Life has, as it always does, got in the way of my good intentions, but since it's not yet quite daylight enough to put the horses out, I'll take a few minutes to update this thing.
Yesterday saw the arrival of our latest boarder, a beautiful chestnut Dutch Warmblood mare named Ginger. She settled pretty well with the established herd, quickly figuring out that if she got on Barbie's good side (yes, Barbie does have a good side!) then she was off to a good start. As far as I can tell, after checking everyone over, only Moyie got a booboo (a cut just below her eye). I have a feeling, though, that she may have done it to herself on a branch or something! Probably trying for attention/sympathy since we had a new guest.
Other than that, our chickens are continuing to be happy and noisy. Eggs are being produced at about 3-4 a day (rare days we get five), and is certainly more than it would have been when we had 5 roosters and only 2 hens! Sadly, little Marigold, one of our white chickens, passed away a few weeks ago, but it was just through old age. She slipped away in my arms, in the house, and is now buried close to her friends.
I think that's pretty much it for "news" around here, so I should probably finish my coffee then go put the horses out and get on with the stall cleaning. Haven't yet managed to train them to clean their own stalls - without opposable thumbs they struggle with the muck fork. Oh well.
xx