We had the most beautiful afternoon. Storms and ice seem far away; today, it was 67 degrees here, with no bugs or beating sun.

No water is pouring through the roof. I took some of the first 2023 flower photos (I’ll put them up shortly) with my new baby pansies. My new brace allows me to walk around much, which is a great relief. It’s going to get better after the surgery.

We painted part of the barn, sat outside and dozed, sat outside and talked, and replaced rotting boards at the gate.

We made three visits to the hardware store for paint, panels, and heavy nails. The donkeys and sheep chewed up much of the pasture gate during the snow when they couldn’t see the ground.

My Willa Cather wife removed the chewed-up boards, sawed new ones, and hammered them in. I painted the panels and a good chunk of the side of the barn. It was sweet to be outside on such a beautiful day and help with the farm chores.

We spent quality time with the donkeys, ran the dogs, scratched Zinnia’s belly, cleaned Fate’s wound, painted the barn, ate some freshly baked bran muffins, and then collapsed inside and napped.

Maria has turned me onto Krishna Das chanting; it helps me sleep.

In other news, a good and trusted friend has agreed to come to the house when I come home from the hospital after my amputation in a couple of weeks. He will help me get into the house – my leg will be numb and unusable. I can imagine very few people I would be comfortable asking to do that. But it might be hard for Maria to get me into the house.

He’s volunteered to help me get settled. That’s a significant relief.

That is a good friend, and we are grateful; we were trying to figure out how I could get into the house on one leg, even with a walker. I’ll be ready to go with two more medical clearances next week – the cardiologist and my primary care nurse Amy.

The red paint was worn off the lower parts of the barn; the animals had been gnawing on the wood, as they do in the winter. We painted the side and put chicken wire along the bottom to keep them from chewing on it. Ruminants get very anxious when there is nothing for them to chew on.

Zinnia was happy sitting outside with me for a while, especially when Maria came around to scratch her belly, which she loves.

We took the rotten boards off the gate, sawed new ones (Maria did), and I was tasked with painting the board white. It was a lot of fun doing chores together again.