Simple Joys

 I woke up today in love with Springtime. It does something for my soul. The cool, crisp morning that I know will give way to a warm, sun-drenched afternoon. I found my morning routine to hold joy today. I helped my kiddo by taking care of her goats this morning. This is not a really a chore because it is a joy. These little babies have been ours for a week and a half now and they came to us YOUNG. Much younger than we anticipated. The one that was only 5 weeks when she came to us is happily bottle feeding and making huge growth. She's hefty and heavy. Her "sister" (they are not from the same momma), is a little older, and she refuses to take a bottle, but the vet said her tummy hurts because she was weaned too soon. She was also running a fever the day we took her to the vet. But she's improving. And oh-so-lovable! These little goaties bring me joy! I also found joy in letting the puppy out of his kennel and putting him in the pen. He is learning how to be a goat and hanging out in the goat pen. Does this sometimes equal him getting head-butted? Yes, yes it does. But not always. Daisy, our pregnant goat, headbutts him the most. But she doesn't usually seek him out. She usually headbutts him if he's in her business, inbetween her and her food (that girls loves to eat), or between her and a human. Sammy sometimes seeks Duke out just to headbutt him. But I digress... Getting Duke out of the chicken coop also lets the chic
kens and ducks out. I checked the egg boxes. 0 chicken eggs so far today, but three duck eggs! This brought me joy! We have 3 duck hens and have only ever gotten 2 ducks eggs at a time from them since we've gotten down to only 3 ducks. This means Apollo, our five year old duck hen, is laying too! She must be happy that it is Spring also. Apollo is the OG. We got her and Tofu (a Jumbo Pekin) in 2020 during the Covid shutdown. Tofu met an untimely demise with a raccoon. Apollo is the only fowl we have left from then. She has a forever home even if she never lays another egg in her lifetime. Finding 3 eggs today brought me joy. All three of my duck hens are laying. Yay! I recently found some boxes upstairs of stuff I never unpacked when we moved her over 4 years ago. I found a coffee cup from a bestie. I thought of her today as I drank my coffee and that brought me joy.

Thank you Lord for these "little" joys. I've been in a bad way, on a dark path. And the despair has screamed loud and the joy was silent. I'm so grateful it is back.