Muggy, hot days makes the animals super grumpy!  What do I see when I look out the window? They are nipping and pushing each other with fur and feathers flying high up into the steamy air! The llamas are head butting the horse and donkey, so they in turn are picking on the goats more than usual which makes the goats take out their frustrations on the ducks, that makes the ducks chase the chickens trying to pluck out their tail feathers! They are having a gang fight out in the middle of the pasture without guns or knives (thank goodness). That means, I gotta go out there, break up the fight without being trampled, pushed, nipped or spit on by an angry llama! Most of the time when they are living up to their nickname…the naughty’s, I can just open the front door, make sure they see me standing there with my hands on my hips, tapping my foot in anger, they will straighten up, walk away from each other and go back to their assigned corner of the pasture! But not on muggy days like today. They are hot, sweaty and miserable which gives them the Jeckle-Hyde personalities. Maybe,  I’ll put the sprinkler out there, they like that, especially the ducks.  They can run through the water, splash in the puddle and drink the cool well water!

Another fun memory that popped up.

Okay, this was funny and very entertaining!  I was sitting in my big comfy chair with the front door open so I could watch the storm roll in this morning… After all, I am a weather watcher. There are 4 hens that hang together in our yard and they were strolling past the front walk when the wind blew in before the rain.  The gust was strong enough to knock two of the hens off their feet and roll them into the other two like a bowling ball! They all fell over and scrambled to get back on their feet while tangled up. It was great! After they got up, all four RAN to the nearest bush for shelter. Of course the bush wasn’t big enough for 4 full grown chickens, so the pecking fight began for the small space which resulted in them fighting, squawking, and pecking in the middle of the sidewalk as it poured. The ding bats ended up getting soaked because they couldn’t figure out how to find a bigger bush to hide under!

So…we had the Direct TV guys come out to switch us over and they both got to meet our animals. This is their addie acres experience…

Worker #1 comes through the gate only to be greeted by a 90 lb pitbull running full speed towards him. Like most folks when they see a big dog coming at them, they quickly turn around to go back through the gate whether it’s open or not. He got on the other side of the fence and waited for us next to the truck, fingers curled around the handle, to get Biscuit back inside the house.

Worker #1 is now safely in the yard as worker #2 follows with his tool box and new satellite dish. They both walked to the back area to set up the new dish where they meet Dillon the goat who is convinced they have treats for him. Dillon wiggled himself between the guys and BAAAAAAAA’S loud and long. I saw worker #1 rubbing his chin trying to figure out how to get the goat to move as he stared at worker #2 who was backing away from the goat in fear (must of never been close to one before). Chad gets Dillon back to his own pasture so the guys can get to work. We know their addie acres experience isn’t over yet, it has just begun! So we sit on the back porch to watch the show! Yep…here come the ducks. They waddle up to the men quacking. The guys ignore the annoying birds and keep working. Within minutes, 4 chickens and 2 large turkeys run up surrounding them because there is fresh dirt being dug up which means worms! Two guys, 3 ducks, 4 hens, 2 large turkeys in one small area.
Worker #2 goes into the house to rewire our basement where he meets a huge pitbull and a tiny growling Chihuahua. He walks sideways, shuffling past the dogs as I assure him that they’re all bark and no bite (my fingers are crossed behind my back). He nods at me with a sly smile and keeps walking sideways with his arms out. After he safely made it to the basement, I run to the window to see how worker #1 is doing. After all. I don’t want to miss anything good! He is kneeling on the ground working on the base when Sammie the llama sneaks over to look over his shoulder to see what he’s doing! After all, there are 3 ducks, 2 large turkeys, and 4 hens surrounding him picking at the fresh dirt he’s digging up…so there must be something exciting going on! Worker #1 is concentrating and doesn’t notice the llama a mere inch away from the back of his neck. Worker #2 just happened to walk out the back door at that moment, and freaked out because in his mind, he sees a dangerous animal about to bite the head of his partner! He yells “WATCH OUT” which made worker #1 fall backward, Sammie jumped into the air as all the birds squawked, quacked, wings flapping, feathers flying, and Chad running towards them! Such fun!

Well, today we had 4 strong, high school boys come out and muck the barn.  It was yucky!  I kinda felt bad for them because Dunkay spent the entire 5 hours with them.  He followed them out of the barn to dump the muck, and back into the barn with his nose stuck in somebody’s  side or face.  When I was out there, Dunkay grabbed their sack of water and walked away with it.  I yelled at him to bring it back but he’s an ‘ass’ and trotted away with it even faster.  One of the boys ran after him and got to play tug of war with a donkey! Dunkay won the first round. Of course I didn’t have my camera…grrrrr.  After they were done for the day, they gathered up their gear to leave, some of it was way out in the pasture where Dunkay carried it.  It took about 6 min to find a baseball cap. Chad found it, handed it to the young man and said…”here it is, it’s still in good shape but now has permanent donkey teeth imprints”.   We all looked over at Dunkay to show him our disapproval and I swear he was smiling! He ruled and he knew it!!

I wrote this the night baby Blessing died.

Chad Addie, a faithful man, picked up baby llama Blessings limp body and carried her out the barn door. Mama Violet, came up and sniffed the tiny body.  Chad stood there cradling our little Blessing, letting the mama grieve for a few minutes.  He then proceeded to carry her through the red metal gate to bury her fragile little body between two Mulberry trees surrounded by a quilt of white and pink clover flowers she liked to sit in. The wind picked up and it started to rain.  Chad just kept walking with our baby.  I turned around to go back inside.  I can see him from my bedroom window digging in the downpour, the mama llama standing at the gate watching. My faithful husband will not stop until Blessing is buried no matter how hard it rains or how much the wind blows across the pasture. His little Blessing, will be laid to rest.

I know Chad, a part of his heart along with mine, will also lay beside her lifeless body. These are the times when I don’t like being a ‘farmer’…we get attached to our animals, we give them our love and affection, even when they are being a pain (Dunkay). So when they die, so does a piece of our heart. After a good 30 min, I saw Chad slowly walk back to the gate. Mama was still standing in the rain,  she never moved. Chad put his arm around Violet and they put their heads together. She doesn’t like to be touched but yet, she let him hold her, it was like she understood, she was thanking him for taking such good care of her first born. After a couple of moments of farmer and llama grieving together in the downpour, Chad walked back to the house, head hung low. I was still watching them from the window, my tears still falling.  Chad walked into the house, took off his muddy boots and sat in the living room…no lights, no TV. Just him and his thoughts. I left him alone.

I thank God for our Blessing and the joy she brought us, even though it was for 7 short days.   Life can be fragile and fleeting. We appreciate our blessings in whatever form they come.

I wrote this the night baby Blessing died.

Chad Addie a faithful man, picked up baby Blessings limp body and carried her out the barn door. Mama Violet, came up and sniffed the tiny body.  Chad stood there cradling our little Blessing, letting the mama grieve for a few minutes.  He then proceeded to carry her through the red metal gate to bury her fragile little body between two trees surrounded by the white and pink clover flowers she liked to sit in. The wind picked up and it started to rain.  Chad just kept walking with our baby.  I turned around to go back inside.  I can see him from my bedroom window, digging in the rain, the mama llama standing at the gate watching. My faithful husband will not stop until Blessing is buried no matter how hard it rains or how much the wind blows across the pasture. His little Blessing, will be laid to rest.

I know Chad, a part of his heart along with mine, will also lay beside her lifeless body. These are the times when I don’t like being a ‘farmer’…we get attached to our animals, we give them our love and affection, even when they are being a pain (Dunkay). So when they die, so does a piece of our heart. After a good 30 min, I saw Chad slowly walk back to the gate. Mama was still standing in the rain,  she never moved. Chad put his arm around Violet and they put their heads together. She doesn’t like to be touched but yet, she let him hold her, it was like she understood, she was thanking him for taking such good care of her first born. After a couple of moments of farmer and llama grieving together in the downpour, Chad walked back to the house, head hung low. I was still watching them from the window, my tears still falling.  Chad walked into the house, took off his muddy boots and sat in the living room…no lights, no TV. Just him and his thoughts. I left him alone.

I thank God for our Blessing and the joy she brought us, even though it was for 7 short days.

AARRGGHH! I just did the “GET THE SPIDER OFF OF ME” dance! I was making my bed, turned the sheet over to pull it up, when I saw a big, hairy, 200 legged, ugly brown, beady eyed, spider looking up at me! I grabbed some Kleenex, chased it down my bed and caught it!  I’m sorry, but I did the death squish on it.  I opened up the ball of tissue to make sure it wasn’t breathing anymore, only to find it was still alive an now angry! It jumped out of the Kleenex and landed on my arm! I was dancing around the room flinging my arm around trying to keep it from taking revenge by bitting me! Biscuit heard the commotion, ran into our bedroom to save his mama! The hairy horror lost its death grip on my arm, flew through the air and landed in front of Biscuit who was dancing with me. The spider got on its back legs, raised its front legs towards Biscuit ready to fight! And what did my fearless Pitbull do? He turned around and ran out of the room, leaving me with a very, very mad spider. I was about to faint when Chad came in and stepped on it. My hero!!

Oh boy. We have family from KS visiting today!  Which means I make the animals get into tip top shape for the entire day.  Everyone has been given their list of do and don’ts for the day.

#1 most important….they are not to fight, bicker, push, shove, steal from each other or gang up on the goats.

#2 they will clean up which includes, brushing out the burrs, washing manes and tails and polishing hooves.

#3  they will greet all humans with smiles, nodding of head that shows love, and greet them with sloppy kisses, very sloppy, wet kisses.

#4 they will make each  family member a card or present, without using poop, dirty hay or chicken feathers.

#5 they will be so good that nobody will believe that these are the Addie Acre animals.

Now….will they follow it? Of course they will, I have the grain!!!!

Yep…it’s hot out there. The animals are cranky, mad, irritable and downright nasty. There is one, almost cool spot on the farm and that’s our back porch.

The concrete is cool, there’s a non stop breeze and it’s close to the bird seed. What more can a large animal ask for?? Currently we have 3 llamas and an alpaca squeezed in the coveted spot that is big enough for one small goat. I would think with all that fur and sitting so close, it would raise the temp by another 20 degrees! But no…they are crammed in there so tight, they look like a rug! I can hear an occasional grunt, see spit fly past the window and hear a thump whenever one gets knocked off the porch!  If I was a nice farm mommy, I would chase them off so they could cool off in the heat. But I don’t, because it would only last for about 8 seconds. I’m sure that as soon as I closed the door, they would gallop back for the cool spot. No sense of me going out in that heat to chase a llama or three!!

Well, it’s sale day. I’m up, chads up, the dogs are really up, the rooster has been up for HOURS already,  and my son Kyle will be shortly to get his barn lecture on who gets a treat and who should spend the day in the naughty corner…I think we all know who that is! Poor Kyle…every time we do a sale…he stays here and babysits. You never know what animal is going to harass another while we’re gone. I don’t need folks freaking out going past the farm because there’s a donkey kicking at a llama, or a goat head butting a kitty, or 4 llamas having a spitting contest at the chickens, or Laci our mini tank playing dead in the front pasture as the neighbouring birds perch on her perfectly still body! Nope…I don’t need that at all. I want the farm to be quiet and peaceful while we’re gone.

Haha Haha! That won’t happen! I can already see them out there huddled together, coming up with a plan on how to get around Kyle and do what they want, when they want, and how. I think I’ll sprinkle Holy water on my son before I leave and pray for his safety, sanity, and wish him good luck as I run out the door!