week's end catch-up

Busy week - with a lot of little dramas here on November Hill. Mid-week Redford started a new conversation with me in the mornings during breakfast tub time. He has learned to open the feed room door while I'm inside, and then waits 'til my back is turned so he can sneak in.

We go back and forth, him sneaking, me saying "you stay there, Redbug," and then he sneaks in another step.

He got a bit too far in at one point and I had my hands full so called out "Redford! No!" He backed out in a hurry and gave me a look, then used his nose to slam the door shut. It was hilarious. Of course he couldn't stand it for very long, and opened it back up again, but now if I ask him to back out, he does, and slams the door for good measure.

On Thursday the Carolina wrens fledged the nest. My daughter went out to feed Salina lunch and I heard high-pitched squeals - I thought something had happened to daughter and went dashing out the back door. She was in the barnyard, trying to keep the baby wrens safe. They were in the barn aisle flying and then out into the barnyard. Dickens managed to grab and eat one nearly whole, but the remaining four or five were safe.

At one point birds were flying, daughter calling, Corgis barking, Salina neighing, donkeys braying, and a hawk was circling overhead. Mama and Papa wren were squawking. It was chaos until the babies got their wings enough to get up in the oak trees.

My daughter says the wrens sometimes have a second brood so we're watching the nest to see if they return.

This weekend is writing group, and tonight I read the first half of the first chapter of the second book in the Magical Pony School series out loud. It's amazing to me that when it's time, the book comes. I've been juggling three very different books in progress, and Fiona's voice is the one who came clear this weekend.

We also went across the lane today and met our newest neighborhood "herd." A Quarter horse named Pablo and his four goat buddies. Turns out Pablo is a Zippo Pine Bar baby just like Cody (although older, at 11) and it's easy to see the resemblance. He's still settling in. It was fun seeing the barn. A few years ago that barn was right by the lane and home to a herd of ATVs. Now it's back behind the house and a lovely space for a horse and four goats. That's the kind of transformation I love seeing!

In other news, we brought home the last round bale of 2010 hay and are keeping our fingers crossed that the rain holds off long enough for the 2011 crop to be cut, dried, and baled. Our hay grower has some square bales he held back that we will use in the interim, and if I have to, I'll locate some timothy to fill the gap. We've had so much rain lately it's been hard to find enough clear days in a row to do the haying process. I've seen a few farmers doing parts of a field at a time trying to work with what they had weather-wise.

And, it being May, I woke up at 3 a.m. and feel like the cicadas are buzzing from inside my head. Spring is always a "loud" season in general and I have found over the years that May is always an intense month for me. Everything seems busy and noisy and I seem to feel it from the inside out. About the time I think I'm going to explode, it all dies down and the long lazy summer kicks in. Here's to middle of the night blog posting, the slow fade of the annual buzz, and maybe, if we're lucky, a mild summer.