Gone for Groceries

With no milk and only one slice of bread in the house, yesterday warranted a run to the grocery store after I completed my morning goat chores - dealing with empty hay tubs, frozen water buckets and massive overnight elimination. It occurred to me that my days consist of one constant cycle - I haul tubs of hay outside for the goats, they scatter half of it on the ground and transform the rest into little brown pellets, then I return with a broom to sweep it all up. Begin again...

It could be worse, however. Even my craziest day is a restful retreat compared to my younger sister's schedule. Not only does she have twice as many goats as I do, she also boasts one extra child, one additional cat, and five more dogs than live here. And that doesn't even take into account the horses and chickens and her full-time job...Recently she told me about a phone call she got at work - it was her neighbor calling to mention that my sister's three horses had broken through their fence and were cantering up the road toward the local supermarket. Having already been cited by township officers regarding escaped livestock in that particular store (the piglet in the laundry basket in the back seat of a squad car is a story for another day), my sister rushed from work to lure her wayward horses home. Fortunately, animal crackers work the same magic in the equine world as they do for caprines, and an hour later my sister was back at work, her boss none the wiser.

Today my "to-do" list contains seventeen items. Some may get done (after I finish Elliot's skin treatment); many will just move onto tomorrow's list. It doesn't matter. For this I am thankful - at least I have never had to send the goats out for groceries!