The Guinea Hen down at the old barn sitting on twenty or thirty or who knows how many eggs

More Guinea Hens?

Guinea Hen update……………This just in and it’s crazy wild news……..I have been hanging out with the human girl all day today so I heard what was being said when she was talking about those guinea hens. My human man had seen one of them run up under the trailer by the water well and she looked under there to see what was going on. WELL!! She came back up saying that hen ran under there to sit on some eggs and there is another pile of eggs under there with forty or fifty eggs in it!!!!! Yes. And the pile that hen is sitting on there are so many that they are not even all under her. This is on top of the hen they found yesterday down at my old barn that is sitting on twenty or thirty eggs. We are fixing to have a population explosion here on the farm I’ll tell you that for sure. Then they were talking to the man that actually owns the guinea hens and he tells us that all those birds came from just one Mother Bird. Yep. She laid about 30 eggs all by herself he says and that’s where all of them came from. Now I don’t have fingers to count on so that leaves me with just my four feet for counting but I’m thinking if one bird lays thirty eggs and there are thirty birds out there laying eggs then we are not going to have a population explosion we are going to have a population …. Well I do not know what it will be called but I’m pretty sure we will not be having any trouble with grasshoppers this year. Now if we could just get them to eat moles and gophers………….I wonder how much guinea hens sell for? And how would a horse go about catching one?

Hay and Eggs

You would think that human girl would learn to use a rope but she doesn’t seem to. And I told her that. But she told me that if we would stop doing stuff we shouldn’t be doing then she wouldn’t need to do what she needs to do to fix us therefore no need for a rope. AND, she said, Would you rather I leave you like you are and take the time to go get a rope or do you think you could just hold your whole self still while I deal with this then you can go do what you want to do and so can I! This was because she was trying to wash my neck after I had just seen her hanging on my horse’s leg. My horse the Pretty Boy. She was trying to put medicine on his hurt foot and he wanted to walk away. It wasn’t like the other day when I thought I might walk away from her nope she was already all bent over ready to doctor his foot when he started to leave and I saw her grab his leg. She said NO Stay here! And he did because he is a good boy. Handed his foot right up to her then so she could do what needed doing. So she finished with him and came at me. I know not to walk away from her but sometimes I feel I must. Today she didn’t even touch me just gave me that big ole speech about acting nice.

When she left us she wasn’t done with her healing I guess because next thing you know it that fuzzy little dog let out a yelp. We, Pretty Boy and me Precious, looked around to see what was wrong and that human girl had that little dog tucked up under her arm washing it’s face. Yes she was! Washing that dog’s face smooth off from what we could see. Don’t know what that dog got into but apparently it was wrong. So far the only thing safe around here today is Mudfoot the red lab dog………..but the day isn’t over yet.

No hay left to eat down at my old barn. The guinea hens have decided to use the leftovers to lay their eggs. One hen is ‘sitting’ on a clutch of eggs right now. I do not know how many eggs because they are small and there were a lot of them. Also it was dangerous for me to be down there with all those feathers and eggs. Guinea hen eggs are the size of a golf ball but a little bell shaped. I saw the human girl go down there with the camera earlier so maybe we will see a picture of something soon.

Good news! The hair on one side of my neck is starting to fill back in from where the rain rot got me. Boy am I glad about that. The human girl wasn’t taking my picture as much as she usually does and I thought it might be because I was bald. She said that wasn’t it that it has just been way too windy.

And now a word from the house mouse

House Mouse here. It has been a hard week here on the farm so Precious is laying low. The Pretty Boy has been having some leg trouble. That leg with the hoof injury got an infection in it so he was feverish one day maybe two. The human girl was soaking his leg in Epsom salts two or three times a day trying to draw the infection out. He is a real good horse but sometimes things happen even to a real good horse. Just as the human girl was putting his foot in a bucket of water he got spooked by something and things went flying. He wasn’t hurt and the human girl was walking okay just a couple of days later, slower but okay. Then Precious got some rainspot on her neck.

She is well behaved so she goes without a halter on most of the time. The human girl comes out a couple of times a day with a little bowl and a big red brush. She scrubs on that big ole paint horse like she is scrubbing on a saddle.

This morning the human girl was just going to use a squirt bottle and squirt something white on Precious. The bottle made a funny noise when it squirted the first time so Precious wanted no part of that. She started to walk away. Now that human girl doesn’t come very far up that big mares neck but I wouldn’t bet on the horse winning any contests against her. She told that horse to WHOA and she didn’t. So she put her hand out and said WHOA to her again. Precious sort of thought about not walking away but didn’t really want to stay either. The human girl put her arm out against that big ole horse’s chest and said ‘WHOA YOU that means STOP stop stop STOP!’ The human girl by this point had her heels dug into the ground leaning back so far I don’t know what was keeping her up but that horse finally did WHOA and didn’t try to walk away again. The girl told her Thank You, which is the polite thing to do you know and then she went about brushing the stuff on Precious.

The Pretty Boy had thought he might want in whatever it was that was going on till he saw that human girl digging her heels in then he decided to come back in the barn with me and watch from here.

None of us are a match to that human girl when she digs her heels in.

A habit that is good

I told you the other day that the little girl across the road got to come over and play with us well she got to come over again today! But she was in the main house not outside looking at me and petting on me and giving me baby kiss's on my nose. So I stood as close to the back fence as I could and made sure most of me was near to the pen where Mudfoot, the dog, lives. She barks for me to get the humans attention and she does a good job of it. Didn't take long before that baby girl came out in her pretty pink coat with the hood up. She started to run at me but the human girl said 'no' very quietly so she stopped running and just walked up to the fence.

Teach them young. Yes that is a good thing to do. You teach the children young how to act so you will have time for more important stuff when they get older.

The baby girl got picked up so she could pat my head and give me little baby kisses and smooth my mane down. Then they went inside. But it was ok because they came out the front and out to my pasture! Oh Yes! The baby was excited. I looked at her and made sure she knew to not run. Then she was right beside me with her arms up so the human girl could lift her up onto my back. She got a little bit of my mane in her little hand and sat there very still. She is such a tiny thing I forgot she was up there and put my head down to eat some pretty green grass. Ooops. I heard that baby girl say 'oh'. But the human girl had hold of her and snatched her right off my back before she could slide down my nose onto the ground. Which might have been fun to watch but not a very nice thing for me to do. So then they went to the Pretty Boy for a sit but he had seen me put my head down to eat something so he was more interested in what I was eating then giving the baby girl a horsey ride. She can get a ride on him first the next time she comes to visit. It was really a little chilly out today for that baby to be outside for long anyway. Not long after that her Mother came to get her. She always has that boxer dog, Jade, with her and today was no different. That dog is a very happy dog. Have you ever seen a boxer dog smile? Well Jade smiles, no she doesn't just smile she grins from ear to ear! Such a happy dog.

The Cat and Guinea hens

Hello! My barn name is Precious and my horse’s barn name is Pretty Boy. OK. Just checking to see if I had gone crazy but if I know our names I guess I’m okay.

You know how I have told you that we have guinea hens that come to visit us? Well they are not babies anymore. They are full grown guineas and there are a lot of them. Some of them are gray and some of them are pure white. Most of the flock just passes thru on their daily rounds of eating any bug they can find but there are maybe three to six of them that stay around here all day. I think they think of my farm as their second home. This morning what got me to thinking my thinker might be broken is that I saw one of those white guineas chasing the big gray cat. First time I ever saw that happen. You know most of the time it would be a cat after a bird but nooo not with guineas I guess. That cat was walking very low to the ground trying to make himself invisible I suppose but it didn’t work out for him. He was doing okay when he had places he could go from one cover to another but then he got out in the open and that’s when I could really see the show! For those of you who do not know guineas I will get the house mouse to tell the human girl to take a picture and post it on here for you. For now you will just have to imagine a very funny looking chicken with a long neck. Now imagine that chasing after a rather large cat. Very funny indeed. And the noise that guinea was making as he tried to tell that cat he must learn how to play nice was enough to wake up the Pretty Boy who was napping out in my pasture. That guinea hen chased the cat from the East to the West fussing at him the whole way till the cat finally made it to the feed shed and ran up under it where the guinea hen couldn’t follow. That was surely funny to see that big cat thinking ‘I do not need to run I am a big cat’ get run up on by a fussing guinea hen. Yes ma’am that surely was funny to see.

This news just in to the barn........

My friend the King of Squatamala Ranch says I, Precious, should start using my horse's name, Pretty Boy, instead of just saying 'my horse' all the time. So in the future I will try to remember that names are important to use. Names are an important part of who we are. The Pretty Boy is not just my horse so I should use his name when I am talking about him. Well that seems just like it is the right thing to do if I am going to be talking about him now doesn't it.

Betcha we, my horse Pretty Boy, and I just missed out on getting an extra cup of feed today. That human girl came out here and filled our water tank but she's gone back inside now.

Is it Grey/Gray enough for you?

My goodness but I miss the sun! I think rain is an alright thing to get but I do not like it to be gray skies day after day. And I know we have had a dry winter that we need to make up for but come ooooonnnnnn! There just has to be something other than way windy or gray. I heard my little friend across the road singing this morning so I know he is done with this too. He was singing the song 'Rain rain go away my sister and I want to play!'. You know how he does. He sings as loudly as he can because the clouds are pretty far away.

Oh and now the House Mouse is asking me if I am saying GREY or GRAY and how am I supposed to know since they both sound the same to me. I think we might just have to start saying some other word. I there a difference in the definition of those two words? How about I just say 'If it is not too much to ask I would like maybe just one day of sunshine without the wind blowing ninety to nothing.'

My horse is still favoring his healing front foot and the human girl has not stuck it in a bucket of water for him since yesterday morning when I heard that commotion in my barn and he came running out. He told me he might be in big trouble because he had on accident made a big mess and maybe hurt the human girl. He said he had not meant to do it that it just happened. He said she was putting his big ole foot into that big bucket and had sort of thought he might not want to do that right then so he moved his leg. That made his big ole hoof hit the bucket which made a noise which made him jump and that bucket went flying and that human girl went to yelling so he high tailed it outta there. He said he forgot he even had a sore foot he wanted out of there so much. I saw my human girl leaned over in there and stuff laying where it shouldn't be so I headed farther out in my pasture. That much of a bunch of mess surely meant that someone was going to get a talking to and I didn't want it to be me. I let my horse have my feed. The human girl made it out of the barn and headed for the main house. That was the last I saw of her till late in the day. She was favoring her leg even more than my horse favors his.

I guess she's better today, the human girl that is. She came out and fed us after the worst of the storms passed this morning and she wasn't even limping. That's a good thing. I don't mind it if the human man takes care of feeding me and my horse but I do not think it counts as really getting our feed. I think that just counts as 'treats' when he does it. You know us horse's, we are creatures of habit for sure.

A special day

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO YOU AND YOURS

FROM ME AND MINE!!

We had a storm last night

My horse and I 'rode out' a storm last night well it was mostly this morning. There was some wind and rain and thunder and lightening. We stayed inside till it was gone. Then not long after that before it turned wintertime again the human baby girl from across the road got to come over and sit on my back. She likes to do that. I hold very very still. She used to not want to sit on me since I am so very big but she is not scared anymore. She sits up on my back and if I turn my head around I can see her face smiling. I don't turn my head to far so she doesn't get off balance. I only turn it enough to see her. She is so little it's not easy to tell she is sitting on me. I let her sit on me as long as she wants to. Makes me no matter. If she is happy sitting up there I will stand there. My horse says he will be happy when she gets big enough for him to give her a real ride instead of a rocking horse ride. Well that is just funny since I am not rocking but when he gives the little ones a ride he does rock! So anyway that is our day so far. Storms, fun, winter winds. Just waiting for our early afternoon snack now.

This afternoon the baby girl's big brother got to come over for horsey ride. He is in pre-kindergarten now so we don't see much of him. Maybe once a day is all we see him now except on the weekends. But I was telling you he came over for a visit. He gets on my horse and hangs onto a hank of hair. He is strong enough and big enough now that he can sit up there all by himself. Of course my horse, Pretty Boy, does not walk fast with him and one of the humans always has a hold of the lead rope but that boy is becoming a real cowboy. Today he said 'yeeeehaw! ride 'em cowboy!' That boy needs a cowboy hat.

Early Spring Flowers

We have some flowers coming up out here on the farm. They are not the kind I like to eat. some of them have a very strong smell to them. I have told my horse he needs to make sure he doesn't bump up against them when he is grazing on the beautiful green grass. That is not a smell you want to get on your nose if you don't know how to stick your nose in the water and shake it around. Heard the humans talking about them the other day. One of them said they are called Paper White's and the other one said some fancy name that didn't sound like anything I have ever heard before. But it doesn't matter what they are called as long as you know those pretty little white flowers are to be given a wide berth. I was telling my horse the other day that sometimes those flowers will even poke their heads up out of snow. Not that we get a lot of snow out here East Texas. Told him also that the next flowers that come up will be the daffodils. We don't eat those either they are just for looking at. Sometimes there are a lot of them that come up but this winter has been pretty dry from the looks of my pond so there may not be that many come up this year.

Oh yes my pond is nearing the mud puddle stage of rolling in it readiness. I might not be doing that though if what I heard is true that it is going to be winter time again later this week. I think it is supposed to be real cold again in three moons. That's how I tell time. Sun, moon, sun, moon. When the sun comes up it's time to eat. When the sun goes down we, me and my horse, are on our own out here. We have a lot of fun sometimes at night when no one is around. Right before dawn and right after the sun goes down there are sometimes fairy's that come out and dance for us. They are quite beautiful with their yellow tiara's.

Our human girl played a trick on us today. I went to the front of the house and banged on the thing that makes noise to tell her that I wanted her to come out and give me something to eat. I made noise two different times. The second time she came out telling me 'backup back up back up'. I thought she meant it since she said it three times so I did back up. She started towards the barn telling me and my horse to just mind our p's and q's that that was no way to be acting. She said that there must be something wrong with our clocks because it was only a few minutes after four o'clock not four thirty. She told us to go out there in that pasture. The way she was pointing we decided it would be a good idea for us to do just that. She went around the barn so my horse thought she was going to come out that side door with him some food. That boy still has a lot to learn. She came out, but she came out with a brush and other stuff. We did not get feed. We got brushed and toes painted and then she went back in the house leaving us standing in our pasture to 'Think About IT'. That's what she said she said 'Think About IT'. I'm not completely sure what we were supposed to think about but I didn't go back over to the house and bang on that thing I'll tell you that. A few minutes later, which must have been four thirty whatever that means, she came back out and gave us our cup of feed.

Too late for Pre-Emergent weed killer

Pre emergent weed killer

Heard them talking about the weed crop growing. They said 'Too late to put out any pre-emergent weed killer this year'. And when I heard that I just had to snort out loud because it was so funny. I was thinking 'YOU THINK?!' there are weeds coming up everywhere since we had those days of summer weather back last month. There is some grass too. Beautiful green tender grass. HOORAY!!! In my yard I have weeds, grass, gophers and moles. Me being a horse and all I don't know for sure about the gophers and moles. What I mean to say is I don't know the difference between the two. There are trails of humped up dirt and there are mounds of dirt here and there all over the place so I know that there is something under the dirt I just don't know what to call it or them. But let's get back to growing grass. My horse and I have been trying to do our part by eating awhile here and then awhile there and we both seem to have our preferences as to what we will eat. Me I like young tender grass because it is so sweet. But my horse will eat anything and it doesn't even have to be green.

What we need is for the humans to get busy and put us some fertilizer out on our pasture. I wonder what kind they will use this year. They use three different kinds of fertilizer on different years. Sometimes it's liquid, then they will use chicken litter, and then sometimes some kind of dry white stuff. I think the dry stuff is powdered lime.

WHOA nelly!! That human girl came out to drag my pasture using her 4 wheeler and she just about made my horse nervous so I took him out to the front pasture. But then she was out there at the top end of my pasture which is close to that front pasture so I took my horse over there to the lower pasture. He is just going to have to get used to that human on that 4 wheeler because she is on it a lot. We both try to tell him that she is not going to run into us but he isn't quite sure about that just yet. We are up here getting us a drink of water while she is in the house getting herself some lunch.

My horse is sore

Well my horse has a sore foot today and it’s all my fault. You see I love to play in the pond so I was.

There isn’t a lot of water in it right now because it has been a rather dry winter but it’s still fun to get in there and splash. I pick my front foot out and hit it down on the water making a big splash over and over and over. When I tire of that I go to the shallow end and roll in the mud. I especially like to get covered in mud after the human girl has brushed me till I shine like a new penny.

Well this time when I was down there playing in the pond my horse decided he was well enough to join in. He said he thought it looked like it might be fun. He said he had never played in the water like that before. Now that is just a shame that some horse’s don’t get to play the way I do. Don’t those humans know that we work just as hard as they do and we like to have some free time and some free space to play ourselves.

Of course there are horse’s out there that do not like water but I have never understood that. My Mousey horse liked to get in the pond and get all wet but he would leave straight out of it when I started splashing around. So anyway there I was playing in the pond and my horse decided he wanted to come play too. The big boy just didn’t know that pond’s have muddy bottoms I guess. Or he did and the thought he could handle it, which he did but at a price. He walked all the way in very slowly then right out the other end. That was a pretty long walk for him. All that mud pulling on his feet made that hurt one sore. Heard the human girl talking to him saying he can do that again if he wants to but he should just go a little ways at a time not all the way in and all the way out. She told him he needed to work up to that but that for now he should stay in the shallow end or maybe just go crossways instead from end to end.
When we went up to my red barn for our dinner from way down at the old barn I did not go off and leave him. I waited for him to notice I was going and then I walked real slow so he could keep up. One time I just stopped and waited for him to catch up. That human girl didn’t rush us. She was just standing up there by the big red barn waiting for us to make it. She said I was a good girl for waiting for him and that she didn’t mind standing there. She said she would stand there as long as it took. That’s how I felt too. I would have done without eating if my horse wasn’t going to eat too. His foot is not hurt bad, it’s just sore. He can walk on it without limping he just isn’t going very fast today. Nothing to worry about he will be fine by morning I’m sure.

The day after the storms

Precious here. We were very lucky yesterday that the storms missed us. Oh it didn't look or feel like they were going to but they did. I really don't like to see those storms coming over the hill from the direction of Waco. Nope don't like that at all. But this time, this time all is well. When my horse and me saw those clouds and that wind changed direction we just found us some good cover and waited. I am very brave so I stood guard. We got a little wind and some rain. Some very hard thick rain but not for long and as I said we were under cover so we didn't even get wet.

And today it was chilly out but we have green grass to eat. Now isn't that just something. Green grass right here near the first of February. Don't that just beat all. We have us a big ole round bale of hay to eat AND green grass. Can't get much better than that no sir can't get much better than that.

Yesterday before the weather moved in we were looking down at the neighbor's place and saw something new down there. A big white llama. There was already a brown one and a black one but now there is a BIG white one. I don't know when it got there or how it got there but by golly there it is. I think it might be a boy because they are keeping it in a pen all by itself. It looks like it would like to come out and play. Could be they are just keeping it in there till if figures out it lives here. Anyway it sure was a surprise to see it. Might be those people's little goat has had a baby too. I'm not sure about that since it is little and it is pretty far away from here down there in the valley near a pond. Those people over there have two turkey also. Now that's some funny looking things. And they laugh funny too. We like for them to come over here and visit with us. They like to share with us what is going on in their barn. They say there are a lot of animals in there of all different kinds. My horse and I have only seen goats, and turkeys, cows, llamas and that crazy in the head pony who has never been taught any manners.

OH! LOOKY THERE!! Here comes that human girl. I sure hope she is coming to brush me nice not coming to put more of that funny smelling medicine on me. I better get out there see you later.

It's me again the 'Pretty Boy'!

..........That felt just wonderful that she was wanting to know where I was and she was walking all over the place trying to find me. She found the big paint horse and asked her ‘Where is that pretty boy?’ and that was what she was calling out as she walked around too. She kept calling out ‘Pretty Boy! Where are you Pretty Boy!’

She was very nice to me. She brushed me and rubbed on me and hugged me a lot telling me the whole time what a pretty boy I was.................

Yes. I repeat myself but that is a most wonderful part of my story. She said I was a Pretty Boy! I heard her call that out many times before I realized she was talking to me. You see I was not very pretty at that point in my life. I was better but I was sure I wasn’t pretty. I had not gained all my weight back. Since I got hurt I had not hardly walked at all. For maybe five months I mostly just stood in one place. And it was my front foot that was so badly injured so I stood with my two back legs sort of up under me to take some of the weight off my front leg. I could feel when people were rubbing on me that I had developed a hump on my back towards my back end from standing there with my feet up under me. The human lady knows what it is called but it doesn't matter really because that time has passed. Anyway I thought I looked funny not pretty but she said I was a Pretty Boy. Now I can stand proper, walk, trot and even run sometimes. I have been here on the farm since last March and it is February now so I am well accustomed to life here now.

And it is a wonderful life. There is fresh water, grass to graze on and hay to eat. Every morning we get a bucket of feed and every afternoon, twice, we each get a large cup of feed. I am very grateful to the pet of Precious. She really does keep very good care of me. She has decided it is time for me to get into shape so she takes me for walks or she wanders off then calls me to catch up with her. I am strong enough to carry big people now. At first I could have too but the human girl said NO don't do that to him he needs to heal. So I only give babies and small children rides. They are not afraid of me even though I am very very tall. I am taller than my big Paint horse even but those babies don't care. The big humans just throw them up on me, tell them to grab some hair and off we go. It is very exciting for those babies. I think that is pretty funny since we never go more than maybe ten steps then the human man says "That's enough for now". He is so funny. Such a worrier. The human girl not so much. She wants me to try to do things. She says I will not know if I can do it if I don't try. So I try to do something different or more everyday.

I am very happy to live here on the farm with the big red barn.

The Pretty Boy 'Trouper' March of 2007

Super Bowl Sunday

Precious here to tell you it is Super Bowl Sunday and no one wants to play with me! There are humans around but they are talking and looking and petting and patting on me and my horse but that is about it. When they come up I go to greet them and let them know I saw them coming in is howcome I get to get petted on. Of course my horse wanders up too so then everyone as to oooohhhh and aaaahhhhh over how pretty he is which makes me real proud since I have been working with him a little every day. I don't make him run anymore like I did a few times we just walk and sometimes trot. He seems to be gaining strength.

Just so you know I got my rain rot scrubbed already early this morning and the human girl said that it is looking much better. I don't stick my nose in that bowl of mouthwash anymore when she is scrubbing me. Just don't like the taste of that stuff at all.

Here comes another truck I better go see who it is................

My story continues....

When we last talked I had just arrived here on the farm and met my new friends. I was supposed to be put in a paddock so as to keep me from walking around too much. But I was brought here to be a pet to Precious. And the human girl didn't like the idea of me being couped up like that. I was rather happy she had that notion in her head because here there was grass to graze on. I had not really had any grass to graze on in a very long time. The human girl told me that I should be mindful of my injury and not over exert myself so I just just walked around slowly eating the wonderful grass. When it came feeding time she did put me in a pen, for my own good, she said. She would carry out a big bucket with warm water and epsom salts in it and set it on the ground. Then she would get my feed and put it into my feeding barrel. That is when she would pick my leg up and put my foot into the bucket. I didn't mind that at all. It made my foot feel a lot better. Seemed to take some of the heat out of it and throbbing. I would stand there with my foot in that big white bucket and eat my feed then just stand there with my foot in the bucket till she told me it was ok to take it out.

For the first few days she would leave me in the pen overnight and let me out in the mornings. That was ok with us. I would stand on one side of the gate and Precious would stand on the other. Then one afternoon the human lady left the farm. I was not real sure that was a good thing but Precious told me it happens sometimes and that she always comes back. And she did come back but something bad happened while she was gone and hour or two or a lifetime which is what it seemed like.

I had big spot of infection start to come out of my leg right above the injured foot and the human man was just about worried sick. He was trying to get me to go to my pen but my foot really really hurt so much that I didn't want to stand on it much less try to walk. So the man went into the house and came back out with the white bucket. He did not do the water like the human lady. The water was cold. I think that might have been a good thing thinking back on it. Anyway he put my foot into that bucket and had me standing there for some time then he said I could go if I could or just stand there till the lady got home if I couldn't.

It wasn't much later before she did come home and I was so happy to see her I forgot how my foot was hurting. She called me her Pretty Boy and told me to come on and she would help me. I could hear her muttering to herself as we walked ever so slowly towards that red barn. She was saying 'mercy me mercy me mercy me' over and over again. I know now she does that while she is thinking of what needs to be done first. Well she said ' Get me a bucket of warm water and a cup of epsom salts please we will be at the barn'. He did and we stood in that bucket of water till moon was up in the sky and the coyotes were singing to it. The whole time the human lady was telling me and Precious that it was going to be ok. Everything is going to be ok. Well we thought she must be right since she said it so many times. She gave both of us a final pat and a hug and told us she would see us in the morning at first light.