Eeek

Found this print yesterday on the driveway right by my front door. The day before that I found a whole trail of similar prints emerging from the woods across the road, marching straight up the drive by the pony barn into the alpacas' area before disappearing.

Bigger than a cat's paw. Smaller than a big dog like our Boomerang.

Notice the claw prints at the top.

I'm 99% certain it's a coyote print.

I hear a pack yipping out by the creek in the fields behind our pastures almost every night, but I've never seen them come so close to the house or barns before.

We have so many little bitty sheep. It's a worry.

And then it was over

Disappointed doesn't begin to describe my feelings toward Mr. Nino right now.

I'm trying to remember the good times.

The cool, carefree days in sweatshirts and jackets. The cascading water, straight through the hose to the buckets. The easy flow of animals in and out of fields still tinged with green grass and bramble stems. In and out of doors that slid easily on their tracks, back, and yes, forth.

The bare hands.

The sleep without worry.

Even the mud.

The promise of an endless stream of the same simple joys, straight through the winter that wasn't.

Sigh.

Yes, yes, ok, I admit it.

He never actually promised.

We were warned.

They all said, "Mid-January -- after that we don't know. Other forces could drive him away."

Mr. Arctic Blast.

Damn him.

Two degrees Fahrenheit.

Right on schedule.

George: We don't mind. We don't own any sweatshirts. It's parkas or nothing for us.  

Bo Sheep: Yeah, not so crazy about the mud actually. You try schlepping around in it all day every day in bare feet.

Clementine and Pink: Really, it's all about the hay. Did you bring the hay? 

Clementine: Hang in there Mom. He'll be back. 

Sunrise

Thanksgiving

These days I say a little prayer of thanksgiving every time I walk outside. I feel the unseasonable warmth and think fondly about my new best friend, El -- Mr. Nino to those of you in other parts of the country.  Here it is December 2 and I bet I haven't worn my winter coat more than two or three times yet. I don't even know where my gloves are. No water buckets have frozen and I've barely touched my propane supply - which, by the way, is selling for approximately 1/4 the price it was two winters ago.

One quarter.

Yes, things are good.

Of course, no relationship is all sunshine and roses. Sometimes you get rain. And fog. And mud. Sometimes you don't see the sun for days.

Heading out for a day in the salt mines. No sunshine here. 

Some of the sheep are more sensitive to the gloom than others. Clementine and Bumblebee were a little reluctant to join the fray this morning.

Stragglers: Noona, Clementine, and Bumblebee

But look at that, Bumblebee is nearly as big as Clementine.

Clementine and a nearly-as-big Bumblebee

There's a blessing if ever there was one.

Clementine: I'm going back to bed. Call me when the sun comes out.