Good morning sunshine.

The morning started with pristine blue skies and not a single cloud but soon the cumulus sweeps over and the wind picks up. I take an indulgent moment to sit with my family and observe.

I feed the goats and the chooks and open the door to their enclosure. They eat all the grain and then slowly wander out. Pippi comes out with her adopted baby Little-Bit. So far Pippi has launched attacks on Sheamus and Lucifer for getting too close as they wander past. She is quite a force to be reckoned with, puffing herself up, fanning her wings out and squawking angrily to anyone that dare come near her precious bub. Of course all that bravado flies out the window at night when she climbs the ramp to the coop and leaves Little-Bit at the bottom as he/she is unable to climb.

I look up the driveway and see that Mabel and Lucifer have finished their grain and they're ready for a day in the open. Mabel's front feet are obviously feeling much better since I trimmed her hooves, she leaps up in the air, swinging her head from side to side, headbutting imaginary goats. Bouncing up and down on all four legs she makes her way up the driveway spending extra time in front of Ella showing off with her bucks, rears, spins and butts. Ella watches out of the corner of her eye, Mabel seems happy with this level of acknowledgment so preforms a grand finale with a gracious bow at the end of it and then toddles up the driveway after Lucifer.

I call them back, Sheamus decides to see what all the excitement is up the driveway, halfway up he realises nothing is happening so turns around. The goats career past him down the driveway sending him into a panicked run. I sit on the upturned bathtub hoping for a cuddle with one or both. Mabel doesn't disappoint, she lets me pick her up and brush her, chewing her cud the whole time. Sheamus stands at my feet watching with interest as I lavish this little creature with attention, attention that I'm sure he believes should be his. Lucifer comes to investigate and climbs up onto the bathtub next to me and sniffs at Mabel. Lucifer loves to nibble my fingers, he particularly likes a silver and turquoise ring I wear on my right hand, he is constantly biting it.

When she's had enough Mabel climbs down and stands on the driveway with Lucifer and they plan their next move. Sheamus walks straight up to them and grunts in their faces sending them scattering in different directions.

I inspect Sheamus's mouth, his tusks are forming and getting bigger with every week. I hope he never uses them against me! 

Mabel's little stub horns are getting bigger, Lucifer's have doubled in length. I've seen him try them out on Mildred the mean chook. I love the dynamics of the relationships here. When Lucifer and Mabel arrived at the farm Alicia the ginger chook had a broken toe after Ella trod on her. She was feeling very miserable and as outcast by the flock. Mildred picked on her terribly and none of them would let her eat grain near them. Along come Mabel and Lucifer they took Alicia in, the three of them would share a bowl of grain with Alicia nestled nice and safely in between the two goats. Alicia spent her days at the top of the enclosure with the goats, basking in the sun with them.

The goats also formed a bond with Tarka when he was penned up with his sore feet, he is so gentle with them but won't tolerate the chooks.

Ella has a great agreement with Barney and Bruce the two wild roosters, she flicks her head when she has a feed and distributes food for them away from her bowl so she can eat in peace. At the end they clean up all the spilled grain, bran and chaff that she's left behind and she watches them.

I notice Little-Jack and Sheamus also have an arrangement. Sheamus lets Jack feed out of his bowl and pick out the little scraps of chewed up food that he spills. Jack makes happy noises and often Xena will come into Sheamus's enclosure for a visit too.

Sheamus wants to be friends with Hoby more than anything. Hoby hasn't a scrap of interest in him. Occasionally when the barking becomes frenzied and I go to investigate I find Sheamus tormenting Hoby, his piggy-snout pressed up against the mesh of Hoby's enclosure he darts from side to side blowing snot all over Hoby and generally having the greatest one-sided game of tag ever. When Hoby plays fetch he'll drop the ball in front of Sheamus's face and then watch for a second and then snatch it, while Sheamus allowed this behaviour for all of two minutes he eventually gave the pompous little ginger dog a shunt in the shoulder with his snout sending Hoby tumbling. Sheamus doesn't spectate during the games of fetch anymore but Tarka does, he seems miffed by the objective of the game. I'm sure he says in his very masculine Tarka voice ....the human throws it away.....far away.....the ginger dog brings it back.....get a clue dude....she doesn't want it! Ella will watch the games of fetch too and seems especially entertained by Hoby's massive wipe-outs, the ones where he tumbles head over tail down the hill and then gets up and walks around in a circle completely disorientated.

The sun has come out again, Berlina chicken has come over to me and lays down on the sheet of hot roofing iron on the ground beside me, she lays to one side spreading out her body to gain maximum sun exposure.

I take my laptop and sit at the top of the stairs of the path leading to my house. At this time Ella is standing dozing in the sun, her hind foot resting and tail swishing gently from side to side. Sheamus nibbles at grass and weeds close to her. Already this morning they've had 'words'. It seems funny that that first thing Sheamus and Ella do each morning is find each other. It is as if gravity pulls them together, they can't live with each other but they can't live without each other.

Little-Boots is sitting on a clutch of eight eggs under a shrub, she takes some time out to stretch her legs, pick around in the dirt, show her general disgust at anyone that tries to come near her and then when she's alone, except for the human that sits three metres away from her next (me!) she lays down in the sun. I see the look of sheer pleasure on her face as she has this moment to herself, in the sun, without a care in the world. She soaks up the sun for about five minutes before diligently returning to her eggs.

Sheamus comes over and lays down behind me, I roll him over so his back is against mine, quite a comfortable back rest even with all those coarse bristles. He makes noises of bliss as I scratch his pink tum while he snoozes in the sunshine. I write until my battery goes flat. What a wonderful day.