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Monday, April 27, 2015

Weekend Recap - and being Infamous in Albany.

In sort of reverse order...

I have found a sure-fire way to combat insomnia.  Clean out your barn.  Even though I know it must be done - shearer is coming on Wednesday - I pulled every trick from my procrastination bag and managed to put it off until I was squeezed into action.  The only way I can make it through a monotonous job (battling with my fruit-fly-like focus) is to set up little challenges:  "how many wheelbarrow-loads will it take to clean the barn?"  I was pretty close - I guessed 6 and it took 7, plus one extra to move a small mountain of llama beans from the area of future action. 

Then I went inside and made a roast leg of lamb, garlic mashed potatoes with carrots and a pineapple upside down cake.  I had missed my neighbor's birthday (80) and planned on making it up to him.  It is always helpful to invite someone to dinner who is a lot older than you, when you know you'll be sleeping in your soup at 7:30...  I woke up in my chair, covered in cats, at 8:30 and went to bed, armed with two Aleve.  I didn't move until 4:30.  As odd as it sounds, I LOVE being bone-tired - physically.  I spend too much of my life with brain fatigue.

Saturday was a flurry of activity - errands, lunch with my parents, chores for them, driving all over godsgreenacres to find a calcium drench for my dairy neighbor's cows, picking up the answer to raising my meat chickens sanely.  I also had come across a frozen package of smoked salmon that needed using.  So I did some research and came up with a smoked salmon quiche with a potato crust.  It turned out so well that I had to give half of it away.  It is not what you would call "low fat".

I got my hands on a large galvanized watering tub - 2x6x2 - and spent the weekend moving it into place into my shed (badly in need of a new roof, so I will have to keep an eye on where the leaks drop), running electric (as in extension cords), building a rodent-proof cover, and weaning the tweenie chicks off their electric light.  The tweenies are in the small coop and have a nifty screen door through which they can watch the chicken yard activities.  They are riveted.  I poked around in my miscellaneous building supplies and cobbled together a wooden frame that is lined with hardware cloth and fits tightly on top of the tub.  I only had enough cloth to run 5 feet, but found a metal framed piece of glass that fit perfectly on one end.  That is the end where I will put the bits that need accessing - water and food.  They will have light and a chick heater. 

Last week I had picked up a lovely, solid wooden wardrobe from friends who went through a purge.  It fit neatly into the back of the car and on Friday after work, I tackled moving it myself.  Being a stubborn, independent type, I figured I could handle it.  I have tools.  I got it out of the car and onto a dolly.  I bungeed it on to within an inch of it's life.  I toodled it up the pathway and to the three steps to the front deck.  I could not heft it up.  I did some noodling, rolled it halfway back down the path, fetched/dragged a piece of plywood to make a ramp, braced the ramp, and managed to get it on the deck.  Woot!  I got it right to the front door and then could go no further on my own.  I wasted about twenty minutes wrestling with it, to the alarm of the dogs, then acknowledged defeat.  It was a bitter pill.  Did I mention I was stubborn?  I stomped inside and called my neighbor who was already in his pjs.  He was over in five minutes, helped me move it inside and went home.  I now have to figure out where I am going to put it, but at least it's inside and the floors are smooth.  Maybe I can hook up a dog team....or not.

Now, the Infamous part.  The law firm for whom I work (large) is merging with another larger law firm to create a mega firm.  Whoopee.  We were all summoned to a national web conference which I set up for my office (I now wear the Techie Hat).  As we sat and listened, my cell phone rang.  In the form of loud sheep baaing.  Apparently, I had forgotten to activate our mute button, for the Chairman of Everything paused and looked around.  I quickly hit the mute button and looked around (feigning innocence) myself.  My coworker had to leave the room and roll on the floor in laughter.  I am hoping they cannot trace the sheep....

15 comments:

Sue said...

LOL!
Dear god, you lead a NOT BORING life!
I always put insomnia to good use. It's lucky for me, dear hubby can sleep through anything. I do, however, wonder what the neighbors think when every light is on at 2 a.m.
And finally---I have also noticed that extremely delectable things are always "not what you would call 'low-fat'"
:)

Fiona said...

"BAAAAAA"d girl:) I agree with bone tired sleep. Somehow I think thats why our pioneer ancestors had little insomnia and the lights were out early with good reason. I always feel more rested after that kind of sleep. I long for busy days...this life in town has been sweet with Ralph but I just do not have enough physical work to do and I miss it a great deal! Are the llama beans like Rabbit poop...good direct fertilizer?

Susan said...

Sue - I am notoriously a light sleeper. And an alarmist. That is not a good combination for a sound sleep. I would guess that my neighbors do think that I never sleep - maybe I'm a zombie! Oh, yeah. I sent all delectable things home with my neighbor. He works hard enough to burn all those calories, but I do not.

Susan said...

Fiona - Heehee! Yes - llama beans are the BEST fertilizer! They can go straight from the llama to your garden. I have tons of composted beans all over the place. It's just getting it from piles to garden beds. I need minions!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Oh my gosh, ha ha ha! The end of this blogpost adventure today made me laugh. You are right about curing insomnia with a good work day in the barn. We compost our goat manure and our chicken manure both.

Sandy Livesay said...

Susan,

You had me laughing so hard!!! I need to down load a critter sound on my phone, and play innocent when it goes off. It's raining outside.....and all I want to do is go lay down and sleep. I can't do that, have to much to do inside today. I need a motivation booster........got any????

Erin said...

hahahaha! The phone ring is priceless! I'm right there with you on that stubborn "I'll do it myself" mentality - I know that was a bitter pill to swallow to get that wardrobe all the way to the door and have to admit defeat. Stuff like that makes me crazy, at least you have a neighbor willing to help out!

jaz@octoberfarm said...

i am laughing my butt off too about the baaing phone. i bought my ramps on ebay and they are doing great but you can't harvest them the first year. i'm not sure how long until i can harvest them. they are really worth the effort though!

Susan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Susan said...

I hope the important personage didn't take the baaing as a comment on his wonderfulness. My phone clucks, I don't have a baa setting but I would use it if it did.

Unknown said...

Wow a sheep ring tone, gotta have it! :)

Carolyn said...

Classic! (the sheep ring) I had the sound of a whip-poor-will for my sister and a donkey braying for Paul.

Mama Pea said...

I got a real bad case of the giggles (no, it was actually more like the guffaws) reading about your phone baaing (I mean ringing) during your conference call. I sent the whole post to my husband's computer with the note, "This totally exemplifies what Susan is like." You are priceless.

MrsDuncanMahogany said...

I can't stop laughing at the fruit fly-like focus...so that's what I have!!! :) Loving the sheep ring tone too! :) I gotta try that at my next meeting.... Now that the weather is turning towards decent, so much outside stuff to do...I feel your pain!!

Jenyfer Matthews said...

I can relate to your trying to move that wardrobe yourself - I've been known to do things like that myself, using skateboards for wheels :) Now that it is inside, perhaps you can use furniture slides under the legs or an old towel to slide it where it needs to be? (ask me how I know how to do that? LOL!)