Just a boring, uneventful day.....

So Sunday came and went and on the whole, I'm glad of that. Last week was brimming with buckets of excitement, adventure, and panic attacks abound and it was only fitting that it came to a grand finale. The good news is that I had a great day hanging out with Things 1, 2, and 3 (and hubster) and making some batts on our new addition to the family. I am so in love that it has made at least all of the people aforementioned jealous at some point this weekend. He arrived on Friday and I think I may be stalking the Duncan people for some time. I love this carder and my arms, wrist, and shoulder are eternally grateful to be able to once again play at making pretty batts without the pain that was becoming a constant. He runs off the solar panels splendidly and he and I have been making batts as a defense against the dark cloud of doom that lingers these days. Okay, I am being dramatic....maybe. But in the midst of the surplus drama that has been our life, I have leaned heavy on my new friend already, making the parade of batts that will accompany the tale of dorkiness and woe.

I could go into how many (and there have been many) screwy things have happened but it would probably just sound so much like your own life that you'd fall asleep or wish I would. I can just give you a quick peek into the lighter side of it all and then we'll all run away (unless you want to linger a while and look at the 'Vardo' batts some more):

Last week we had a little scare with hubster. Seems that the stress+exhaustion+perpetual chaos has started to take its toll. So, we are trying to listen to that and recover some of the leisure and pleasure of our lifestyle. It probably sounds silly, but those of you who work for yourselves can probably attest to the fact that doing so makes it very easy (particularly in the case of two slightly workaholic people) to forget to ever.stop.working....It sounds practical and even preferable until you realize that bills seem to keep being mailed EACH MONTH and that the costs of everything will be even more this year, and that haying starts this month and you'll need to buy more with less and the car is broken down and the dog needs more kibble and.....(see what I mean? It's really not that interesting, eh?)you just begin to feel guilty if you find yourself not working. Last month, we pretty much got to bed at 1-2 a.m. each night and were back chomping at the bit by 7 the next day. Something had to change. So, we said this weekend would be our first step in change. Sunday, we said, would be a day off, just a boring, regular ole uneventful day. Absolutely no working allowed. But, we knew we were liars because, heh! come and tell a herd of woolly mad and hungry creatures, "ya'll, I'd love to feed you but I'm taking the day off". Still, we knew what we meant. A day of doing only what needed to be done. A day of taking time, making time, not just to take care of the basics but to actually spend time together as a family and (here's the challenge for someone whom we don't name) RELAX!

So, here's how it went:

Ahem...Things started out grand. The man we know and love as hubster not only makes great fiber thingies but slaps an awesome breakfast together. Since we first got married, we will take turns with dinner, desserts, and lunches but he and he alone makes breakfast - it's like watching an octopus because he masters the skillets like he has eight arms. I got breakfast in bed with yarn all around me and I thought someone might have put rat poison in my nightly cuppa tea and I was fumbling around Summerland or something. But, no, it was a tried and true hubster breakfast and Things 1, 2, and 3 made me a card and we laughed and ate and all seemed to be going as planned. A little thing about thing 3. The boy needs to stretch himself first thing in the day. I have found that inhibiting this only makes for a frustrating day for us both. So, he knows that even on a school day he is allowed to throw his boots on and head outside for a 15-20 minute stretch of play and adventure to get him ready for the day. He was doing just this when I heard him yelling. You mothers know of what I speak when I tell you that in minutes I was simultaneously putting on my glasses, pants, shoes and heading out the door all at once. It seems that either someone has deserted or someone is not watching their two giant dogs. One is a St. Bernard and the other a mix. They were trotting up our road barking and getting ready for what we can only assume would have been an attack on our beloved sheep. I wouldn't be so irked except, ya'll, I live a mile off the main road. If your dogs are going that far, are you watching them? We've asked around and no one will claim them. They went away, though the St. Bernard postured and growled at hubster something awful. They came back a while later but were gone again before we could get animal control out. Urgh. This is so NOT why I live in remote land! Which is made worse by the fact that we are feeling sharply the disadvantages of very rural living in that we are trying to purchase a car and have found the travelling back and forth to survey the options to just sort of vacuum already short time from us. Add to that the dog situation, which means we aren't all going anywhere together for a bit until we get some things settled, and you have chaos bubbling quite nicely.

The worst part about the dogs (actually, that was my kid out there playing in his own yard and I don't really want to think too much what the worst part COULD have been) was that hubster was chasing them off so that I could run up to the forward pasture and bring all the girls back to the closer pasture where we can see and protect them. But, our sheep love us and don't understand when we tell them NOT to follow. So, while I'm running down the road (note to self - you better start running more often because your butt is getting big and it is hard to haul around), I see the whole herd chasing hubster down. I had to run even faster to get around them and drive them back to the house. All the while, I hear this great beastie barking rage at hubster so I'm anxious to check on him. Knowing the kiddos are safely tucked inside and comforting our very shaken Jack Russell Terrier (sage), I sent the girls running back to the house and turned around to head down to hubster's aid, weapon in hand should it come to that but hoping all the while it wouldn't. We're running lots, non? Try talking on a cell phone at the same time trying to find animal control officers and still noticing your butt is heavier and thinking to yourself, 'man, I can feel the ground shaking beneath me - I'm like a herd of...." Oh, no! I turn around and to my great disappointment, there they are - all the girls, running down the road behind me like the trusting souls they are. So, I ran some more. Ran to hubster, gave him phone and protection device, turned around, ran to sheep and convinced them to run home with me, again. Put them in the barn, checked on the Things again, and by then hubster was back so the kids and I set to making batts and watching the Munsters after I collapsed on the bed to catch my breath and maybe cussed a little (or a paragraph). It wasn't really a day off but, at least it was chock full of excitement! So, how was it for you?

I am glad to say that JudyMac has won this month's Great Giveaway. Randomly drawn from the basket o'names but it seems almost like it was destiny as I've been wanting to send her some fiber love this week anyway. Take care, my fellow madwoman, and I hope you love your batts! It would seem that #2 has used the slide on the swing set to scratch her back - again, and knocked it over on the swings. And, 10 has decided she hates all dogs, now, and it taunting our Gypsy (the great german shepherd) by eating grass just on the other side of the fence and stomping her feet at the dog. So, gotta go!