After bringing the kids to carpool Thursday morning, a dull headache developed. I'm not quite sure what that was all about, but decided to listen to my body and do what I felt like doing. It was an overcast, gloomy, drizzly day, so I decided not to do anything major. I was feeling tired, so I let myself relax and do a few things indoors. No cooking, but I know that will happen again soon. There are more plants that need to be planted when the weather clears. There are wasps building nests still in the very truck that the trap is hanging on - the trap is still empty. There's always something to attend to, and it can all be done when I'm feeling better.
Since Thursday was such a quiet day overall, I suppose that meant that Friday had to contain some unusual events and experiences. Last month I'd ordered some new plants that arrived this week, so we headed out in the morning to pick up a few pots and some soil. When we got back home, I planted some things I'm pretty excited about: a pepper plant (as in black peppercorns!), wild ginger, and an Australian Tea Tree (for tea tree oil). I really hope these are successful!
Friday night always means a trip to Novato to have dinner with my parents and kids. No matter what has happened that day or during the week, it's always worthwhile to make the time to visit and stay in touch. As Becca and I started to get into the car that afternoon, I looked toward the pen where the dwarf goats stay during the day. I saw something grey right next to the fence in the grass, then noticed the long, bushy tail. I slapped my hands against my thighs and yelled, "HEY! GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Becca thought at first it was a human trying to steal our goats. I walked to the pathway to the goat area, and stood at the top of the four steps leading down to the gate, watching the fox. Suddenly, it jumped INTO the goat pen, right through one of the openings in the netting, and looked at me. I waved my arms and shouted, and it ... started walking toward me slowly. All six goat eyes and all six chicken eyes and all four human eyes were locked on it. I could clearly see it's pretty, foxy face, and how oddly it was colored - red head and shoulders, dark grey body, legs and tail. Finally, Becca ran toward it, yelling, holding the eyelash curler she'd been using raised in her fist. That did it for the fox, and it turned and leaped through the fencing again. This all happened so fast and I was so intent on getting the fox away from the animals that I didn't even think to take a picture. I wish I had.
I went down to see why the battery wasn't working to keep the fox from touching the fence, and realized that because the goats had changed their routine that morning (Imbri decided not to wait for grain on the milk stand), I had forgotten to turn on the fence. I took care of that right away, texted my neighbors to let them know what had happened so they could keep an eye out, and we left, keeping watch to see if we could spot the fox again. No sign of it.
After arriving in Novato, we were having such a good visit at dinner that we let time slip away from us, and we left later than we normally do. It was about 10pm when I was taking care of things outside at home, and I was enjoying the beautiful, clear night sky and nearly full moon. As I walked Lily to the barn, I was looking at the shadows and the way the moonlight hit different things, and then noticed light reflecting somewhere that it shouldn't be. Upon closer inspection, my throat got tight with dismay and disappointment when I saw that something had knocked over the greenhouse. All I could think about were the plants in there, how I was going to have to try to sort ... more ... of them, and I hoped nothing had been damaged. There was nothing I could do in the dark, and that would have to wait until Saturday morning as one of the first things to attend to.
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