Country Life

(I wrote this post right after we moved in)

We are officially country bumpkins. I think that's what they are called. David overslept this morning and it wasn't the sound of a semi passing that woke him up as might have been the case in Petaluma, it was a donkey. If you don't actually know what a donkey sounds like and think it's a mild "hee-haw", here's a snippet for you> Donkey

On one side we have my parents' house (used to be my grandma's- my parents are moving in when they return from their Tahitian cruise) and on the other, we have Honky the Donkey (his real name). He's cute as can be, but sometimes he's an ass. That's a donkey joke, for ya'll.

If you want your children to learn their barnyard noises, bring them on over to our place. Besides the donkey, our neighbors own horses which are not quite as loud as our donkey friend. On my parents' side there are 2 steer.

Don't get too friendly with them though- it's almost slaughtering time. If you want to wait and visit them in a few months, you can come over for a barbecue. Yes, I love animals, but I'm not an animal rights activist. I'll talk to the steer while they are alive and pet their heads, but when it comes down to it- they are beef- very tasty beef, I might add. Across the street we have cows, sheep, and probably a variety of other farm animals. There are peacocks somewhere nearby because I hear them shriek on occasion...

And of course, there is the neighborhood barn cat. He belongs to the neighbors on the other side of my parents' house. He is a very friendly cat. He comes up and rubs against your legs, walks in the house if there is an open door... and jumps in your car while you are loading laundry. David and I learned that last fact about him this morning. David loaded the laundry into my car last night so we can do laundry at my parents' house while they are gone. I went out to my car to leave this morning and saw a cat sitting on top of the laundry pile in my back seat. (Phone pic>)

It freaked me out at first, then I thought David was playing a trick on me, and then I realized the poor cat had been in there all night. He had hopped in last night without David realizing it. I unlocked the car and let him out only to watch him stroll over to the open door to house and walk inside. Somehow the night in the car didn't phase him. Maybe he is partially retarded... (Seriously- I had a retarded cat for a while and she was the sweetest cat I've ever met. Nothing could scare that sweet disposition out of her.) On my way to work, I looked for cat poo in the car, but haven't found any... yet. I'll keep you posted. This will definitely be an adventure...