Miss Lily Returns

I spend the day moving sheep from the horse stall, cleaning the stall, checking the automatic waterer. Lily is returning from the boarding barn today. I look around the farm and marvel how it has changed in the two months that she's been gone. The grass is green, the flock of sheep has doubled, the area around the paddock has a fresh layer of crushed limestone, and the mud is gone. Her pasturemates -- the Five Virgin Ewes -- have shed their winter coats. They've grown a little in size and confidence. Lily, too, has changed. She's shed her heavy winter coat and will return wearing the sleek, red coat of summer.