Nothing like a little late-night sheep chasing to get the heart pumping

Especially when we only had one flashlight between us.  At least Madman was home for this little escape party.  Though he got the flashlight - which was actually a headlamp.
The girls and the lambs were bustling all over the property in the dark when Madman heard them, and we headed out the door to round them up.  The porchlight showed they were up in the garden, but they came barreling down the hill when they saw us heading for the pen.  (You'll possibly remember that there's a 3-step plan for when the sheep are out.)  Then they barreled back up the hill, then down again.  For sheep that should have been fast asleep, they were awfully lively.
At one point, I was stranded in the dark - caught in the long gap between the light of the porchlight and Madman's headlamp, not daring to take a step.  Sheep went thundering past me, and at least one stopped and snuffled my hand (just in case I was carrying anything good to eat) but I have no idea which one it was.  All snuffles sound alike in the dark...
Eventually we got the fence fixed and all the sheep back inside, though as usual, Goldie was a trial.  She's quite content to climb fences or knock down posts, but for some reason an open gate just scares the crap out of her.
I remember thinking earlier in the day that it had been a nice quiet spell with no animal breakouts.
*sigh*

And then we went to the zoo.

I was on vacation last week, and I'm having a hard time shifting out of relax-and-don't-do-much-of-anything mode.  Though coming home to a bushel of beans to put in the freezer gave me a big bump in the direction of reality...
My vacation was lovely.  My youngest daughter and I went to my Dad's house, where my oldest daughter already was, with her husband and kids in tow.  (Yay!  Seeing the grandkids!!)  I spent most of my time sitting and relaxing and talking with anyone who'd sit and relax and talk with me.
Though they did finally manage to drag me out of my chair and off to the zoo, where we saw all manner of fabulous critters.

Now, I love monkeys as much as anyone, but my favorites are these:

The little hand in the lower left corner is my grandson's, pointing at a penguin that I wasn't looking at.  I adjusted my camera angle.

The look that young penguin is giving that finger is probably the reason that they posted this sign:

There were a whole bunch of these beauties.  Also finger gobblers, unless I miss my guess.

And just because I'm a sucker for chickens, here's a shot I caught in the Ordinary Critters on the Farm barn.

Okay, say it with me, now.
Awwww....