Changing Weather

Yesterday was nice and sunny. The critters enjoyed the bright sunshine and warmth. The llamas, goat, and dogs stretched out on piles of hay while the chickens scratched around in other piles looking for seeds.

The llamas are getting absolutely decadent about having breakfast (or whatever meal) in bed.

Cinnamon, our little doe goat, stretched out in her pile of hay to enjoy a nap after she was full.

Keira evidently agreed with Cinnamon, because she decided to stretch out in the hay and enjoy the sunshine, too.

The wild birds, on the other hand, were a little more active and flying back and forth to the feeders.

Meanwhile, a Red-bellied Woodpecker peeked through some tree limbs to see if the way was clear to the suet feeder.

 But today is a different story, weather-wise.  It’s gray and gloomy again.  And if the weather predictions are correct, another winter storm is moving in.

I took advantage of the warmer weather this morning to refill all the heated water buckets, and pools of water.  If I’m lucky, it will get warm enough to use the hoses again before everything needs topped off once more.

Well golly, here it is March 1st, and I’m still looking for spring!

Llama Bird Feeder Diner

So what in the world is a Llama Bird Feeder Diner?

Well, this week I looked out in the backyard and saw this:

Our male llama had discovered there were tasty treats in the bird feeder!

The other animals decided snacking from the bird feeder was a most excellent idea, so they wanted to get in on it.

The chickens got to enjoy some tasty treats because as Samson was eating from the bird feeder, he spilled some of the sunflower seeds and cracked corn onto the ground.

Our little goat, Cinnamon, and female llama, Keira, weren’t so lucky.

Samson shoved the little goat away from the feeder, and wouldn’t allow Keira to come near.

Keira hovered in the background, but Samson wasn’t sharing.  The guineas got in on the action, and in the background made more actions of their own by chasing each other around and spooking Keira.

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Llama Samson and the chickens and guinea fowl were all enjoying this extra treat.  Keira was all forlorn because Samson wouldn’t share.

I finally had to go outside and chase them away from the feeder and out of the back yard.  I put a bungee cord across the opening of the gate to keep them out.  Most days it allows farm collie Toby and the chickens to go under the bungee cord and through the gate, but the llamas stay out.

Not this time.

I looked out later and saw Keira standing by the gate, looking wistfully at the bird feeder.  I grabbed my camera, but before I could get it ready, she slipped UNDER the bungee cords!

Of course, there was no doubt if Keira made it, her partner in crime Cinnamon wouldn’t be far behind.

That didn’t mean she was going to get a share of the snacks however!  Kiera wasn’t in the sharing mood either, and threatened to spit at our poor little goat when she tried to get near.

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You will note that Keira one-upped Samson by learning to swing the feeder to shake more food down and out of the holes!

I let her enjoy her taboo treat for a while, then went outside where she could see me.   That’s when she knew she was BUSTED!

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Yes, the criminal was charged with Breaking and Entering, and stealing sustenance from the birds!

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She has been remanded to my custody.

And though it confuses the chickens no end to have one of their routine pathways closed. . .

 
. . . The gate has been slammed shut against further llama misadventures!

Breakfast in Bed, LLama Style

I guess it’s not just cold weather that makes llamas opt for the lazy eating method.  Here it’s warmed up considerably, and our male llama, Samson, still has a taste for breakfast in bed.

Even the guinea looks like it’s thinking, “Man, is that one lazy llama!”

He’s just munching away at that hay while the guinea shakes its head at his lazy eating habits, then goes back to grazing guinea style.

I guess Samson figures, “It works for me!”

T.G.I.F.!

Okay, for a lot of people, T.G.I.F. is a big deal.  I’ll admit for myself, since I’m at home all the time, it doesn’t make much difference.  I just go from working online to housework.  Come to think of it, I prefer Monday through Friday!

But for those of you who can’t wait for Friday, here it is!

And here’s hoping everyone has a GREAT weekend!

Favorites For 2009

Here we are, with 2009 about to be a thing of the past.  I thought I’d do a summary of the year here at Rural Ramblings with a picture from my favorite post for each month.

I know I have a weird sense of humor, but the “Brain Freeze” post in January appealed to me.  It showed my flower pot people – the girl with a head full of ice and the dreaded BRAIN FREEZE, and boy keeled over, because, after all, you must have enough brain mass to prevent total freeze out…

And while in February my post about “Rowdy Roosters” continues to see a lot of visitors, MY personal favorite is “The Cutest Little Cowgirl.”

I know I’m biased, but I think Ellie is indeed the cutest cowgirl I’ve ever seen!

I had a hard time deciding on my favorite post in March.  I like the one I wrote after there was flooding, and I went for a walk in the woods when the waters went down.  There were all sorts of strange things, like a basketball, and yes, “There’s Something Fishy About The Woods” was appropriate, since I found a fish stranded in a very small puddle in the middle of the woods.

Still, I rather like the picture of our crazy cat, who instead of thinking he was a dog this day, decided he was a bird.

Just this once, Spot was “In The Catbird Seat.”

April is tornado season, and we had hail and high winds that brought down a big tree limb.  It landed partially on the den roof, and bent the gutter.

But for catching the action in progress, the “Really Rowdy Roosters” post about a couple of the roosters fighting for dominance won out.

l made several posts in May, but the minute I saw “The Odd Couple“, I knew it to be my favorite for the month.  It’s got a video of our silly little goat, Cinnamon, flirting with Samson.

Personally, I think the video is hysterical, but then, I DID mention I have a weird sense of humor.

June was a big month for chicks. Chicks here, there and everywhere!

Lots of the hens were hatching out chicks, plus I had a few chicken eggs in the incubator that hatched out.

Things were “Going Squirrely” in July. Lots of pictures in this post of – what else? – squirrels.

But I especially liked the video of the squirrel digging furiously in the yard to bury a nut.

I’m afraid my warped sense of humor continues to dominate for August, because I thought the parrot eating The Farmer’s tomatoes was funny.  She may look innocent. . .

. . . or maybe not.  One thing for certain, she sure manages to get into a lot of trouble!

I’ve been watching the turtles in our pond during the warm weather, and caught a big snapping turtle out and about in September.  This “Turtle Triathlon” had pictures of the turtle on land and in the water and on a log.

Fortunately, this snapper was not aggressive.

In October, I think “Lumberjack on the Farm” has the funniest video as I happened to catch The Farmer falling on his… butt.  But!  The funniest pictures are of our crazy parrot again, this time found hidden under the kitchen sink.

Then there was my tongue-in-cheek post in November about “Dead Animals Need Love” from a time when we came back from the store to see all the animals stretched out in the pastures looking like they were dead.

Thankfully, they were only soaking up sunshine and came “back to life” the minute I walked close and they thought I might give them a pet or a treat.

I didn’t even have to look through December to choose a favorite post.  For me, it’s the “Twelve Days Of Christmas, Country Style“, hands down.  What WAS hard was choosing which picture to put here.  I like them all!

It was a LOT of work, but I had a lot of fun doing it!

I’ve had a lot of fun looking at other peoples blogs too, of course!  I love to see any pictures Robin at Seasons Eatings Farm posts, both on her blog and Facebook.  She has some beautiful photos.  I especially enjoy the ones of pines and snow!

So anyway, here at the end of the year, I want to thank each and everyone of you that has dropped by to read Rural Ramblings.  And I also want to thank all of you out there with your own interesting blogs I enjoy reading.  I can’t name them all, but if I read your blog, I’ll have left at least one comment at some time or another!

I hope 2009 has been a good year for you, and that 2010 will be even better.  And don’t forget us  here at Rural Ramblings!  The welcome mat is always out for visitors to the Rural Ramblings blog.  I love to read comments from visitors.

Happy last day of 2009!