A winter’s day in the life on our suburban farm

17 May

5am: Cody’s first alarm goes off.

Cody hits snooze but Will springs into action. Bindi follows Will into the kitchen while he puts the kettle on to make Cody a coffee. Susie jumps up out of her dog bed onto the human bed and snuggles in with Cody.

Romeo sits inquisitively on the bench while Sage howls like she has never been fed in her life. Will prepares breakfast for the farm. Susie runs out to eat and then heads back to bed.

Will heads outside and lets the chickens out. Despite living in the grandest of chicken mansions they will carry on at first light. Luckily we bribe our neighbours with eggs.

5:30am: Will brings a coffee into Cody to have in bed. Cody starts getting dressed while making it look as painful as possible. Will and Cody take Bindi and Susie for a morning walk.

8:00am: The humans start work so they can pay for more dog accessories. Cody and Will work from home so Bindi and Susie sleep under the desk to supervise productivity.

10:00am: Cody collects the daily batch of chicken eggs from the coop. Cody throws the chickens some blueberries as compensation for their efforts.

Three chickens eating — *From back to front: Willowdeen, Martha and Bev*

12:30pm: Lunch time for the humans! Usually in the winter months Cody preps some pumpkin soup for lunch. Bindi and Susie wait eagerly for any food spillage and have the paws crossed that they will get a lunch time walk (if it’s not raining they are sometimes lucky).

4:30pm: Bindi, Susie, Sage and Romeo start playing chasies as the long march to dinner time begins. Cody and Will try to remain professional during their video meetings despite the absolute carnage in the background behind them.

5:30pm: Right on cue the chickens return home into the coop for the night. Cody locks them to protect them from any dangers of the night. Will tops up Luca’s food and water.

6:00pm: Will feeds the dogs and cats. Cody feeds Will. Cody and Will play scissors, paper, rock to see who needs to head outside to empty the compost bin. Cody usually wins.

6:30pm: Susie and Bindi cosy up with the humans on the couch. Romeo and Sage take refuge on their cat towers. Luca hides in the corner and tears ups some old newspapers.

9pm: Cody and Will start getting ready for bed. Susie tries her luck getting in the human bed. Despite her excruciating cuteness she is denied. Susie gets in her dog bed at the foot of the human bed. Bindi tries her luck getting in Susie’s bed. Susie makes it clear she doesn’t share. Bindi reluctantly retreats to her own dog bed.