It had Sorrow! It had Betrayal! It had Ups! It had Downs! It had Blood-letting!

Now that I have your attention ... my weekend recap. 

Sorrow - my beloved Roquefort died sometime Thursday night.  I had raised him from a day old chick and he had everything I wanted in a rooster - beauty, gentleness with the hens, and he gave me a wide berth.  Wednesday he was his fine self.  Thursday, he was not.  I've been trying to figure out what happened - poison?  heart attack? - but I will never know.  Little Bit has thrown himself into Lead Roosterdom with a vigor that I do not appreciate (nor do the girls).  I am saving some eggs with the hope that I can beg cajole my DS Melanie into incubating them and hatching a hopeful Son of Roquefort. 

Betrayal - Lovey let me down.  Actually, I set myself up for it.  Friday, I had to run over to a neighbor's to drop off a form and had a little chat.  I was gone, maybe, 30 minutes.  When I came home, it looked like someone had broken in and tossed the place.  Shredded paper, packing envelopes, magazine, knitting needles (my only pair of 7s), mostly punctured favorite hand lotion bottle.  It was a mess.  It appears that Lovey suffers from separation anxiety - she is fine when I am outside working; apparently she can keep her eye on me.  But, once Kyle leaves the driveway, it's the End of the World.

Ups - the weather (Sunday) was perfect.  Breezy, warm, sunny.  I worked my elbow off and crammed in as much as possible, as I had to bisect my day by driving up to VT, picking up my mom and dad, and driving to their fav restaurant for dinner.  I guess that's an Up and Down.  I got some plants in, did a lot of weeding and cleaning up, and moved a lot of dirt.  I also vaccinated the goats for CDT, a job that I know too well should NOT be put off.  The sheep got a little grass time - actually, more than I had planned, as the dreaded duo of Linden and Juno managed to push their chubby bodies through the gate and got in a lot more grass time.  No bloat, as I have been slowing working them into grass.  Blessing there.  Even Norman is putting on weight!  He needs to be coated and I KNOW I ordered two coats for him.  I even remember running across the coat recently.  Do you think I could recollect where I saw it?  Nope.  Nada.  No way, Jose.

Downs - the weather on Saturday.  Sun.  Pouring rain.  Sun.  Pouring rain.  Unfortunately, the sun did not hold out for very long in between the downpours.  I didn't get much done - but I did get to visit with Marianne!

Blood-letting - I have discovered a tick on my person every day for the last three days.  Luckily, they have been (mostly) located where I could actually get at them.  This is one of the drawbacks of living with only dogs.  They have no opposable thumbs and cannot work a pair of tweezers.  Since I have been feeling sort of achy and fatigued of late, a dim light bulb went off and I am wondering if I am suffering from Lyme's Disease.  I am loathe to go to the doctor, especially when this is one of those elusive diseases that can throw both false positives and false negatives.  But I am tired of being tired, redundant or not.  So tomorrow morning, bright and early, I am seeing the PA.  I realized that I spend way more time checking the dogs for ticks than myself.  Time for a full length mirror or a breathable Hazmat suit...