Plumbing day.

Gorgeous day out there.... sunny and warm, high in the 60s. Next week is supposed to be high in the 70s. A real Texas winter, not that horrible stuff we've been having that has frozen water pipes and cracked filter-boxes all over the state.

As I type, my husband and one of the neighbors are out in the yard, re-building the water pipes that burst with the 18-degree hard freeze that we had. After spending hours at Home Depot, and more hours reading plumbing manuals on the Internet, my husband was ready to tackle this project today. He had everything he needed, including the confidence to do it. When he asked me if I thought he should take our neighbor up on his offer to help, I told him "Absolutely-- I am not a plumber's apprentice." That settled that. He called the neighbor.

I stayed in the kitchen and made soup, and put flour and eggs into the bread machine. I have a huge pot of lentil vegetable soup, and another pot of cauliflower/broccoli soup. And the bread... it smells and looks delicious, but this is the second loaf of bread in two weeks that didn't rise as high as it usually does. With the last loaf, I think the water I added was too cold. This time, I used room-temperature water..... but now I'm thinking maybe I should have used warmer water. I even checked the date on the yeast-- because I've done that before... used yeast that had an expired date on it. (That loaf was like a small brick.) I haven't sliced today's bread yet, but I'm sure it will be okay. It's just a shorter squat loaf, rather than a tall fluffy one.

As I type, Sweet Pea is downstairs sleeping in the living room on one of the chairs by the fireplace. ShadowBaby is sleeping on the back of the sofa-- his favorite napping spot since we moved here. When he opens his eyes, he can see out towards the front of the property and he has a picture-perfect view of the pond. Mickey Kitty is keeping an eye on Sweet Pea from the foyer... he has stopped his hissing, but I don't think he has built up a trust yet for the newest cat in the house. Gatsby is outside on the front porch, napping in the sun on this beautifully warm day. I think Gatsby will always be an outside cat, as long as it isn't too cold or raining too hard. He knows when it's warm out there and he will sit by either the front door or the kitchen door, staring at it till it magically opens.

The Last Chicken Standing-- Audrey...... she's out there walking around the yard, and occasionally checking on the progress with the plumbing. She doesn't seem to mind at all that she's the only hen in the coop. I think she's enjoying it. Audrey has been more friendly since the Guinea hens were taken away. She actually comes when I call out to her these days, which is something she has never done. Me? You're calling me? I'll come there when I'm ready.-- that was always her attitude. Now she tucks her wings back to her sides and comes running across the yard when I call her. We're hoping to get a few more chickens this week, so Audrey will have to re-establish the pecking order in that coop. When we put the two or three new chickens in there, we'll be hearing a lot of clucking going on till they all get to know one another and settle down.

Another day on the ranch. Home made soup and bread, contented cats, a dog who loves every cat we have, a happy chicken, and my husband, who will come in here when the plumbing job is done, and (a la Tom Hanks in the movie Castaway), he's going to have his arms raised towards the ceiling and he'll be chanting "WATER! ME MAKE RUNNING WATER!"