New Morning Routine

It starts earlier.

I should have always been getting up around 5:30.  I have been meaning to, but it wasn't until the need to take a puppy out for a morning walk that I am actually doing it.  Reilly (Riley? we decided on a name but not a spelling yet) is 6 months old and need to go out IMMEDIATELY upon being let out of his crate in the morning.  So I bundle myself up (I do so hate being cold) and we walk before the sun is peaking over the edge of the horizon.

While the rest of the family sleeps.

While we are gone, though, the coffee pot is doing its job and we walk in to the house smelling of the dark roast Bob just sent us (Thanks Bob!)  I enjoy a cup before heading outside with a bucket of hot water for the livestock.  The poultry and the rabbit (much happier outside in his 2 story hutch than he was inside in the dog crate)  are enthusiastic about their newly thawed water this time of year.

On a side note:  I finally found a book that told me why the quail and ducks are not laying.  In no other book that I have read does it mention that these birds, like hens, need 14+ hours of light to produce eggs.  Since there is not power to the areas of the yard they live I will go without - and instead make a trade with our neighbor who also has ducks (and a light).  Hubby and I are not planning to keep the quail anyway.  We are down to 3 now, one male flew out yesterday while I was getting them fresh water.  The eggs are too small to more than a novelty and the meat - tho tasty, is a lot of work for a small amount.  I would rather have 2 more hens.  Or a dairy goat.

But back to my morning.  Reilly and I go back in the quiet house, and herein lies the reason I have wanted to get up and do the chores earlier.

A second cup of coffee in peace and quiet before the rest of the family gets up.

Priceless.

I found him under the Christmas tree . . .

Can we keep him?

Good Fences . . .

 So today Hubby and I started putting up a fence.  There is chain link along the alley at the back of our property and our neighbor to the north has a wooden one, but the south line is open.

Juju wants the chickens to be free range.  Mesha would like to not worry about Peppers the Bunny when she takes him outside.  I would like the ducks to roam freely.

And we all would like a dog.

But first things first.

We did have help.  A friend offered up her 2 teenaged sons and they brought along a friend.  Chris and I had gotten 4 posts sunk in when they showed up which allowed me to take the girls and run errands.

Mesha also helped by poking wet concrete with rebar to get air bubbles out.  Juju did the inside chores (folding clothes, washing dishes etc) which helped out a lot.

Before bed I started reading Katz on Dogs - less about how to train but a philosophy of dog ownership.  The author was previously a mystery writer, and his well though out story telling is why at midnight, with heavy eyes, I was still reading in bed.