I've been working on needle felting, and have added an entire farm scene, featuring our favorite goats, puppy, chickens, and pig, but have yet to photograph and share. Soon! In the mean time, I'll share stories instead.
Yesterday I drove Alice to SeaTac and we made a stop at Pacific Fabrics on the way where I picked up some supplies to hopefully make Search and Rescue vests for Tilly and me. After dropping Alice off at the airport about half an hour later than I hoped, I did my best to make it to the Mukilteo ferry before rush hour. Before the exit for the ferry, there is a digital sign with the estimated ferry wait time. I was in a pinch to get to Search and Rescue practice sooner than the ferry looked like it would do, so I continued North to drive around through Deception Pass. This meant I wouldn't be driving past the house on my way to the work out, so I called Tim to have him meet me at practice with Tilly, a change of clothes and dinner, and asked him to let the team know I would be late. I might have been on time driving around to the north, but after several miles of stop and go driving, I finally passed the semi-truck broken down in the middle of the road, then a few miles later a second one! That combined with rush hour really bogged down traffic most of the way North. Finally I made it to practice. Even after nearly 3 months off, Tilly did amazing! Don, the leader of are Search group, told Tim Tilly is "extremely talented" and we make a good team. It was a delight to hear. There was very little wind so we worked on me learning to direct Tilly's searching more specifically. Next week I won't be leaving the island before search practice!
Back on the farm, I've given up on keeping the chickens inside the fence. We saw one standing on the roof of the barn, so I don't think there's much I can do but hope they continue choosing sticking together and staying home in their nice warm barn over exploring the world. They seem happy here, so I think we're okay. The still aren't laying eggs but I have come up with a solution for the roosters! We've been shutting the little door to their house at night so in the morning they are locked entirely inside the building which significantly muffles the crowing. If we really got serious, we could close and open their windows every night as well, but without roosters in yard, I can finally sleep in past 4:30! I mean 6:30 - they don't crow until 6:30 right?
Tilly has yet to have much interaction with the chickens, but we really wish she could be friends with the goats. Today we took a leap and bought a muzzle. Tilly's been doing pretty well through the crack in the door and on a leash, but that's not the same as running in the yard together and so we found a compromise where I don't have to worry about the other animals' safety and Tilly has a big distraction on her face to slow her down. We are hopeful that soon she'll learn to just be and the goats will learn to butt and play instead of run.
For Tim, today was oil-changing day for the cars. It is incredible how much driving we do down here compared to the 30 miles of road, 10 miles of town we were used to. I think my car has driven well over 6,000 miles since March? We can go days without leaving the property and weeks without leaving the island, or we can find ourselves driving three hours a day or more running errands across the state. We did our oil change late enough for last nights rain to dry and well before the rain came again tonight. We were so ready for rain!
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