Sunshine, sticks and dead mice

After Caroline and I had a classier than usual evening at a friend’s party then the theater last night it was back to life as usual today.

After early church we went with Lynn to feed hay to and check the cattle, and then watch a truck come to load out soybeans.

It was beautiful, sunny and nearly 70. A welcome change after last week’s single digit temps.

Caroline enjoyed balancing on a downed tree while Lynn speared hay to feed.

And then the girls discovered a dead mouse that had just met it’s demise under a falling round bale of hay.

Of course they had to poke at it with sticks, because they are kids.

Kids do weird stuff.

Here is an example of a “farm gate”. This one separates the cattle from the hay so they don’t trample it down. I don’t like gates like this. They are a hassle to open, and a bigger hassle to shut.

Then we took unsuccessful turns trying to use this highly technical tool to break ice in a water trough in a currently unused pasture.

I need to buy the man a hatchet or something.

Then another farm gate. These broken gates make me bonkers.

While waiting for more hay to be loaded Claire found a stick and chased Caroline and I with it, while laughing like a maniac.

Then they struggled over who got to have the stick until it broke in half.

Claire did not give up willingly. I got tickled and couldn’t stop laughing and that made it harder to take it away.

Since she was whipping it around fiercely Lynn got involved and took it away and threw it over the fence. That made her pout.

She got over the pouting when she sat on and pretended to drive the old tractor hooked to the grain auger.

I found a robin’s egg while waiting for the soybean truck. A dispute ensued over who got to hold it. It ended when Claire tripped over a dirt clod and smashed it in her hand.