I tell myself I need to blog more, to save my everyday work and thoughts, and I intend to, truly. But today is starting out as a more or less typical day. A friend called at 6:30 to say that we wouldn't practice with dogs and sheep at her house today because it rained all night and it's too wet. I poked my head out the door--still dark out but I saw no puddles, so none of the badly needed rain here, only wind. But as I stepped out the door to do chores, the rain began and the wind blew it into my face as I went out to the pens.

Found a new set of twins and the mother rejecting one of them. Went into the lambing pen and put a rope on the ewe. She's gentle and calm, one of my best puppy sheep, and previously a good mom. She loves the white ewe lamb and has been nursing it but rejected the black ram lamb. Got the lamb fed, both lambs navels dipped and injected with BO-SE.

Fed the horses hay. They've lifted a gate off its hinges and the only thing holding it up is the chain fastening it closed and a piece of twine the previous owners had tied around the gate and the post that I haven't gotten around to cutting off. Maybe this happened before? Went back and mixed grain for the horses. Lexie is bred and getting extra vitamins and minerals.

Fed the sheep. There are four pens now, not counting the two lambing pens: The ram and whether, the Scottie pen, the ewes with lambs, and the work sheep. Got the Scottie lamb fed whose mother doesn't love him. She's a first time ewe and he had crawled through the fence after birth so she really doesn't think he's hers. The lamb is six days old now and I no longer have to rope and tie the ewe, just stand and look menacing at her and she lets him nurse. But she won't do it if I don't stand there.

Fed the geese, ducks, and chickens. Checked the new chicks that arrived yesterday and found I'd lost two more. I've always had wonderful luck with this hatchery and wonder if these chicks got too chilled or were roughly handled. I've lost four now and rarely lose any.

Ran the dogs, raked up some loose hay and put it over the fence for the sheep and fed the chickens some kitchen scraps.

Came in the house and noticed one of the young pups had chewed up a tumbleweed on the couch overnight. It must have blown over the fence into the dog yard. Finished putting dishes away and filling the dishwasher, started a load in the washing machine, put some paperwork away and watered some house plants.

Now, it's 8:30 and I'm sitting here blogging, and I've barely gotten started on the day.

Today I need to do some work for a client, look at the insurance claim papers to make sure I do things right with the contractor on our old house, pay some bills, get a thank you note sent to the Cooks thanking them for having me over for their shearing. Need to get ahold of the vet to castrate the colt, contact the stallion owner about breeding two of the mares, and water the pasture if it doesn't settle in to really raining.

If there is time, I badly need to work dogs, but I've been hauling grain, talking to contractors, talking to prospective fence builders and fencing material sellers on the phone, buying grain and hauling, and dealing with the bank on my husband's retirement account. Maybe if I had a lighted pasture I could do it in the dark?