before Newman opened every bag thus causing major spillage upon transport into the house, and a bevvy of horned beasts following me like the pied piper.
-- Late afternoon, a vehicle pulled into the driveway, and an excited-looking woman got out asking if I had misplaced a donkey and a horse. I said I hadn't thought so, but it turns out that on my last trip out, Hawthorne and Dee Dee had decided to go for a walkabout. Fortunately they stayed on the quietest part of the road, and parked themselves in an old man's back yard. Not knowing what else to do, he called the cops. The neighbor lady across the street took matters into her own hands, and herded them into her back yard. The good news is that the policewoman didn't issue any Equine At Large tickets to any of us. The really good news is that woman's daughter (who is very horse-savvy) volunteered to come and help train Hawthorne for some light riding, so all was well that ended well. And no more leaving gates open, no way, no how.
-- At last night time fell on a long day. It's cold out at night now, so the animals are getting a full bale of hay every evening to keep their tummies warm. Before bedtime, I went to the barn to pull some down a bale, flipped on the lights, and everything *POP* went into darkness. After much searching, found the good flashlight, and found that it was dead. The animals had a moonlit dinner and I went to bed! Good night.
Until next time,
Farmer Anne
Star Gazing Farm
http://www.stargazingfarm.org
© 2004 Star Gazing Farm, All Rights Reserved
May not be reproduced without permission.
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