Heeee Haawwww! (In the night)

I was trying to sleep around 2 a.m. the other night, but kept being awakened by strange noises. Thunk, bump. I thought maybe it was the Red Shafted Flicker that has decided to remove the insulation from our house. Clump, Boof. Oh, no. I left the vegetarian suet on the deck railing, waiting for The Wood Artist to put it in the feeder. Maybe it is a creature trying to feast on it. Bump, Clump.

I finally awoke The Wood Artist and asked him what on earth that noise was. He groggily said he didn't know. Flump, plump, bump, klump. "Maybe it is the water pipes," he said.

I decided to use the throne room as long as I was up. Kaboom, kabang! "Honey, those water pipes are coming through the floor to get me!" (O.k., a little storytellers prerogative here.)

I settled into bed again. Wood Artist says, "Maybe I should check the hot water heater down in our landlords garage." (We live above our landlords' garage.)

As I drifted into the twilight zone, I heard this horrendous, animal-like roar/groan. My first thought was that it sounded very much like a bear. But I quickly dismissed it, thinking that the bears are now in hibernation (and what would a bear be doing in the garage, anyway?) My next thought was that that hot water heater must really be in distress! Since The Mighty Hunting hound was sleeping soundly at my back ( and was very cozy, too), I decided to let The Wood Artist handle this boogie man on his own.

Turns out, it was a mule. Our landlady has a mule that turned sick. He had some sort of blockage and they weren't at all sure Fox would survive. He was groaning loudly, poor thing. And that perfectly explained the clop, clop sounds!

In the end, Fox did get better. Mr. Blueberry Eyes had a great time helping care for him. He has returned to the pasture.

In other news, we have been swept up into the busyness of the season. I'm happy to have my camera working again and will post more pictures soon.

TTFN - Nanette