Valentine Chocolates

Rainy, drippy day. Thank You so much, Lord. The wetness seeps into the grass and the new shoots look like little green elbows pushing through the dirt. Bent and straining against the tight crust until they grow one more millimeter enough to straighten. The sheep are ready for them. Hungry, nibbling lips swinging through the short new stems. I watch them eat and almost want to join them just to taste a hint of spring.

It's eight o'clock in the morning. Late enough to see the sun and hear the hungry calls outside. Bill is off to get a new batch of chicks at the post office. I need to start making bottles for all the new babies. Calf, sheep and now two goats.

My sweet, wonderful husband shows his love toward me every time he agrees to another animal baby. Even goats. Especially goats. One of his mantras: "I hate goats." But here we are with a cardboard box in the office containing two chocolate bucklings nestled in cloth and old towels muttering softly awaiting a warm suckle of colostrum. That's love.