We headed out to see “Captain America,” and on the way, the skies cleared and the sun came out and Maria mumbled something about wanting to garden, and I thought of two-and-a-half hours of explosions and we turned around and headed back to the farm. I’ll go during the week, probably by myself.

So Maria went to garden and we let Chloe and the donkeys out onto the lawn and I set up a guard post to make sure they stayed inside the fence, which is very close to the busy road. It was tough duty, but somebody had to do it.

Fate and Red came over to join me, and I had camera, a Guido Brunetti mystery (by Donna Leon), set in Venice, a bottle of water and a wicker chair from the porch. I was carefully positioned, right in front of the lilac bush which the donkeys love to eat and the portable fence, in case Chloe decided to walk right through it, which she is capable of.

The dogs were happy to take up positions with me, it was windy and the sheep were out in the far pasture, we had just put them there and we  were tired, dogs and man. I was vigilant, except when I dosed, mused, drank some water. When the sun came out, it was warm and I loved the wind racing across the fields. The equines have figured out the routine, they show no signs of wanting to leave this grass but we take no chances, we don’t ever leave them out of the pasture unattended.

I gave Fate and Red strict instructions to be vigilant and bark loudly if anybody charged the fence. They watched closely. Border collies understand how to keep moving creatures away from the road.

When it’s time, they all trot happily back inside the gate, they are good creatures. Red sits by the gate to keep the sheep at baby when it is opened. Fate runs to greet everyone and runs circles around them all to make them dizzy.

The equines were happy to graze within the fence, sometimes right by me and the dogs, and I cautioned them to behave, I could be  up and out of that chair in a flash. They listened. Maria came over every now and then to check on us while she dug out the garden and turned over the soil and planted some new flowers we got yesterday.

Last year, we were afraid we would lose the farmhouse so we didn’t so much in the way of tending to the grounds or the house. We are happy not to be worried about that this year, and I had a sweet time on guard duty. This work is cut out for me.