Barnyard Business…

The mood around the barnyard has been rather sad, as of late, due to the sudden departure of Squagon. Earlier this week, as I sat studying in my office, a thought occurred to me, regarding our guests within the rafters.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that the arrival of our Twilight Dreamers, as I like to call them, occurred suspiciously around the time of Squagon’s kin disappearing from Acorn Valley!

Right about the time that I sent Brutus to start searching for them, young Squagon began having bad dreams, often waking in tears. The tiny squirrel’s nightmares were the reason I’d gone and sought answers from the Holy Rollin Ravens, if you recall the musical and cryptic song they offered up.

There were a number of nights that I simply slept in the barn, as the squirrel’s night fears began to spread like a sickness through the barn, causing quite a disturbance among the rest of the babe’s. No one was getting much sleep, including myself, what with all the crying and asking for a juice cup!

It seems to me, like, right about that time, we discovered our little guests appearing up in the barn’s rafters. Oddly, as soon as they showed up in our midst… the nightmare’s of each babe, began to subside and fade away. All that is, except for young Squagon, who still continued to suffer within his little dreams, though not as badly as before.

Anyway, I’m still digging into my memories of that time, to seek a number of answers that are yet missing, regarding the connection between Squagon and our little dreamers. Nothing worth knowing is ever that easy, so I’m still studying.

When I say studying, what I really mean is observing. I know little about these small flying creatures, but one of the first discoveries was their sleep schedule…

Why do you think I’ve begun calling them TWILIGHT dreamers? Yup! They are nocturnal, or awake during our sleep time, if that helps. What this means for me… a great deal more coffee than usual, that’s for sure!

I’ve set myself a schedule of observing their activities for several hours each night, while the babe’s are all dreaming… and yes, that’s where I chose the Dreamer portion of describing our guests. Early on in their stay with us, I noticed that these little things are the most active during the time when the babe’s are sleeping.

The strange little creatures spend much of their wakeful hours, busily flying silently overhead of my little ones sleeping hidey holes. What are they doing, you might be wondering? Well, I was wondering the same thing, so I camped myself in the corner of the barn for an entire night, just watching and listening.

Guess what these little things do all night? While they flit to and fro across the barn, occasionally hovering over one babe or another, these little dreamers are singing softly, sometimes even praying tiny little prayers of comfort and rest. In case you were wondering, they are rather quiet, even when they are singing.

I had to put ear phones in and listen through a high powered recording device, just to hear them.

I’ve still so many unanswered questions, as I’m sure you do too, but only time and continued studying will truly uncover all there is to learn. What I can tell you is that I’ve begun getting to know one of these little night flyers. She caught my eye, right from the beginning! I compare her to popcorn, because everyone knows how popcorn in the microwave can make the whole room smell yummy! That is Beatrice!

I’m still getting more familiar with my new friend, so you’ll have to wait until next week to learn more of her, along with her kin. I think that I may have struck gold with Beatrice, as I think she may be the eldest, and possibly the most knowledgeable of the bunch!

While I will be sharing everything I discover, if you have any suggestions or first impressions about all this, I welcome the help!

Ta Ta, for now…

Tuesday Tinkering…

So, remember how I told you that my brain doors blew open yesterday, while I was taking my trail walk?

I spent the rest of the afternoon, and then even more hours this morning, doing research. I began digging deeper into the story behind our bat thingies that are flying around in the barn. Remember them?

It turns out that there is an entire community of them, roosting in our rafters. When I discovered this… I was inspired!

One by one, each of their little faces and personalities began appear. Quickly, they found their way out of my brain pan, and all the way onto the page, so to speak.

I’ll introduce them to you in the order that I discovered them. Keep in mind that while being cute and adorable, each one of these creatures carries something very valuable within their tiny little frames.

For today, we will simply make introductions, so as to give each of you a chance to make your own initial impressions, without my intrusive input… there will be time for that later.

From first to last, there are ten…

We begin with,

Mother of,

And,

Then there’s,

and her little one,

Next we have,

and his little brother,

Followed by,

and her orphaned cousin,

Tune in next week, as we learn their story, their purpose and the gift carried within each of them.

*P.S. No spoilers will be forthcoming, so don’t even try. As they say, all good things come to those who wait…

Lizards In the Loft?

At least that’s what Tilly calls them… Flying Lizards!

As to what these little guys actually are, and where they came from, I’m at a complete loss… which is saying a lot about how strange they seem.

Whatever they are, somehow they’ve managed to create a little encampment of sorts, inside our barn’s back wall. There was a loose piece of roofing material that I spied earlier this year, but I’ve yet to have the time to repair it. They must have crawled in through the opening, thought they’d reached the promise land and simply set up shop!

Aside from Miss Tilly being up in arms about rules, hygiene and sleeping under the same roof with a band of wild somethings… the rest of the babes seem rather tickled with our new tenants! Boomer keeps trying to pick them up and pet them, while Lilly is riding them like they’re small horses.

Don’t ask me what I’m going to do with them all… I have no idea! But, I can’t just kick them out, what with the cooler months ahead.

Until I’ve had some time to investigate things and figure out what to do about it all, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to fuss at them, just yet.

For now, I think this calls for some gentle grace for that which I do not yet understand. I always did like a good mystery and now I’ve had one fly in through my barn roof!

I shall get right to the bottom of things and let you know what I find out… wish me luck!

Oh, and if any of you have seen these little guys before, I would love your input.

My Barnyard Bubbles Over…

I was greeted by bubbles when I walked into the barn this morning…. everywhere!

Apparently, the babes wanted to wash all the blankets for me, as a special surprise. I’ve been busily setting up the classroom and organizing all of our school supplies, and I guess the babes wanted to help.

I can’t really complain though… it smells wonderful in my office!

You might even say that it was a double bonus for me, as the babes were all in great need of a good scrub behind their ears. I made rather short work of grabbing a washrag and giving them each a quick once over.

It’s clear that all are fully ready for classes to begin…

Tonight, Pinky, We Shall Take Over the World…

Daily writing prompt
What are you doing this evening?

I loved to watch that cartoon Pinky and the Brain, where the two lab mice or rats (whatever they were) would start their day off with the big dumb one asking the small one the same question from the day before… hey, Brain, what are we doing today? Brain would always answer the same thing, as well… Pinky, today we are going to take over the world!

When I saw the prompt, my mind went straight to that old cartoon… so, that’s my long winded answer for what I’m doing this evening. No, this evening won’t be filled with plans for world domination. I just have no intention of airing my evening activities for all to read!

If we have nothing better to do than to read what others are doing in their personal time, well then, we need to find something to do. If we have nothing better to do than to hand out all our personal business for others to feed off of, well then, we need to stop oversharing so much personal information…

Just sayin…

Here, have a cookie…

Please don’t try eating the mice… they’re not cookies!

Forward Momentum…

I spent yesterday setting up the framework for Volume II of my book series, and today I will be building my storyboard on the computer.

I like to have lots of maps and pictures available, making it easier for the writing of the story, itself… my mojo, if you will.

I want to keep moving forward with the storyline, regardless of how long it takes for the first book to get picked up. My desire is to keep everything connected as smoothly as possible for whomever eventually reads the books.

I’m certainly not boasting that I shall become some writing guru that pops out best selling novels like tic tac’s, or anything. I suppose I simply want to have the most positive attitude towards the future that I can, regardless of circumstances or any future outcome… it just makes things look brighter, that’s all.

Besides, I better use it or loose it, as far as putting words to paper… I’m not getting any younger!

Field of Schemes…

Daily writing prompt
What personality trait in people raises a red flag with you?

Promises Promises

Have I got a deal for you

It’s a guarantee

I’m doing this for you

I swear it

You deserve it

All I need from you is

If you do this, then I’ll

It’ll be just between us

Anytime there is an overly happy, too good to be true sort of person, acquaintance, sales person or what not… the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end!

I’ll tell you why…

Because, promises are not always promises, not all deals are all that good, there are no guarantees, most people who tell you it’s for your good are about to hurt your feelings, anyone can swear nowadays, no one truly knows who deserves what, there is always a catch or something in it for the one offering… and, it is never, ever, ever just between you and them!

I know, I know… pretty brutal and straight up, right?!

I’m pretty sure everyone has met at least one person like this in their lifetime. Maybe not all of the above in just one person, but it is a self-centered personality trait that I find rather irritating, destructive, and dangerous… I avoid this personality like the plague!

I’ll make it clear here that I’ve no specific person to point fingers at, since the trait can be found in any sort of type… if they let it!

Here, have a cookie…

Monday Musings…

Don’t reach out for love

Only to burn the hand you grasp

True forgiveness is about putting out fires…

Not Starting Them!

Same Answer, Different Year…

Daily writing prompt
Describe your ideal week.

I’m just going to leave a link for you to visit my answer from last year, if you so choose to read further…

The Sands Of Time… https://wiwohka.blog/2023/09/11/the-sands-of-time/

I might ask you to click on a re-run of my prompt response, but I wouldn’t think of offering you cookies from a year ago… ewwww!

Serene Sunday…

I find that I am in need of some extra time in the word, today. I shall continue on my way through the Psalms, with a heavy splash of the book of Matthew… mmmmm…. perfect!

God Bless each and everyone of you, my friends!

Oh, and help yourselves to a muffin before you leave…