I really need a nap but its too late in the afternoon for napping. I'll be in bed and asleep by 8 so I can be up for work tomorrow. I led heifers to a new paddock today, chasing one down through serious thick mud. And I cleaned two pig whey-troughs which is heavy work at the beginning.  So I'm worn out. Add all this warm super yummy light? Plus a hot shower and I'm already in my pjs. Yeah, its hard to keep my head upright. One kid is folding laundry while the other is making dinner. (If this doesn't convince you of the glory that is homeschool, I don't know what possibly could.)

 With nothing here needing my attention, I drifted out to the goat barn. We cleaned the barn down to the dirt floors last weekend. All the hay is stacked and orderly. The girl's hooves have been trimmed. Their kelp and mineral feeders are topped off---they are hitting them hard.  The feed bin is stocked. Their bed is fluffed. Water tank is clean. The gates are all swinging free and unhindered. The locks all click. The collars, leads, tools, extra buckets, and milking stanchion all set right in neat rows. Its a wonder, I tell you.

Is there a more restful place to sit in the afternoon light with the gentle pecking and sweet soft calls of chickens at my feet? Their feathers sift luminously against one another with unexpected depth and subtlety of color. Their fleshy floppy combs are mysterious, for what purpose, I wonder? Their attitude is all business, but gently so.

The goats are getting broad in the beam. This might mean they are actually pregnant. Or, it might mean they are eating a lot of hay to keep warm. Or both. I hope both because I gave our buck away last week. Better to be done with the buck if babies are on the way and he had awful feet. A wonderful temperament with awful feet. I'm curious to see what he had to give us. I will look a serious fool if we don't, at the very least, have pregnant goats. They should be due in mid March. These ladies are looking wonderful: relaxed, silky, with thick soft shiny fur and clear kind eyes. I love to hear them chew. They like to crunch the kelp. They lap minerals out of my hand with soft kisses. Everything in the goat barn is peace these days. A visit is almost as restful as a nap.