New Friends

Yesterday I met a few new friends at Juniper Moon Farm. Though Shepherd Suzie was out of town, Apprentices Eleanor and Jen were gracious hostesses and made me feel right at home. They didn't even make me do any chores! It was a cold but beautiful day and the farm blew me away. Its just perfect. In fact, if I hadn't seen all the animals I wouldn't have believed it was a real, working farm-- it was just too clean and neat! Well, at least I thought so until one of the goats rubbed pee on me (did you know that male goats pee on their own faces during mating season? Yep.). The sheep were, of course, beautiful to watch grazing in the fields, enjoying the last of the season's green grass. And I was pleasantly surprised at how friendly all the other animals were. Once Sabine the livestock guardian dog was confident that I wasn't there to steal her sheep she was eager for belly rubs. Its nice to see that even working dogs can be spoiled rotten! And then I met two of the handsomest fellows on the farm- Charley and Churchill. They are pet potbellied pigs and so friendly and funny. It was hard to get a photo of them because when I knelt down they wanted to climb up into my lap or nibble on the camera. Apparently they love to be scratched. And now I'm pretty sure I need a pet pig of my own.


But of course I couldn't stay away from my own home for too long, after all I had a backyard full of very chilly poultry waiting on me to return!