The past week has been notably rainy, transforming our pastures into something resembling bogs or swamps. As a result, we've had to be a bit more selective about when we let the dogs have their usual romps. We did give them a brief outing on Tuesday evening after the goats were tucked in for the night. Surprisingly, they didn't return as mud-caked as we'd feared, but we still opted to limit their pasture time.

With the shift to cooler, wetter weather, our hay consumption has gone up. That's especially true for Vicky Van Goat, the illustrious star of my children's books by Ellie Mae Kay. She requires her own separate little heap of hay, set at a distance from the communal pile. She is the queen, after all. I'll post recent pictures of her soon, but I thought you might enjoy this one from when she was just a kid.

Our youngest chickens are gradually acclimating to the evening routine, although they're still a bit skittish when it's time to go inside for the night.

⬇️ Maddison has been spending an inordinate amount of time licking her front legs. We've been trying different treatments to get to the bottom of it. While a fungal/bacterial spray didn't yield the results we were hoping for, it did deter her from further licking—likely due to its taste rather than its medicinal properties. We're now trialing allergy chews to see if they offer a more effective solution.

⬇️ As for Sadie, she's developed quite the preference for her duck-flavored cookies by Blue Buffalo. She used to be all about the turkey variety, but now it's duck or nothing. She's gotten quite finicky compared to our other two dogs, who are far less discriminating and happily gobble down any cookie offered.

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The man's chin dropped. "We can make a deal. I've got a bit of gold from selling off some cattle."

The powerful smell of stale alcohol caused Isaiah’s stomach to roil, he fought the urge to vomit. "I’m guessing you don't have ranch land, so we’ll add rustler to your list of charges."

"I'm sure we can work something out. I can get you some mighty fine whiskey."

Isaiah doubted the man had access to fine whiskey, but kept his thoughts to himself. Even if he accepted bribes, he didn’t imbibe, so there wasn’t much point in arguing about it. "I intended to ignore your first attempt to bribe me, but now I may add attempted bribery to your list of crimes."

"Aw, come on." The man stared at his feet. "The bartender told me to skedaddle, and I had no way to get home."

"You shouldn't be riding a horse as drunk as you are. Walking would've been a reasonable option."

"It's more than five miles."

"How is that my problem?"

The girl lit a lantern and started washing dishes in a basin. With the additional light, Isaiah was able to make out her features. She might have been pretty, had it not been for the black eye and bruise under her chin. Her blond hair was pulled up, but looked like it needed washing. The girl was in a bad situation. He had to find a way to get her help.

"There may be one thing that’ll keep you out of jail."

"What might that be?"

"Send the girl with me." He saw the young lady's spine straighten, probably wondering if her father would protect her.

"Who will cook and clean? Who will feed the hens?"

"Not my problem. Do we have a deal?"

"Take her."

“I’ll forget what I know, but it won’t stop other lawkeepers from dealing with you.”

“You planning to alert them?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll take my chances.”

I'm working diligiently on my first contribution to the Christmas in Redemption Ridge series though it's slower going than I'd like since I've been so preoccupied with book two in the Pennsylvania Parks series. 

I'm sure Patti will be expecting Wooing the Widower from me shortly though we haven't set a date yet since she's currently busy editing Grave Secrets.