It’s getting below freezing tonight. So why should that keep me awake when I have a nice fire going and the house is plenty warm?  My goats.

You see, we took advantage of the warm weather last week to clean out the goat stall. (I say we, I mean Cole.) We usually allow the bedding to accumulate during the winter, and just add fresh bedding on top daily. This provides a thick insulating base to help keep the goats warm.

But we cleaned it out. And it’s freezing. And concrete is cold. And my girls are pregnant.

Of course, I didn’t start thinking about any of this until 11:00 tonight, when I was snuggled into bed. Colter was already asleep, so I couldn’t ask him if he had taken care of it. So after much internal struggle, I got myself out of bed, put on my barn coat, boots, and a Jim hat, then headed out to the barn.

I was right. There wasn’t enough bedding to keep them warm. Do you know what that meant? That meant climbing into the hay loft. Normally that’s not a problem. But it was night time. And dark. And there are lots of mice around.

But what’s a good goat momma gonna do?

Throw a bunch of stuff around to scare off any potential mice, of course!

Now, I have to tell you, by this point the goats are looking at me like I’m crazy. They’re wondering why I woke them up and why I’m making so much noise! But they appreciated the fresh bedding.

So, now that I’m back inside, I’m sitting by the fire, drinking a mug of tea and trying to get back to being sleepy. But it’s not working…

Did I mention I had a nap today? I knew it was a stupid idea, but I couldn’t help it. I was REALLY tired. And now I’m paying for it.

Oh well, at least my goats are warm!