(Picture of Billy is a little soft due to rain & I was hurrying so the camera did not get wet.)
We have fencing that will divide the upper approximate quarter of our property. When something is happening in either the upper level, where the agility field is located, or in front of the house and the wooded area, I can close several gates and separate the two areas. Normally all gates are left open, other than the main entry gate, which is only opened by remote.
Today our neighbor, friend, and handyman Devin brought his Billy Goat over to clear a few more patches of very long grass and bushes. I had the dogs inside with me, so that they did not confront Billy or make him feel unwelcome. Devin was cutting more of the lawn, while his girlfriend, Kiki was cutting back a bunch of blackberry bushes from around the pond.
It was a busy place. I was working in the kitchen and decided to bake some dog cookies while I finished clearing counter tops. The house smelled wonderful: coconut flour, applesauce, pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon and a couple bananas. The dogs could get in and out of the doggy doors, but they were only free to use the upper part of the property, as Devin and Billy were working on the lower section. I heard the dogs barking and I looked out the kitchen window to where I could see them by the fence, barking. I went out and Billy stood about 20 feet from the fence watching Pirate and Journey, who were watching him.
I was talking with Kiki and we were watching the threesome getting to know each other. After things quieted down, I noticed Pirate and Journey coming back through the dog yard, toward the house. Pirate spotted his Jolly ball in the dog yard and he quickly grabbed it and looked behind him. He seemed to be concerned that Billy might take it. He went from rescuing the Jolly ball to looking around for other toys. He found several and he brought them into the house, still looking behind him to see that he was not being followed by Billy. Journey found a toy of his own and brought it in too.
Time passed and I am not sure what transpired between Billy and the dogs, but Pirate seemed to have had a change of heart. He had taken his Jolly ball outside again. He was shaking it and parading in front of the fence with it. He was trying to tempt Billy to chase him. Billy could not do that because of the fence, and likely also wouldn't have, because he had no appreciation for Jolly balls. Pirate placed the ball as close to the fence as possible and stepped back a few steps to allow Billy to get the ball. Journey watched Pirate and mimicked him by offering his Jolly ball in much the same manner. It was very cute and Kiki and I were getting a kick out of watching. Billy stood absolutely still, just watching the entire action.
Back inside I was taking a batch of cookies out of the oven and placing the next batch in. Journey came in to check on me or maybe to check on the cookies. I offered him one and he dropped it to inspect it. Pirate came in and took his cookie happily. Seeing that, Journey decided he had better eat his before Pirate got it.
The dogs spent the next hour or so going outside to check on Billy and inside for another cookie. It finally began raining and Devin had to put the mower away to wait for another sunny day to finish the lawn. It is almost done and it looks great! Kiki really did a nice job on the blackberry bushes which had grown up into the holly tree. What a stickily mess. She got the majority of blackberry bushes torn out. Billy was still working on the grass, so they left him there for now. He had shelter from the rain, under the trees.
The first lawn cut, in the spring, is always a concern. As the temperature rises, the lawn begins to grow pretty fast. It normally begins to rain fairly often too, (April showers). which encourages the lawn growth. Time to begin cutting the lawn - however, the mower does not like wet grass. It always seems like everything is getting hopelessly out of control, especially this year due to the early spring feel of February. Anyway, after this first cutting, which has taken over a week to accomplish, it is fairly easy to keep everything under control. I like using the riding lawnmower and I often do the upper area. The agility field is level and I like to keep the grass short up there, as in the dog yard. Some of the area in the front section is hilly and I do not enjoy cutting the steep parts. Also, when it is wet, the mower sometimes slides. All in all, that section requires someone with more mowing experience than I have. So between a few rainy days and all the baby animals being born at Devin's farm, it has been difficult to fit in the mowing. When it is dry we just try to work as fast as possible. The mower has headlights, and it is not unusual for Devin to work as late as 9:00 PM. It is looking so nice now. He does not have much more to go. There is still enough around the edges that Billy could work for many more days and then just start over again.
I like goats a lot, and it is tempting to have a few here. That would tie me down though. I have concentrated on not replacing various species of pets we used to have. Our last bird, a parakeet died a couple weeks ago. As much as I enjoyed the birds, especially Bogey our small parrot, it made travel in our little motor home difficult. When we took the bunny with us, it was really tight. His cage took up floor space, which is at a premium in our small RV. I do miss him though and I am going to have to really keep up my guard, around those cute new baby bunnies that Devin has now. Next trip we will be traveling so much lighter. It will be much easier not to have to try to maintain the higher temperatures for the birds. Parakeets are such social birds, but the last one we had was not that social with me. I think he always missed his buddy, who died a couple years before. I normally replaced one when it died, so there were always a pair to keep each other company. This time I did not. I kept telling myself their departure was never going to come out even. I miss his cheery chatter and his company at the end of the kitchen area. He lived a fairly long life though and I went about the sad business of de-feathering that area and vacuuming bird seed. I buried him and it was sad. I had abandoned using the little table in that end of the kitchen as it was always messy. A day or two after he died, I was enjoying my coffee at the little table, looking out on the woods and the rivers below. Had to admit it was pleasant to reclaim that area for breakfasts.
All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye I saw a very fast bird cut between the deck roof support posts and crash into the living room window. It was very loud and he landed in a heap under the edge of the sun cot. I quickly put the slider into the doggy door, as I was hoping he would recover and did not want the dogs to disturb him. While I finished my coffee, all kinds of scenarios passed through my mind. Get out the "hospital bird cage"; line it with soft paper towels and a low perch; cover it with a small blanket and put it in a warm place. The injured bird was a Robin, so I would need to get the book out and find out what to do for him, since I have never nursed a Robin back to health. I am good with baby humming birds and blackbirds. A Robin would be a first for me. As all this ran through my mind, I cannot say I was looking forward to it, but it is what I do, for the love of little critters. I don't have a choice.
I waited for quite a while and tried to detect breathing from the Robin. Did not see it. On closer inspection I knew it was gone and would not be coming back. Another funeral, certainly not my favorite thing, but I felt a twinge of guilt, realizing I had not lost my freedom. Maybe we should work on a little trip in the RV before the Barn Swallows hatch in the little bird house outside the kitchen window.
