Squeezing it in.

Dealing with diminished daylight hours brings on a whole new set of challenges for us work-outside-the-home-and-still-farmstead-ers.  It means that, while I still rise at the ungodly hour of 4:30 every morning, the sun doesn't rise until after 6:30.  I putter around until it starts to get light - knitting some mornings and baking others.  This morning I cut up the brownies I made last night and made icing so I could decorate them for my farmer/neighbor's birthday (H-A-P-P-Y-B.-D.-D-O-U-G-! == exclamation point added to round out the dozen).  Then I feed the dogs and cats, slip the dogs into their classy orange vests for our walk (hunting season is upon us) and fast-walk up the road and back, and throw down my breakfast.  And since I insist on spoiling every darn creature in my care, I need to cut up apples for the sheep, dish up leftovers for the chickens and pull up clover for the rabbits whilst there still IS clover.  (I love using "whilst".)  If I am focused and fast enough, and if nothing goes amiss, I will have time to do something extra - like mulch my garlic.  Obviously, I am a morning person.  Everything goes downhill after 2 p.m.  All I need now is someone to follow me around with a camera to jazz up my posts.  Of course, if I had someone to follow me around with a camera, I would be putting that person to work and no pictures would be taken anyway!