276 this morning - doctor visit this afternoon. Wonder what the doctor's scales will read?

It was cold. I'm talking really, really, cold. 8 degrees cold. Late at night I woke up and thought I heard the sound of a goat in distress.

"Maaaahhh... Maaaahhhhh.... Maaaahhhhh...."

I envisioned coyotes - those sneaky varmints I hear yipping back in the woods sometimes - going after the adorable baby goats and I could just picture Nanny being distressed by such a thing, and of course, being a mom myself I couldn't let anything happen to the babies so I jumped out of bed, threw on my big thick terry cloth robe, ran to the back room and slipped on a pair of shoes, opened the door and ran out.

Silence. No goat noises.

I walked a little ways toward the barn. Still silence.

Cold, cold, silence. (REALLY cold...)

I waited a couple minutes. Freezing.

Finally went back into the house, turned the heater up to 9 on the electric mattress pad, stood by the heater for a few minutes, then, still shivering, went back to bed.

Again I heard the distressed goat. This time I raised up on one elbow and leaned over near Rick.
It was HIM!

Okay - sometimes he makes a noise like a cat in a distant room who has its tail caught in a lawn mower (yes, I have been known to get up and count kitties!) but the distressed goat noise is new.

THEN it occurred to me. I just went out coyote-chasing in my nightgown.

Well, any coyote in his right mind would have been running scared of an (almost) 300 pound redheaded woman, wouldn't it?