I woke up and went out to feed the animals, only to discover a water leak had soaked the entire feed room. Most of the feed was salvagable, but we lost about 50 pounds of chicken layer feed, 50 pounds of corn, and about 20 pounds of animal feed. We also fed about 250 pounds of (wet) chopped corn over Saturday and Sunday...we usually use about 50 pounds per day. The animals thought it was a great treat. I think they were disappointed to be put back on regular rations.
While we were getting that mess cleaned up, the mule ("Hairy Larry") was watching our comings and goings. He must have been devising a plan because he timed it just right that as the gate swung open, he ran past. He hung out in the yard for awhile. He even walked back to the barn once, walking back out before we could get to the door. I guess he wanted to get to explore like all the other animals that have escaped during their time here, because before long he ran past us and trotted off down the center of the road. At that point all I could think was how pretty he looked, like a lone mule on parade. Seriously, if YOUR mule were headed off by himself, you would have to think something like that or you would start crying! I hopped in the van and found him about a half mile from home in someone else's pasture. I parked in the ditch and yelled for him. He looked at me and actually took a few steps towards me, but then he must have decided the grass really IS greener in other pastures, because he turned around and started eating again. I told Matt I had found Hairy Larry. He went to grab the lasso...and it was missing. The last time he had seen it was the last time the pigs escaped. We spent almost an hour looking for it with no luck. He finally created a make-shift lasso out of rope and we took off on the 4-wheeler to the last pasture I had seen Hairy Larry in. Only he wasn't there. We rode around through people's yards (if it was your yard, we really are sorry, we would rather have been anywhere but there, I promise), stopping occassionally to stand up on the 4-wheeler or crawl through weeds to get a better look at what would always turn out to be a cow. We finally were headed home when I saw him. We spent about another hour running him in circles...and flipping the 4-wheeler on top of ourselves...until we finally trapped him in some stranger's barn. (There was a car in the carport, and I did knock on the door with no answer, so again, we are sorry for trespassing.)
With Hairy Larry safely in our own barn, we headed off to take Isaac to get his eyes checked. Sure enough, he needed glasses. We tried to get lunch while we waited for his glasses to be ready; we really wanted to try the new Chinese restaurant. We were told it has a buffet. It didn't. Then the van started making strange, loud noises...and I needed to drive to Illinois the next day. I called around and ended up renting a car from Avis. (Which actually turned out to be a good deal, because it was so much more efficient on gas that the cost of the rental plus gas was cheaper than what we usually spend on gas.) Back home again, we moved around some chickens and I got a huge scratch on my face from a chicken I wasn't even trying to catch.
Am I leaving anything out? Probably. Last weekend was a HORRIBLE weekend. But you know what, it can always be worse. And things always get better!!!
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