4 legged Joy

Although the horses are gone, we still have 60+ chickens, 7 goats, 2 pigs and 5 dogs.  So what is all of this like?  It causes me Annoyance when they get into something - like the goats eating something I wish the wouldn't.  Heartache when something happens - such as when Bear killed the baby goats, or Molly is nearing the end because her arthritis is getting so bad that I am medicating her every day to keep her from being in pain. Worry - the cold weather has me worrying about all the outside animals (have you ever read my blog post about the pig heater? http://tntacres.blogspot.com/2012/11/pig-heater.html Lets just say when we were in the single digits I was getting up 2 or 3 times a night to turn the dryer on for the pigs.  Additionally there is bringing all the dogs in at night trying to make sure everyone gets along.  Pain - if you know me, you know I have a circulation problem and the cold is painful to me.  Feeding this group every morning and evening is painful to me many days.  Money - anyone want my feed or vet bills?

But that is all the negative - what do I really get out of this bunch of 4 legged animals?  A TON of joy. They make me smile and laugh so often.  Today for example, I laughed when the Schwan's man came with a co-worker just to see the "big" pig.  I loaded my truck up to take the trash to the dump and all 7 goats came over to walk with me from the trash can to my truck - all three trips.  While sitting in my office working, I looked out my window to see all the goats and chickens grazing in the front yard.  I walked into the living room during my lunch break, looked out the window to see Abby and Rose jumping on the trampoline... And all of this was just the joy they brought me today!

Here is a picture I took of the goats after I went back in - the were waiting to see if I was coming back out

and this is a picture of Rose and Abby - unfortunately it is not a very good picture, but it was the only one I was able to get where Rose wasn't laying down!  I see them on the trampoline almost every day.