A Trip in the Rain

Today I drove 100 miles in the rain to meet Joyce, the 

kind blog reader who sent me "The Ponies Next Door" two weeks ago. 

Joyce lives in Iola, the county seat of Allen County, Kansas, south of Garnett, where my oldest grands live. 

It was raining, did I mention that? 

See that third box truck, the one nearest me?  He dogged me at about 8 feet behind me for 20 miles in the rain and wind.  

Then, he pulled around me.... look how far he got!  I KNOW he could see the two trucks in front of me, and I know he knew they weren't going anywhere fast.  Was he just cutting the wind on his truck????

Joyce works for the County Clerk, and I found the courthouse and her office with HARDLY any problem.  I was looking for an older, classic courthouse, but this one was modern and nice. 

I got to meet her co-workers and the Clerk, Sherrie Riebel, who granted Joyce a longer lunch hour so we could visit. 

I also got to meet Joyce's husband Larry for a few minutes.  

They live on the edge of Iola, in a lovely country home on ten acres... and have some nice kitties!

Joyce gifted me with two of the Father Tim series of books by Jan Karon, so I am looking forward to reading them this week. 

I would have some pictures of the wonderful town square of Iola, and the beautiful old homes... but it was raining!

After rendesvousing with my daughter in law Sherie at the parking lot of Walmart in Ottawa to give her some things for the boys and her, I made a ten minute stop at my favorite antique store in Ottawa.  

Sigh. 

I felt so good just slowing down and LOVING. 

Be still my heart. 

Then I came home to a mess. 

At least the ducks are happy in the mess. 

And can you believe it?  I filled their swimming pool!!!

And now, goat friends... I have a very puzzling piece of film for you if I can get it to load.  

Delilah is now trying to breed one of the babies, who, I believe, has come into heat. 

Despite all that... why would a DOE be trying to breed?  She is slobbering, tongue hanging out, chasing the baby, butting and pushing her, and trying to mount her.  The baby has dirty hoof marks all over her, so I suspect it went on all day while I was gone.  Right now, I have the babies on the porch, but it is raining and getting chilly... I need advice!

Of course, it's raining hard here now and the video won't load at all.  You can see from this picture that it is dogged.  Delilah is also making grunting noises, peculiar grunting noises.  If I didn't know she was a doe, I would think she was a hermaphrodite.   Donna, I know you have one... could this be the reason? 

On top of the steady rain, Lilly went down in the pasture at dusk, and has not come back.  I am going to go out with a hood on, and take the spotlight and try to find her.  She never leaves our place, and the few times she has gotten out, has become disoriented and scared.  We live too close to a highway.. 2/10 of a mile.  I wouldn't want to take a chance on losing The Protector of Us All. 

P.S. 

We found Lilly after an hour.  My friend Jill said "Have you checked all the buildings?".  I had seen Lil go past me in the rain, down into the pasture, so kept looking for her there.  

Keith got home, and we got ready to search with the spotlight... it was PITCH black out and raining. 

All of the sudden, I remembered that the haybarn door had blown in the wind while I was putting the two little girls in the pen. 

Lilly was in the haybarn, she had been trapped.  The door had just barely caught... there was a gap, but she could not get out.  Oddly enough, she did not bark, even when I called. 

I would have found her in the morning, and she would have been warm in the loose hay for the night, just thirsty.  

I was so glad to see her smiling face, and Keith was very relieved, as was Lil.