What's For Dinner?

So, they predicted snow for today. A possibility of snowfall late in the afternoon was the last word I heard before leaving the house this morning. When we left,, we were prepared for a snowy afternoon. What we had not planned for was the snow coming barely after noon. BK and I were about 15 miles away from home meeting with the Knitting Fairy about the next issue of Spirit of Knitting. As we finished lunch, it was raining, then it was sleeting, and then it was raining. We were not too concerned about the impending snow until about 12:45 when Erin called and said that they were closing school immediately because of the weather. Since when do they close the schools for rain? Or, freezing rain? We were not too concerned about our ability to get back to Denton to pick up Erin, but we cut our meeting short and headed for home.

The first six or eight miles were no big deal. Then all of the sudden, the roads were covered with snow. It had been 70 degrees on these very roads yesterday when we traveled them about the same time and now they are completely covered in the white stuff. It was like someone had waved a magic wand and said "Let there be snow, and there was snow." From that point on, the driving got more and more treacherous with the last three miles before we got to the high school the absolute worst. This part took us an hour and forty minutes because of numerous accidents along the way and other vehicles, including a Denton school bus, in the ditches along the side of the road. By the time we got to Erin, most of the half dollar-sized snow flakes had stopped falling.

Needless to say, all evening events around town were cancelled. This included Sound of Music rehearsal. So, the quiet night at home that we had hoped for on Monday was now rescheduled for tonight. All I had to do was feed all the animals and then it was jammies, hot coffee, magazines, and TV for me. I didn't even have to worry about what was for dinner because the stroganoff ingredients from Monday night's failed attempt at home cooking were waiting for me. By the time we got home, life was looking pretty good.

Erin and I put on our boots and headed to the pasture to feed the big animals.


Serena, the llama, was first.
"What's this white stuff on my food? I have always heard when they try to cover up your food with what I think is called gravy, you really don't want to eat it. I don't want gravy on my grass. So, if you can't scrape the gravy off, I am not going to eat it. I want sweet feed. I think you humans call it something like oatmeal. However, I don't want gravy, or milk, or whatever the white stuff is that you people put on your grain either. I just want it plain. Is that too much to ask?"

"Thank you for obliging."

The donkeys were next.
"We have reservations for two. And if possible, can we have our meal served on top of the gravy?"

Did I mention we now have two donkeys? This is another of those planning things that didn't quite work out. I introduced Cory a few posts ago. We got him to keep Serena company. About the time he was ready to leave his mother and come to us, the breeder told us of another baby about the same age who also was in need of a home. The neon SUCKER lights were flashing brightly and now we have two donkeys. Meet Petunia our five month old jennet.

After attending to the culinary needs of all of the pasture animals, Erin and I headed back to the house to feed the dogs, the cats, and ourselves.

"Hey Harley, if you dig down under this white stuff, we might be able to find something really good for supper. I'm sure the bird carcass or the turtle shell or a field rat can be found under here somewhere. Several of those things can be pretty dry but with this gravy stuff on them they are a bit moister. Let's see what we can find"

“Okay Adidas, I give up. I can't find anything good. I am going to enlist the help of the human. She is bigger than I am and is not likely to get buried alive. And, I am fairly certain that I will not have to fight her for the good stuff."

“Maybe Serena is right. If you have to hide it under gravy maybe it's not worth eating. Let's just play snowplow. I heard the humans are having stroganoff for dinner. If you can distract them for just a minute, I can pull the pot of the stove. Voila! A hot dinner with no gravy."

This time Adidas' plans were unsuccessful. He and Harley had turkey and rice kibble. The cat, on the other hand, had a few licks from my bowl while I went to answer the phone. When all was said and done, we had nine inches of gravy, I mean snow, at our house. It was beautiful. More importantly, it was enough for DISD to have already cancelled school for tomorrow. No alarm clock in the morning.

Stay tuned for more pictures tomorrow.