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Saturday, October 19, 2013

Day Off Shenanigans

I do believe that the only days 'off' that count as non-work days, are the ones that happen by chance.  You know - Mental Health Days.  As soon as I pre-plan a day off, it ends up being busier than any three normal days in a row.  Case in point?  This past Thursday.

It started Wednesday night, when I borrowed Melanie's cruck (car/truck) for a trip up to the poultry processor Thursday morning.  She didn't get home until around 9:30ish, so I didn't get back until 10-ish.  Then Bernie decided to have a walkabout in the yard and didn't arrive at the back door until 10:30.  Then I woke up at 3:30 in the morning, thinking about everything I had to do in order to leave the house by 7:45.  The forecast had been for rain, off and on, throughout the day.  I can tell you when it rained:  at 6A, when I went outside in the dark to transport the Nuggets (CornishX) to the tarped crate on the back of M's cruck.  As soon as I had them all secured, the rain stopped.  Thanks, Pa Nature.  I threw hay and feed at everyone, apologized for the lack of a morning walk to the dogs, and headed up to Melanie's.  She had agreed to keep me company.  And she did the driving!  Melanie is awesome.  The trip up to the nearest processor is about an hour and a half due north.  It turned out to be a lovely morning and we made good time.  As we sat around waiting for the end product, we were entertained by Cinnamon:


She sniffed out the bucket of apples
in the back of the cruck.

The Nuggets enroute.

Lovely view from M's.

We also got the good news that the fellow who runs the facility will be relocating to a new location that is MUCH closer to us.  Yay! 

On our way back, we stopped for lunch at a new restaurant that is run by a woman who supports local food and artisans.  The food was good and reasonable, and M and I cased it out as a possible meeting place for a spinning group...we hope.  Then on to pick up a cider press, glean a greenhouse, herd a loose heifer, drop M off, pick up apples, drive home, sort poultry, deliver some to a neighbor, return home, feed everyone (apologize to the dogs AGAIN for no afternoon walk), and hightail it to the town complex for the Rabies Clinic, where I volunteer twice a year.  This year, I worked with the vet.  This had always been Kay's job (she was very qualified, by the way - whereas, I have no veterinary skills, but am very ethusiastic!)  Frankly, I think the vet was relieved that I was NOT doing the paperwork, as I have the focus of a fruit fly and invariably messed it up.  This vet is one of our area's large animal vets - as an interesting aside, it seems as though the large majority of vets entering and in this field, in our area at least, are women - and she a warm, lovely person as well as a terrific vet.  After getting the hang of filling syringes (I dreamt about syringes) and putting a loving but firm headlock on dogs and cats that needed it, I finally stumbled in the front door at 8:30.  Only to have to go out with the headlamp and herd the turkeys into the safety of the coop.  I can tell you when it rained again.  8:33P.

I love my days off.

6 comments:

Sue said...

I think it's neat that more women are getting into the veterinary fields. Allow me to be biased here and say I think they have a calmer and more nurturing nature than men.
Sorry about the rain. I know of what you speak. I've been trying to empty my rain tubs for the past 2 weeks and it rains every day. You know--the same rain tubs that sat EMPTY all summer because of lack of rain!

Akannie said...

LOL--thanks for the chuckles. Sounds like most of my days...but--it's all building our character, right ?? LOL

Mama Pea said...

Every now and then I hear of someone whose days are long and boring. Or of the retiree who goes out to find a part-time job to keep from going stir crazy because of "nothing to do all day." Life is what you make it . . . and you have made a pretty good life for yourself, I'd say. Rich and rewarding, full of good friends and good animals . . . even if you could use about twelve more hours (free of rain) in each day to give yourself some rest and relaxation! Thanks for sharing one of your day's off (hahahahohohoheehee) with us.

Sandy Livesay said...

Susan,

My question is where do you find all of your energy :-)?????
Day's off, are not days off.......you're constantly going.

Carolyn said...

I think your only day "off" is at night. When sleeping. When not dreaming of filling syringes or transporting livestock.
Oh, and what kind of press did ya get? We've had a cider press on our "want" list for a while now, but haven't found one yet. Guess that's ok as we have YET to get a single apple from our trees.

small farm girl said...

I would hate to see what a day of work would be! Lol