In which the Minerva Louises do not enjoy the rain at all

The tarp manufacturers must love us. I figure we're probably on their corporate Xmas gift list this year, because we've supported them so strongly since buying Haiku Farm.

Jim is on the last stages of finishing the chicken's Winter Palace...unfortunately, the part that isn't in place yet is the roof, so they can't move in early and must make do for now with the hastily-winterized Chicken Tractors.

Apparently, not all of them are satisfied with this arrangement.

Dear Farmer People

We want boots, jackets and hats

Sinceerlee, chickens

In which I post a few short poems about an unpoetic thing

My novel is progressing steadily--I'm at 7,008 words so far, with a goal of 50,000 words by November 30th.

Yesterday, an old friend who also happens to be a veterinarian, talked the main character into fostering an injured dog:

“Wait,” said Libby carefully, “what is it about this broken-leg dog that you aren’t telling me?”

“Who me?”

“You agreed pretty quickly to pie and coffee for the duration,” Libby pointed out. “which means that there is more than just a broken leg going on here.”

“Well…”

“I knew it.”

“The leg is badly infected, and very fragile. We’ve splinted it up sturdily, but she will need to be careful until after her pups are weaned.”

“Pups? You didn’t mention puppies! How many puppies are you bringing to me?”

“No idea, actually. She hasn’t had them yet. She’s probably got another week or so before she delivers, so you can get her settled in and comfortable.”

“I knew it, I knew it. Alright, I’ll do it—but you bring me pie and coffee.”

“Okay.”

“Every day.”

“Okay.”

“To my office.”

Hank sighed. “Fine.”

“Naked.”

The vet snorted and choked. “Dangit, Lib, I just sprayed coffee all over my steering wheel. Quit that!”

“Ha. You shouldn’t be talking on the phone and driving, let alone talking and driving and drinking coffee. You want people to think you’re a responsible adult, you might want to work on that.”

Just for the record, I have never had this conversation with any of the vets who have talked me into taking foster animals. Yet.

Here are a couple of haiku poems:

Worming Somebody Else's Horse

Grab hold, and hold on

Head, feet, syringe all fly up

did any go in?

Worming Fiddle

The wrapper : scary

The tube of stuff: not so much

After: I get cookies.

Worming Hana

You can give me that

and then pet me, okay? I

like the attention.

Worming Goats

Maaaaa. Maaaa. Maaaa. Maaaa. Maaaa.

Maaaaa. Maaaa. Maaaa. Maaaaa. Glug. Glug. Glug.

Maaa. Maaa. Maaa. Maaa. Maaa.

In which I am busy, and so I write a few poems just for fun

Since I'm busily writing my NaNoWriMo novel this month, my blog posts will be shorter than usual. I promise to publish a few amusing excerpts from the book, as soon as I write something amusing. Hmmm. Might be a few days.

In the meantime, a few haiku poems to amuse everyone and keep y'all updated on the goings-on at the Farm:


New Horse Blanket
It arrived today
wrapped in plastic, pristinely
clean. That sure won't last.



It Looks Very Nice
Straps are adjusted
Buckles are done just so. Her
tailor is a goat.


On The Horse
That white bit on top
She eyes with great suspicion
Soon it will be mud.

In which Hallowe'en costumes are cute, cunning, and just slightly silly

I took an afternoon last week to get everybody dressed up in their Hallowe'en outfits so I could get pictures to share!

The goats, of course, already had their fashion show in an earlier post.

The dogs were next.

Mimsy would rather be chasing chickens, which is Strictly Not Allowed.

It's difficult enough for Mim to hold still for a photo, but sitting still while wearing WINGS was really a challenge!

Luna likes to have her photo taken. She also likes to wear pretty outfits.

Luna is the girly-girl my mom wanted me to be. I guess sometimes it skips a generation.

Hana is another one who enjoys dress-up days.

She will wear just about any crazy thing we can hang on her, tie on her, or attach to her tack.

I guess her edition of the Arabian Horse Handbook of Stuff to Spook At was missing Chapter Thirteen: Weird Tack.

Instead, she enjoys all the attention. I'm pretty sure there's a chapter about that in the Handbook someplace, right?

Sometimes it's more difficult to get Jim to wear a costume than it is to get the animals in costume.

For a nice reversal on my classic horse-is-pirate/rider-is-parrot,

I plunked a pirate hat on Jim's head just before snapping the picture. Don't they look cute together?

Fiddle usually wears the pirate gear, so this year I tried something new:

Fee doesn't mind wearing costumes. She figures that if I'm dressing her up and posing her for photos, there will be remuneration.

Although I didn't actually have a cookie in my hand at any point during the dress-up sessions, she kept doing her tricks so that I'd feel guilty and go get her a treat.

Well, heck. Hallowe'en is all about trick or treating, right?

I ran to the barn and got her a cookie. Goooooood girl!

Life is good.