As we got in the car this morning I came in on the middle of a story on NPR that I *think* (could have this all wrong since I missed the beginning) was about an author who discovered the writings of a now-dead Russian writer and was captivated by him and his work. She decided to write a novel in which she imagines meeting and having a romantic relationship with this man.
Like I said, I could have completely misunderstood everything, but it got my mind working. I've always wanted to write fiction but haven't the skill. If I did, what a fascinating premise for a story. And that got me to thinking. What historical female character would I place across from me in a tale like that? I haven't come up with an answer, but I'm still tossing it around in my head. Part of the problem is that it's not easy to come up with famous female figures from history, at least the kind you'd want to spend time with. But this Russian author isn't well known, so it could be someone I've stumbled across that seemed interesting. In fiction you get to make stuff up, so sticking to the historical facts wouldn't be a problem. You could turn Madame Defarge into a quiet sweetheart.
Who would you choose?
We have a problem in the barn. After I put the three of them inside and closed the door last night I headed back up to MoHo only to hear a great ruckus. The sides of the barn are just cedar fence boards, and based on the banging I wouldn't have been surprised to see come of them knocked off from the inside.
I went back to look through the opening I left in the door and saw 100+ lb. Sundae chasing 50 lb. Stella round and round the small central area, butting her whenever Stella got cornered. The poor girl was terrified, looking for anywhere to hide, and Sundae was not letting up. I went in and put Stella and Itzhak in the sectioned off area where I feed him his alfalfa free choice and closed the door I propitiously made just yesterday. I'm not sure how it would have ended had I not done that, but I fear it would have resulted in an injured Stella, with a broken leg or....
I sent Marta a message. "What's this about?? By now they're supposed to be bonded as a herd, albeit with a clear structure about who's boss." Marta's answer presents a problem. It was exactly three weeks ago that Sundae was in heat and Marta bred her to one of her bucks. Female goats come into heat every three weeks and can get nasty when they need a man.
The good news: that means this will pass in a couple of days when Sundae is out of heat.
The bad news: if that's the problem it means Sundae is NOT pregnant, and this will happen every three months until she is.
Poor Stella. And we just banded Itzhak, so he'll be no help.
After lunch I worked on Sally. The manual choke works just like it's supposed to, so now I have to adjust to an old vehicle that starts like it's supposed to. Then again, it's still early and I'm not sure about hot starts.
I also changed the way the air cleaner mounts to the carb. Ford did something funky and different from every other air cleaner mount I've ever seen, and it's a hassle. Because of the very real possibility that I'll be back into the carb again I decided to make it...normal.
It was warm and sunny today and it's supposed to rain most of tomorrow so I also mucked out the barn this afternoon. I like that chore in an earthy sort of way. It feels so real, and I like the look and smell of fresh straw on the ground. I'm curious to see if we have the same war tonight that required intervention last night.
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