An Unwanted Guest

We enjoyed a lovely, quiet Christmas Day here on the farm,

Hubbs, me, and the animals.

The weather was cold and partly sunny,

making it a perfect day for everyone to be outside grazing.

We've had several rain-free days,

so the ground is a little less soggy, overall.

Some spots remain waterlogged... as they have nearly all year long.

It's amazing how green the earth remains for this time of year.

Up to this point, it has been a warm-ish winter.

I am quite content with the way our holiday is arranged.

Our family Christmas was held a few days ago.

We missed our usual Christmas Eve with friends, so as not to spread

our Flu germs beyond the farm.

Christmas Day was unscheduled.

Quiet days like this give us time to reflect upon our life...

and enjoy the peace of the farm.

I could ask for nothing more than this.

As it turned out, however, we had an unwanted visitor for Christmas.

Normally, I would say that no visitor is ever unwanted...

unless...

that visitor happens to be a black, furry, four-footed critter

with a rather large white stripe down his back!

Yes, it seems that sometime Christmas Eve,

a certain Skunk Nicholas made a visit to the barn

and dropped a rather odiferous package on our big boy, Moonbeam.

Peeeee-EWWWWWWW!

That's a lot of horse to smell so very badly.

Because it is winter time, I will refrain from bathing him and using our skunk remedy...

although I can only imagine how much hydrogen peroxide and baking soda it would

take to bathe this big boy.

It looks like the stink is just going to have to wear off...

slowly!

Of course, the farrier is due to visit us tomorrow.

Of course.

We received the most wonderful package in Christmas Eve's mail.

Our sweet pre-school that visits us each Spring sent treats for the animals.

What a thoughtful gift!

Thank you!!