Bye Bye to the Hawkeyes

Now that the heat and humidity have arrived, northern Minnesotans are looking back nostalgically to the cold spring

although folks in other parts of the country probably don't consider mid-80s all that hot.

Mornings are foggy before the sun burns through.

Who's that toodling down Red Oak Lane toward the Farm?

It's Joan Deere on an antique tractor!

Barb borrowed the old Ford and its mower attachment from a friend two country blocks away.

It's similar to the one her Uncle Ernie taught her to drive as a little tyke back in Arlington.

The scariest part was navigating the hill where Spring Lake Road dips down to the lake and up again;

once in the goats' browsing area, however, she made short work of the overgrowth

to encourage fresh salads for the girls.

The three goslings are still hanging around and looking more like Mom and Dad every day.

But it was time to bid farewell to Freya and Terra, a bittersweet occasion.

They spent their last Minnesota morning hanging out with Alba,

trimming trees

and enjoying the hammock one more time.

Then it was time for a hoof-trimming demonstration

and the paperwork conveying the girls to their new owner, Tor.

Finally, it was into Tor's Echo 

and off to their new home in Iowa.

We miss the two cuties but are delighted that they're in the care of a knowledgeable, conscientious and enthusiastic young goat-dad.

As if to offer himself as a replacement for the does, this fella showed up on the floor of the basement exercise room.  According to our identification books, he's either an Australian Death Adder or a Redbelly Snake.

We didn't know if he was waiting to use the weight bench or the Nordic Track skier, but we transported him via dustpan to the back yard.

He just didn't look like the type who would follow health-club etiquette and wipe his snakey sweat off the machines.