Reflections on country living

B"H
I sit out in my garden aware that there is not another soul except for the inhabitants of a few houses dotted down the road at least half a kilometre away. There are the frequent calls and answering calls of birds conversing in the tall trees surrounding the property. Dooodooorrrr, catchetcooo, cuttettettuttuu. I sip my second Bambu tea of the day. Bambu a mixture of Chicory root, figs and alcorns is meant to be good for the liver. I hope so.
The cat is perched high up in the tree that towers over the northern aspect of the farmhouse. She is grinning. If a cat can grin, she is as she climbs higher then decides to descend to the ground to stalk the goat whom she views still with suspicion. She has not quite worked out what this animal really is and is it a competitor for food, affection and attention? Dolly the goat is a pleasant hardworking animal who is  willing to be friends. Mitzi is having none of it.  She rears on her hind paws and hisses aggressively. She is also probably hungry as I have cut her food back so she will hunt the mice that are abundant in the tall grass in the fields surrounding us.
The space has made my son deliriously happy. 'I love this place. I love this house.' He said to me this morning again. It was the last thing he said to me last night when I put him to sleep. After the flat it is heaven. It is space and it is peace. I spent some of my meagre funds on a lotto ticket for the 100 million draw on Tuesday. Probably just as well I did not win any of it. I would have paid most of its to the owner of the farm to buy this farm and set up a school - a Jewish boarding school for kids that don't fit into the systems in the Jewish schools and the public schools. I love this area.
I am not a person who needs a lot of people around me or needs others around to reassure me.Don't get me wrong.  I do love people, but I need my space and quiet time. My third hot drink and then I need to get stuck into the housework. The goat rattles her chain along the wire stretched from a tree to the gate at the northern entrance. She looks hopefully at me.
No Dolly, there is plenty for you to eat still in the yard. Get to work. I will have to hire a brush cutter or buy one when my tax return comes in. It can't be too soon. Messages keep coming about my overdues and I will be so happy to just be able to pay them and be done with them and hopefully be working at something soon.
The wind often pushes the trees around and it sounds like a leaf ocean rushing around us. The flutter of small birds' wings - wrens and the larger magpies is pleasant and restful. The birds come right up to the kitchen windows. I am not sure how long that will last with the cat. Let's hope the mice are abundant and more fun than the birds to catch. They are probably easier so she will, being the lazy individual that she is, be more likely to go after them. We are getting a ginger kitten when it is old enough. A Tom.