Humour restored

The day started with Charley rambunctiously trying to engage Sadie and Oliver in a game of chase-and-tumble on the hill at the back of the pasture. Belle, of course, was the referee, awakening the world with her constant calls.

I love, love, love watching eleven year old Charley leaping around like a puppy, barking and playbowing and mouthing and throwing herself at the others. For so many years, in another time and place, she was my Eeyore Dog - head down, slow moving, disinterested in everything around her. She is a different girl now, here on our little farm.

We continued with the morning chores. The piggies were relieved to find out it wasn’t raining, and Martin was happy to get some apple slices and sweet alfalfa with his grains.

I ran some errands, went to work, ran home after class to take the dogs for another run in the pasture – happy, happy dogs. Martin came down for meal number two and some fresh local hay.
I ran back out to do a couple more errands and to pick up fruit and veggie bits for the piggies from Lou’s – and she had a container of lovely, scrumptious, delicious, yummy homemade stew for me to take home for my dinner, complete with fresh bread and some really tasty melon. Ooooohhhh......I love being spoiled! Thanks, Lou!

I fed the dogs, fed the piggies and put them to bed, fed myself, and sat down in front of my wonderful, warm, working natural gas fireplace which a nice repairperson came to fix yesterday.

That was when Oliver began his oh-so-cute little lispy sound by sticking his tongue through the toothless gap in his mouth – “tsit tsit tsit” – which is his way of saying “I’d like to go out again please”. Oh Oliver, you’ve had two walks, I really just want to sit for a bit before I tackle some marking.

Tsit tsit tsit.

One sheltie nose on my knee.

Tsit tsit tsit.

Big eyes looking at me wistfully.

Tsit tsit tsit.

And so out we went.

And it was a beautiful evening.

It was a Winnie-the-Pooh-Blustery-Day with white and pink puffy clouds and

“The wind is lashing lustily/And the trees are thrashing thrustily/And the leaves are rustling gustily” (From: Winnie The Pooh and the Blustery Day. Written by: Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman)

I love Winnie-the-Pooh-Blustery-Days!

Martin had come back to his pen to see if he could cop another meal to make up for the one he missed in the rain and dark yesterday evening. I obliged, then took the dogs back into the pasture for their third romp of the day.

On the neighbour’s hill alongside my pasture, his llama was silhouetted in the gathering dusk against the last remnants of the blue-golden sky, long neck stretched up tall and proud, funny curved ears alien-like atop his head, black shadow animal on light evening sky.

Ahead of me, I watched Sadie as she raised her nose high in the air, head into the wind, catching the scent of llama, the breeze feathering her long fur. I looked behind me to see the two shelties, Oliver and Belle, strolling down the trail, side by side. And Charley bounced around in the rustling pasture straw, pouncing on mice, real or imagined.

At the top of the rise, I sat on the bench surrounded by beauty and watched as the setting sun turned the sky to golden and red and then slowly disappeared behind the hills.

When I returned to the yard, the neighbour was gathering crabapples from his tree to give to the piggies. I went over to give him a hand, and in companionable silence we worked together in the fading light.

Life doesn’t get too much better than this.

If only the elves had tiptoed into the house while I was enjoying nature, and worked their way through the piles of marking........