A Dusting Of Snow

Snow was in the forecast last night. 2-4 inches, so they said. I couldn't see how it would stick being that we have had 3 inches of rain this week and water was running like a river down our drive. That being said, I decided I should probably put some extra bedding out for the guardian dogs. After supper I grabbed my flashlight and headed out. It was starting to sleet pretty heavily. I opened the orchard gate to let one of the dogs to a more sheltered area and one that had a barn.... not that he would use it. They tend to stay out no matter the weather. Must be that Bulgarian blood. I was spreading hay in a dog house and under a tree for the other one when he bolted his gate. Captain does not play nice with the chickens and he was now loose in the pastures that housed them. This was not good. I called and called but he and his buddy, Gip, were already swallowed up in the darkness of the 7 acre pasture. LGD's have a mind of their own and only do things to suit their master when they FEEL like. Gip and Captain did not FEEL like obeying at all. Sigh. So off I trudged to lock as many gates as possible to keep Captain from getting near the birds. I was thinking I would just get up before the chickens and track the dogs down. As I started back to the house I saw several of the hens had decided  to roost outside the coop. Fearing Captain may decide to have a snack during the night, I started gathering them up and putting them in the coop. As I picked one up, I slipped and fell. Flat on my back hen held high in the air, I uttered some very unladylike oaths. Next bird, I fell again. The only way to get back up was to roll on my side. Can you picture my clothes? Not pretty....not pretty at all. Dogs were defiantly on my dooky list at this point. Once all the girls were safe and secure, I headed to the house to scrub the mud and other various manures from my body. I asked Doug if he wondered where I was. Not really, he said. I guess at some point he may have looked for me!
I spent a restless night worrying about the pasture situation and finally at 4:30 this morning I went to look for the dogs. Captain was sitting at the gate and happily headed back into his pasture. Now I could sleep!

All that for this..a dusting of snow.