Good Morning

 Good morning, the sun is up!  

After the past several days of unseasonably cold, windy weather, we are finally headed into a warming trend.  It cannot come too soon.  I usually try to be as patient as possible with the changing seasons, but this week I might have run a little low in the patience department.

Luckily, the sun returned yesterday and gifted us a bright, cheerful day.  My heart was light as I greeted the animals and served breakfast.

We walked the horses up to the upper pastures, then realized that the gate, separating the two pastures that we were using, was closed from the last time they had been up there grazing. 

 You see, the last time the horses were out, they refused to return to the barn.  I chalked it up to Spring Fever!  I closed the gate at that time so that I would not have to chase them out of the uppermost pasture.  As it turns out, after about 20 minutes of them running circles around the single pasture in which they were trapped, they gave up and willingly allowed me to halter them and lead them back to the barn.

For the sake of the little's reputations, I have to tell you - Ollie and Red did not give in to the shenanigans of the others.  I had led them back to the barn and their breakfast while the other three lost their minds.  I am not one to be beaten and knew that eventually, patience would pay off and my three bad horses would eventually come to their senses.  And... they did.

So, yesterday, upon being let loose in the pastures, the herd ran to the gate and waited for Jack to open it. 

They wasted no time in getting to the grass - 

that is always greener on the other side of the fence!

Much to my chagrin, when grazing time was over Moonie, Donnie, and Scarlet gave an encore performance of the previous day... turning their backs to me and running away when I mentioned the fact that it was time to come back to the barn.

Perseverance won.  Horses - 0.  Bev - 2.

Next on the chore list were the pigs.  Breakfast was served.

And they gobbled it down, like.... pigs!

We continued on our way... feeding and watering, opening up the bird's houses.

The ducks immediately ran up to visit with Forrest and his girlfriend.  Weeks ago, I moved our last remaining female duck up to an empty shed that the turkeys used to live in.  Then we moved Forest up with her for company.  The rest of the boys live in the duck house next to the barn (the bachelor pad).  They spend their days wishing they could join Forrest and his gal on the other side of the fence. 

Amazingly, this happy little troupe of drakes didn't even emerge from their own yard yesterday.  Apparently, they were "over" the weather as well!

We opened the two chicken houses and the fluffy bottom girls came running out enthusiastically...

for snacks and a day of roaming freely around the farm.

After chores were done, I busied myself with an art project... drawing and painting a photo from our trip to Africa years ago.

 I have so many gardening tasks on my list, but alas, I am a fair weather gardener, and it was still just a bit too cold for my liking!