I have a house full of girls today, not just my own but my friend’s daughters too. They are a busy bunch even after staying up late talking and being awoken at 5am by the four year old. She heard the rooster crowing and so it was time for everyone to be up. We got  a bit of snow in the night, not even enough to mention normally, and it isn’t as cold as predicted so it might not be here long. The girls headed down the hill after breakfast to see if there was ice they could slip around on, found none, and played in the stream instead. Under a gray sky, it is bleak out there today. Their voices came drifting up the hill and I caught glimpses of the brightly colored coats.

Billy and I fed the sheep a new round bale and put new bedding down for the lambs and young ewes.  A few might lamb tonight. We have the young ewes, lambing for the first time, close to the house so we can keep an eye on them. Even still, things do go wrong. We have lots of healthy lambs and some that don’t make it.  Then Billy left to help a neighbor who has a steer with tetanus.  The vet came yesterday and they decided it was worth trying to save him. They spent a couple of hours this morning getting some molasses and water into him and propped all 700 pounds of him up, so he doesn’t bloat. Billy came home for lunch,  tired from the exertion and in need of a shower.

The big girls are back inside now and changed into clean dry clothes. They ate the peanut butter sandwiches Harriet made for everyone and sliced oranges, and are playing a board game in the kitchen. I was called to the rescue when the four-year old began stomping and throwing the cards across the room. It has been a while since I’ve had to remember about naps. I brought her upstairs, read her three books, and within five minutes she and the cat were sound asleep.

I hear giggling downstairs.  Two girls are conversing on walkie-talkies, or singing into walkie-talkies, one is playing the piano, one is making hot chocolate. Busy, busy.

Billy is heading out to work on the chain saw. Harriet has gone off to a friend’s house, and I need to work on the laundry, light the fire in the stove before we have to feed and check on the animals again tonight, carry wood in, vacuum, and whatever else. I’ll try and get back to my book and listen to music for a few minutes somewhere in there too.

Happy weekend to all of you.