"He that lives upon hope will die fasting" - Benjamin Franklin

It's 6:45 a.m. and I'm struggling to get this day started.
Light a fire (57 in MoHo) and sit back down with my lap blanket.
Breakfast and sit back down with my lap blanket. (60 in MoHo)
Shave & brush my teeth, then sit back down with my lap blanket. (still 60)

Awaiting a burst of energy: morning chores, cleaning the kidding stall so the now-weaned kids can be relocated there, remove and replace the front window, wash Sally, work on Portuguese, go over my class material for tomorrow, and keep this fire going!! We're only going to get into the mid-50s today.

The Portuguese word for sunny is ensolarado. That's easy for me to remember. See the word solar in there?!

This is beast cool.

I just got back inside from feeding the goats. (Yes, I'm in my chair, and it's now up to 65 thanks to a glowing fire.)
Chaos.
I narrowed the opening to the kidding stall so that I can move the two kids from the weaning pen into that stall later today. The new opening is designed to give them in/out access, but be small enough to keep the adults away from a "free choice" (all they want) supply of alfalfa hay that the kids need.

We have three breeding does: Stella, her daughter Frenchie, and Dolly. In that order. Stella is a bully and is mean to Dolly so she knows who is boss. Frenchie gets off because she's Stella's daughter, but Dolly is terrified of Stella, and with good reason. A goat can lay a surprising beat-down on another goat if they take a mind.
Since the kids went up to the weaning pen I've been closing Dolly in the kidding stall at night so she can have access to grass hay and sleep in peace. Sometime during the night she figured out she could get through that narrowed opening into the main area (why???)...but not get back. The ensuing fight - Dolly on the receiving end of Stella's wrath - broke feeders, gates, and latches. So now I've also got repair work to do today.
If I get it done I'll also further narrow that opening. Once the kids are in that stall Dolly will have to spend all night every night out in the main area. With Stella.
This could get brutal.
Essential oils???

Last time I made a pie I increased the amount of crust I made so I'd have a better top. I had some left over so I rolled it out, covered it with a cinnamon/sugar mix, and baked it.
That makes a surprisingly good second breakfast.

It's now 12:30. I spent the last three hours making repairs to the barn, including things I didn't realize got broken in last night's Battle in the Barn until I started getting things ready for the weanlings. If they break things again tonight my hammer might be used on something other than framing nails.

Ray (left in this pic) attends UFC and comes to my Thursday night class when his schedule allows. He grew up in the woods of Alaska (think stereotypical Alaska back country living) and now runs a tree service here in Eugene where he cuts down monster trees that pose a threat to homes. This tree is 140 years old per his count of the rings.
If you come to UFC you won't have any trouble identifying Ray because he's 7' tall. He played center for the U of O back in the day and now looks like the stereotypical lumberjack. Knowing his size gives you a sense of perspective on this tree's diameter.
Ray is huge and is a beast when working in a giant fir tree. Then he comes down to talk to you and you realize the term "gentle giant" is the perfect description of his nature. Note the smile.

It's now almost 7 p.m. an it's been a busy day. Goulash and Haggis are now relocated to the kidding stall. I got the old living room window out and the new one installed. I still have to trim it out, interior and exterior, but no more puddles of water from the condensation off an aluminum single pane window. But the biggest news...
THE TRUCK IS SOLD!!!

He got a major deal and I got it gone. All issues were fully disclosed, so any problems are not on my conscience. I also don't think the intermittent issues are serious or difficult to fix if/when they become more frequent.

Our semi-annual property tax bill came in today's mail.
Of course it did. And of course it comes in at about $200 less than what I got for the truck. But if the truck had not sold we'd still have to pay the taxes, and out of current funds, so I'm trying hard to look at it that way.

Now it's time to take care of a couple of email projects, go over my lesson for tomorrow, and have some blueberry pie with a cup of coffee. And then crawl into bed.

T'ank you, Fadder.