Lou grinned and took the scarf from Maddie with a slightly emphatic thank you. "Oh- and Madeline?" He poked his head back in. "No need to call me 'sir'. Just Lou." He then went out, drew the pail of water, and came back in, humming an old Scottish folk tune his neighbor in childhood (who was from Scotland) had taught him. The smell of breakfast rose his spirits further, and since the chill in the morning winter air had woken him up substantially, he felt quite well. "Good morning, good morning indeed!" he exclaimed as he breezed back into the kitchen and poured half of the bucket into a basin next to the sink. "For drinking water," he notified Madeline, "for the tap's a bit broken, but the handyman is coming later to fix it." He then headed into the barn and put the rest of the water in Kip's stall. Waking up his horse with pats on the head and gentle words, he noticed how Betty the cat had followed him into the barn and was meowing and stumbling a bit. She'd be ready to have her kittens today or tomorrow, he mused, and picked her up as he headed back indoors. Before heading back into the kitchen to see if Maddie was done making breakfast, he woke up Rhino and carried the terrier along with Betty down the hall. As he passed the switch he'd heard Maddie flicking earlier, he smirked, but determined to make no mention of it to her. Let her have her fun, why shouldn't he?