We have now been here a little over a week. There have been a few adventures. For instance, I learned that a clay hill where the goat and donkey play makes a wonderful slippy slide... and found myself incredibly grateful for a hot shower and the ability to wash my clothes and jacket as goats and donkeys are fairly unconcerned about where they relieve themselves. Adventurer learned that when Sandman says, "don't walk on the ice," he is trying to help her on a 40 degree day (where the ice is surely not solid especially over moving water) not to go for a swim... and again I am grateful for a washing machine but even more so that my son got my daughter safely out of the creek and up the hill to warm up by the fire.
We have settled into a routine with the animals and home. I get up with the Mountain Man every morning to start the fire while he prepares for work. I am enjoying the simple task of feeding the fire throughout the day and so far it has been our sole source of heat with the exception of the day that he saw flames through the wall. For that 24 hour period we turned on the HVAC and relied on propane as the property manager made some repairs where the piping leading from the stove attached to the wall. Log cabins shift and settle more than most homes and apparently that was the cause but I am very thankful my Mountain Man saw the flames where they shouldn't be and that Joe, the property manager has now fixed it securely!
Adventurer joins me most mornings to feed everyone and make sure the water is unfrozen and full. We call out good morning to the horses (Jon Bon Jovi, called Boy, and Mama) and they meet us by the fence to receive their hay. Then it's over to Odie and Lovey (the donkey and goat) to feed them theirs. Check in on the chickens to see that their water is not frozen and that they have not dumped it during the night. We leave the top half of their door open throughout the day so that they can be free range but with the wolf pack in the valley and the coyotes we count every night to see if there are still seven. Larry, the rooster, says hello when we arrive and if daylight beats us he hurries us on our way. After everyone has food we check the mail, grab the paper, and close the front gate. Then we swing all the other gates wide so that all the animals can visit and range around the property together. Some days their antics are very distracting as they are in the front of the house and others they go down to the creek or in a side pasture and we don't see them unless we go looking.
Next, it is inside to feed the Bear and pick up the cat food. Bear thinks it is quite yummy so I put it high during the day and back down for the kitty crew as they wander in every evening. The Bear still heads straight for his bed every evening as my children say their prayers so the kitties get many hours of free time to wander the home and eat indoors before they scatter in the morning as I walk out. One has decided that Bear is tolerable as a pal and will come in in the day to play with him and be loved on by the children but the rest are still fairly shy of us.
Around lunchtime, Adventurer and I check the chicken coop for eggs. She gets very tickled by every one we collect and we tell the ladies, "thank you." The evening chores are handled by the animal property manager, Suzanne. She corrals everyone back in their home pastures and feeds them. Sometimes she can stop in for a visit which we all enjoy. Other than that it is basically bringing fire wood into the house, feeding the fire, and back to household chores you'd have anywhere and school as usual. Somehow, the new chores all make the days fresh and new with the animal friends we have here and it is easier for me, a night owl usually, to hop out of bed every morning early. In all honesty, I am sore every evening so it must be more than it seems, for me at least, but it is a good sore and a good night's sleep every night.
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