Never Alone

The past five days have been relatively quiet here on the farm - 
as Hubbs was away on a "boys" trip... 
golfing down south where the weather is warmer.

Although I was the only human left here on the farm,
I was never alone!


There are always plenty of souls here to keep me company...


and several of them are quite obliging!


There has been a hint of spring in the air lately,
and although our mornings are quite chilly...
it warms up by afternoon.


The trees are full of buds.
And tiny wildflowers are popping up in the garden.


It was finally warm enough to work in the garden on Saturday.


As I pulled the leftover remains of last summer from the soil,
I had plenty of company.


See what I mean?


Never alone!


"What?... you're done already?"

Sunday afternoon I spent a bit of time with the pigs.


It was time to trim their hooves and I knew that if I just stayed in their yard
with them for a while,
eventually they would roll over for a belly rub...
which happens to be the best time to trim hooves.


These gals never mind me fussing over them.


I clean the "gunk" from their eyes,
pick the sticky food residue out of the hairs on the sides of their mouths,
and just generally give them a good going-over...
sort of like chimps grooming each other,
although it is a one-way process.


Sunday morning I found Daphne limping on her left front hoof.


A visit from Dr. Becky revealed a hoof abscess.
The abscess was opened and packed to allow for drainage.
(It's impossible to keep the packing clean on the outside.)



Hopefully Daphne will be feeling much better in a few days.
It worries me so when one of the animals is under the weather.
I'd rather have the symptoms myself than have them feeling miserable!


I love watching the behavior of our animals... some of it instinctual and some learned.
Something that I have noticed about our birds is that they are always keenly aware
of what is in the sky above them.

Here is Prince... mid-crow...


when suddenly he is aware of something in the sky....


Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?


Nothing dangerous... so back to crowing he goes.

I have to say... he is a really nice rooster, so far.
He takes good care of his girls.
And leaves us humans alone.


I did a lot of sewing while Hubbs was away.
I took a couple old linen table cloths and dyed them to use as fabric for sewing.


Photos to come when Hubbs is home and can take them for me.


This green fabric became a summer jumpsuit.

I don't mind being alone.
There is always so much to do and so much fun to be had!

Comments


Our "Spring" is about a week or two behind yours, I think. Love the color of that jumpsuit fabric!

colleen said…
Poor Daphne, I hope it heals without a hitch. We are at least two weeks behind you so I think there is hope for us yet. Your last sweater came out beautiful and I can't wait to see what that beautiful material morphed into :)
littlemancat said…
First - sending good wishes to Daphne! And love the tender green (new leaves) of the material.
It sounds like a lovely week-end with the beautiful souls of the farm. I've been loving the budding trees too - the maple's red blossoms against the blue March sky - beautiful! And also seeing lots of the little blue Bird's Eye Speedwell. Isn't it stunning?!
Mary
This N That said…
Poor Daphne..Hope everything heals OK!!You have the best company...unintrusive (usually)..I'm sure the piggies enjoyed their grooming. Glad Hubs got home OK..Enjoy your week..xxoo
deodar said…
At least an abscess once opened pretty much immediately relieves the hurt. Where did you find your nipper for the pig's feet? I currently use a heavy duty pruner on Percy but it's not the best. Yours looks like you can use it one handed, that's important when you have to keep rubbing those bellies!
Unknown said…
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Bee Haven Bev said…
Deodar.i actually use an equine hoof nipper...farriers tool...foal sized.
jaz@octoberfarm said…
glad daphne is feeling better. willie has to have eye surgery this summer and i am dreading it already. things are very slowly coming back to life here too. i can't wait to get in the dirt.