The Hunted

I took this picture at about 9:30 tonight. Can you spot the hunter?  Our chickens are in the pasture, just in front of that round bale you can see in the right hand corner.  From having tried it out myself, I can tell you that the top of the grain bin is a fantastic vantage point, but you would never know that it's July 14 for the weather out there tonight.  Or last night either, when I was in charge of bringing more, heavier clothes to the chilled hunter.  We've never had to worry about our third batch of day old chicks getting a chill since they arrive in July, but we replaced the window in the brooder house tonight because the south wind is a bitter one. 

Anyway, back to the fox.  Mark spent most of last night (late and then again early) in his perch and fired twice, at what he is convinced was two different foxes (within 20 mins of each other).  He swears he 'must have taken the fur off one of them', but they both managed to run away, so we have been foiled once again.  We know however, that the chickens are in the foxs' sights and they know they're on the the wanted list.  I hear Mark coming in now, probably too damn cold.  Let me just confirm for you that too much sleep is not a problem around this house lately.  

In non-farm related news, because I know you haven't heard enough about Will and Kate, here's a couple shots from Lucy and I on our royal watching adventure.

Turns out, you have to be willing to spend a whole lot of your day waiting around if you want to get anywhere close.  Evidently, Lucy and I had better things to do, but we still got wrapped up in the excitement of the crowd. I'm glad we went.  Sadly, this is probably the best shot of them.  If you look hard, you can see Kate reaching into the crowd and Will in his dapper blue shirt. I tell ya, I wasn't convinced he was the hearthrob he was being made out to be until I saw the pictures of him in his cowboy gear at the Stampede.  Whew, hello cowboy.  Yes Mark, Kate looks that good in everything she wears. I know, and I agree. 

Anyway, the biggest excitement for Lucy was being there when their helicopter arrived at Summerside wharf and we were watching from the boardwalk and it "made rain all over! Even on my glasses!"  It did certainly kick up some water and it was funny to watch people trying to shelter giant zoom lenses on expensive cameras from salt water spray while trying to get a shot.  Hats and flags flying all over the place.

OH! I almost forgot the mention, my brush with some other less-royal royalty that was with Will and Kate. You can see here how close I was to one of my dearest enemies, Peter McKay.    I couldn't believe that of all the hangers on that accompanied the couple, THIS is the DeadSharkEyes robot I had to get a perfect picture of.  Barf.

In better news, we got a good chunk of hay in.  Yes, it got washed a couple times and yes, it's perhaps not the highest quality hay in the world, but it actually turned out pretty good, given how bad it could have been.  I am worried that it may be heating and molding, but time will tell on that front.  We still have some hay to make to fill Rosie's barn, but the loft in the sheep barn is all but full.  What a relief to have some done at least.  This is a shot of my little reporters, letting me know if the hay is dry or not.  Lucy has Jimmy, her favorite doll in hand and she concluded that it's still green, but smells good. 

Given the less-than stellar weather we've been having, some 'projects' that would otherwise be left on the list this time of year are getting some surprise attention.  The rotten barn that has been slowly decaying in our backyard finally met its final resting place this week when the wonderful new lawn tractor earned her keep and hauled it back to the woods.  So now, I not only have a much better breeze in my backyard, I have a larger viewing window to see foxes passing through the field on their way to Barnyard Organics KFC outlet.  

I'll finish off with a shot of a bright looking day lily, which is proof that we are in the midst of summer, despite all evidence to the contrary.  Hang in there Maritime readers, this weekend is promised to be a dandy. 

 I should be in bed, since I think I actually slept with one eye open last night.  When we were growing up, when people in my family party hard/stay up too late the night before, they are made to work extra hard the next day, as penance, as a reminder that life goes on and force you to reconsider the wisdom of those extra beverages next time.  Having kids is kind of like that.  It's almost as if they can tell when you're extra tired.  Anyway, thanks to my upbringing, I can handle it.  No, chasing three kids is not the equivalent of forking out a well packed sheep barn by hand, but in some ways, on some days, it's very similar.  :)

-Sally