Today is my birthday, and Ella's. When I acquired Ella 11 years ago in July I was told she was 9 months old, so I did the calculations and realised that if their predictions were correct she was born in October. I bestowed upon her the lucky number 13 as her birth day. Hey, it means I never forget. My animals don't get the birthday cakes or spoilt treatment that some other people put their pets through on their birthdays. I'm thrilled that they were born but I prefer to show my gratitude for having them in my life every day.
I must admit that I had a very lazy day, I lay in bed reading until midday, was presented with breakfast in bed and Sam did the majority of the feeding chores. I decided that everyone could have full run of the property so all the gates were flung open (except the entrance gates!) and everyone mingled. Even Slick and her little chick explored the big wide world.
I pottered away inside doing some sewing and then had cuddles with the fur, feather and bristle family in the afternoon before getting ready for my birthday dinner with my human family.
Shamey (Sheamus) as I affectionately refer to him, met me at the top of my pathway for a big cuddle. You can't help but smile when we walks towards you with his happy face rolling from side to side as he steps in his stilletto-high-heel style walk. His latest trick is to roll over so that you can scratch his big pink tummy. I was interested to see that he and Ella have come to a mutual understanding. She came over to say 'hi' walking next to him and he gave a quiet squeal that almost sounded like a 2 year old saying 'Ellllaaaaaah, its my turn' and Ella stopped and went 'alright-alright' gave me a look and wandered off to eat grass. Her enthusiasm still freaks him out but he doesn't run squealing with her in hot pursuit anymore. He went through a phase of stopping suddenly and facing her head on and grunting very forcefully and blowing boogers at her in the process, she got the message pretty quickly that he wasn't interested in being friends. Since then a very emotionally hurt and rejected Ella has gently kicked him in the rump on one occasion just for the sake of it. Sheamus didn't even acknowledge her beligerant spite but instead continued to appear jovial about digging wallows in her paddock. It is nice to see that they now have a language they both understand although I'm still not sure who is the boss of who.
Mabel called out to me when she heard my voice, she was on the edge of the bush nibbling at all sorts of delicious things. She had found a patch of honeysuckle with brand new sweet little leaves and was happily tucking in, bragging about it to me in between mouthfuls. Lucifer was a good distance away from her and seemed much more on edge. I called him and he hurtled towards me down the driveway and then as if he realised mid gallop that he wasn't actually supposed to let on that he was pleased to see me he stopped, turned around and went the opposite direction for a couple of steps before deciding that the cat was out of the bag, he liked me and he wanted to see me, especially to nibble on my sterling silver and turquoise ring that he's so facinated with.
The getogether at my sister's house was lots of fun. We had a great dinner. Egg salad, mashed potatoes, steamed peas, carrots, brocolli and cheese sauce with vege schnitzel for me and beef schnitzel for everyone else. My family all pitched in to buy me some beekeeping equipment including a veil, overalls, gloves, a hive tool and smoker. Now I'm all set, I just need a hive and some bees.
It was a great evening until we got home to find Tarka laying down with heat in his hind hoof and Hoby hopping on three legs. There was nothing I could do so late at night that wouldn't send me completely broke (ie. call the on-call vet for Tarka and take Hoby to the after hours vet) and irritate the animals so I decided to let them get a night's sleep. I went to bed knowing full well I'd have a restless sleep worrying about my boys but at least I could come up with a plan for the morning.
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