What a great way to start the morning - almost!

I really should have been a farmer. Doing the early morning feedings is a great way to start the day - from the welcoming hee-haw from Jenny and Winston, to the soft nuzzling neighs of Spritely and Gideon and the wild thump on the shoulder from Swinger, it was a beautiful experience. Carl knows me well enough to hang around looking over my shoulder while I get the feeds ready, Petunia sang her good morning song, and Grammy did her funny little standing on the gate routine. Edna seems well integrated with the other chickens and roosters and I had a fun experience as a chicken catcher when she slipped through the henhouse gate as I fed them. I had a smile on my face from start to finish.

Of course, it helped that the sun was just coming up on a beautiful clear crisp day and I'd made sure all the supplies were in place the night before. I might have felt differently if it had been bucketing rain, the plumbing had been frozen, and I'd had to lug hay and feed from the garage.

It didn't help that the brakes on my car completely disappeared just as I hit the intersection of Ferndale and Stave Lake Road. I've been meaning to get those fixed for a month now - I guess it is now on the to-do list for today. Thank goodness there was nothing coming - the last time I was t-boned in an intersection (someone else ran a red light) I spent a month in the hospital followed by several months in a wheelchair. If that had happened this morning I would have been royally screwed and so would SAINTS.