Chicken Wrangler Sara's day:

<em>This morning I got up at 5:15, made coffee, fixed breakfast and made sandwiches even though it is Saturday. The kids have All-Region Band auditions and I wanted to make sure they didn’t starve. 
 
After they left, I went back to bed. It was glorious. I didn’t open my eyes again until 7:45. I should have kept them closed, but chicken wrangler duties called. 

I got up and let the chickens out. That was ok.  

I also let the quail out. That was not ok. 

Lately, I have had difficulty closing the long quail cage securely, and we have had to retrieve quail on several occasions. Rachel even made me a sign that says, “Close the door.” Today, I closed the door on the long cage. However, I accidentally left the hutch cage open.  

Strike one.

I knew something was amiss as I heard Bella barking frantically. She really wanted the quail to come over and play. I ran back outside and closed the hutch door on the two remaining quail. I decided to finish filling water jugs and deal with the loose quail later.

I washed the very dirty waterer from the quail cage in the coop, refilled the waterer, and reached to put it back. (In case you don’t remember, this cage is high up in the coop and somewhat difficult to reach.) The waterer slipped and the lid came open, spilling water all over me.
  
I was not happy. This was strike two. 

On the bright side, even though it is December, this is Texas so it is 80 degrees outside. There was no danger of the water making me cold. 

After refilling the waterer, I headed back to the house, silently praying that fixing coffee and breakfast for Beekeeper Brian and I would be easier. 

One more strike and I’m out.</em>

About the same time Chicken Wrangler Sara’s email arrived, I received an email from daughter #2 in Colorado. Her day started with a challenge too. 

<em>Woke up to about ten wild turkeys out in the front yard and street. I went out to talk to them and saw a deer. </em>

<img src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/sf-turkeys.jpg?w=300" alt="SF turkeys" width="300" height="225" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1991" />

<img src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/single-deer.jpg" alt="single deer" width="160" height="107" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1992" />

He had short antlers. I turned my back on him to take a picture of the front of the house and then turned back around he was coming after me! 

I walked, rather briskly, back to the driveway and out of the corner of my eye, I see more deer staring at me. 

<img src="http://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/deer-next-door-for-12-28-blog.jpg?w=300" alt="deer next door for 12-28 blog" width="300" height="199" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1993" />

I was triangulated by turkey and deer!! 
 
I started walking more briskly to the safety of the fenced front yard. Whereupon I saw deer tracks inside the fence, which led me to believe that the only truly safe place was inside the house until Patrick woke up to protect me!!

Nature. It's not for sissies.

YOUR TURN: Wanta share how your day’s going?
