You know it’s nice outside when you go to the barn and there is a stampede of hooves running straight at you! I covered my head with my arms, prayed a quick Hail Mary, and closed my eyes! It was like the red sea with Moses, they parted and went around me! They galloped for the open gate so they could munch on our yard and attack our bird feeders! All that was left in the barn was Dillon our goat BAAAAAAing at me for grain. I guess he didn’t want to munch on muddy grass. I rolled my eyes, brushed off the dust that landed on me from the passing herd, and fed Dillon extra grain for being a good boy!!

Oh good, there is a strong, steady wind today with gust up to 50 miles an hour!! Which means I get to tie my kite to my body and fly to the barn! I’m sure the natives will be camped inside keeping warm from the howling cold. If I’m lucky, I will be entertained by a tumbling chicken who got caught outside cause she thought she would try out her wings in this non stop, blowing weather!!! There is always at least one hen that will see the wind as a way to launch herself up into the blue with ‘real’ birds and soar. She’ll soar alright…right into the side of the barn over and over again!!!.

I was outside feeding the ducks when a Nipsco truck drove by very slow, honking its horn. Well this salty old farmer has been around the barn a few times and knows by instinct and past experience, that a slow moving vehicle that is honking in front of the farm means one thing….TROUBLE! And that’s exactly what I got!
I ran to the front and what did I see? Sweetie our mama llama outside the fence by our big concrete hand munching away on the grass that is always greener on the other side! I slapped my hand to head (I’m surprised it isn’t bruised from all that hitting) and moaned so loud that she looked up at me. I RAN to the barn to get a cup of grain. Of course as I run to the barn, the goats see me coming and trot over, stopping in front of me BAAAAAAing to make sure I saw their starving bodies that I now have to maneuver around! I get my cup of tasty goat grain, run back to the front where the escapee is and leave my front gate open so I can coax her back in that way. Didn’t work. She galloped around the fence, going in the opposite direction with me following. Baby llama was upset that mama was on one side and him on the other so he followed her from the inside crying. She ran around the back and parked herself in the corn stalks. I look up to the heavens and said in a loud frustrated voice, “Lord, I can’t do this..I NEED HELP”!! Within one minute a car pulls over and a nice lady with a little girl get out asking me if I need help! I thankfully said yes and the 3 of us ran with outstretched arms following a llama who was determined not to go back. I chased that llama until my legs went numb. The sweet girl named Emma, guarded my fallen gate to make sure the other llamas didn’t make a run for it! I gave her the do’s and don’ts about llamas in 3.4 seconds. She understood and did everything I told her!! We get mama llama in ( and yes I chased her like the folks on the news that I made fun of who were chasing the llamas in CA cause they did it wrong!) it was a success! Now, my brain went into memory mode, reminding me that I left my front gate open because I was going to chase her back in that way! Another hand slap to the forehead! I look over and what does my little eye spies? A donkey and horse across the street eating my neighbor’s grass…you know, the folks who don’t like us…of course! I yell at the nice lady who thought she was done with animal chasing for the year, pointing to the new adventure, we take off, running across the street. My animals are smarter than the average bear and knew I was coming over to catch them. They both took off, running along side of the road turning into the subdivision! My grumpy neighbor came out of his house, he stood there with his arms folded across his chest glaring at me. I was expecting him to call animal control and complain. The two renegades galloped between houses, cars, fences and me with the nice lady named Laura. I tricked Dunkay with a cup of grain slipping the rope around his neck. He was not happy that the human outsmarted him so he took off running across the yard with me behind him hanging onto the rope that is now giving me rope burns. That boy is bigger and stronger than me. It took a few seconds along with threats of never being fed again, to make him stop. Laci the mini tank was running behind us and the nice lady behind her. They headed for the road and yes, there were cars coming. I ran ahead, waved my arms like a crazy lady to make all vehicles stop so the circus could cross the road. So…me the crazy farm lady pulling an unhappy donkey as a horse followed and another lady behind the wagon train, crossed the road as the 4 or 5 cars sat idling. I’m sure they were either laughing, shaking their heads or filming the entertainment! The folks around here are quite use to the Addie farm antics! This has happened before, not this many animals at one time though. We got everybody in, I thanked the hired help and went inside to nurse my wounded hands. I am thankful that only 3 animals were out and that the Lord sent me help. The little girl Emma wants to be a veterinarian and has a small horse for 4H. What a day! Woo hoo…as we say, ONLY AT ADDIE ACRES!

SAMMIE MADE THE NEWS! HE WILL BE GIVING OUT AUTOGRAPHS FOR A HANDFULL OF GRAIN!!

Okay, this will be fun! I contacted CBS 2 News in Chicago because they have a new thing called, ‘Weather Watchers’. Simple folks like me, can sign up to be an official ‘weather watcher’ and send them currant updates on temp, snow totals, photos and such. I talked to the guy who runs the program at the station and he was asking to change the name from Addie Acres to my name until I told him about the farm. Now he’s all excited about having Addie Acres and photos of our ani…mals on the air when they do the weather! The profile photo on the air will be Sammie our llama! And get this…he and his family go to Garwood’s (the famous Apple Orchard) down the road and said he has seen our place because he remembers the 6 foot tall concrete hand out front! I keep hearing the song…’its a small world after all’. So if any one watches CBS 2 news at 5 & 10, look for Sammie and photos of the farm! We need an official website! Sammie will be giving out autographs in the near future!!

Oh the joy of animals.
I was doing the dishes & filled up my dishwasher. I shut the door but is was kind of hard to shut, so I kept on pushing it until it closed. Sometimes there is a pan handle that is sticking out a bit and from experience, I know if I just pushed a little harder, it will straighten out so the door will close…see where I’m going with this?
I closed up and started to walk away when I heard this loud, desperate meowing! I thought to myself, ‘where is that cat? Is he in the cabinet’? I walked back into the kitchen to see that the dishwasher door was banging from inside with loud meows! Before I could get to the machine, he forced open the door and shot out of there so fast that all I saw was an orange streak! Oh my camera! I needed my camera!!!

 he is a smiling away!!

Sammy our boy llama. likes to amuse the other animals when they have ‘barn fever’ from being shut inside the barn for days…this is what I found when I went inside to feed them….I thought I heard giggles before I opened the door!