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| Head 'em up, move 'em out.....er.....in..... |
How did we end up being busier in retirement than we were when we had sixty cows and forty or fifty heifers?
Or at least as busy? maybe we are just older and slower so we seem busier......
I dunno, but it feels as if we are going every minute.
The excitement for the week included an eagle swooping down to take a hen right by the barn. The birds are normally safe inside the stone and wood building and their coop, but they were outside while the coop was getting cleaned.
An evening head count, or beak count if you prefer, seemed to show that at least most of the birds were still there, so maybe he didn't get any, but he was sure after them. They were scattered all over all the buildings, when normally they just hang around in front of the barn. It was a big job to round them all up.
I stood down at the barn while the kids finished up the cleaning, and recapturing, watching him sail back and forth in front of the barn looking to come in for lunch. Pretty exciting way to get a year bird.
And then there were mundane jobs like keeping the stove going, helping get a canvas on the new load of sand, and all the ordinary things we do.
Like answering the phone. I'll tell you what..hay is getting scarce out there. We are getting down to where we have to be careful to keep enough to feed our cows and sheep and horses until spring, so we took all our hay ads down. We have enough to sell a bit, but we are getting enough business from repeat customers for that.
Anyhow, until we took the ads down we were getting nine or ten calls or more right in a row, from all over several states and a big chunk of NY.
The worst of it was that I kept answering the phone when Rachel from Cardholder Services called, because the phone numbers "she" uses look just like cell phones from other states. I sure do make the guy who answers when you press "1" mad when I tell him I'm turning him over to the FTC. He has called me some downright unpleasant names.
The boss got a pretty flattering comment on the hay the guys put up though. One of our regular buyers has a brother with horses on the race track and he is going to buy some. That is the gold standard around here....hay that is good enough for race horses.
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| It is important to have good help |
The "help" seems to take her duties quite seriously.
ReplyDeleteI think the older we get the busier we get too....I'm not so sure if we accomplish as much though. She has sure grown up that grandchild of yours.
ReplyDeleteAn eagle !? Swooping over you chickens ?! You only need to step outside the door for excitement.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's the cutest broom-handler I've ever seen.
She's a lucky little girl to grow up in an environment surrounded by busy, productive people.
It shows on that sweet, determined little face. Wow.
I'm with you! I'm quite young to have retired (hubby will work forever), but I am so doggone busy now...the best was when I left for a ladies' church retreat for the weekend and when I returned, my husband told me he appreciated me so much more because he had no idea how much I kept things going. Woo hoo!
ReplyDeleteA side note...I'm not always as tech savvy as I'd like to be, so I impressed myself when I figured out what to do with those annoying spam calls. I have a smartphone (good thing someone is smart), so I just go to my "recent calls" when I get one of those, and block the caller. What a great tool.
I once had a hawk swoop down and pick up one of my baby guineas, and fly over to the pasture to sit down and eat him. My dogs were on it though, and it left the bird in the grass. My yellow lab unfortunately thought she was supposed to retrieve it, and she brought it right to me, unharmed. I say unfortunately because the poor little guy was so scared it fell over dead in my hands!
Sounds an excellent day!! And you got strong helping hand.!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experience...
Peggy in blue! She looks good in any color though. That must be her work getup :)
ReplyDeletejan, she is such a worker! And not because anyone asks her to. She just watches someone do a job and then starts doing it herself. The other day she brought all the great big water jugs Liz hauls water to the cows with into the barn. Just saw they were sitting outside and brought them in where they belong and put them away. This child is not yet two! I don't know what to think
ReplyDeleteLinda it sure seems that way. At the end of the day I have often been going all day and no idea just what I did. LOL. She is growing up fast!
Cathy, the kids believe it took a chicken from right behind Jade and the baby. it was certainly right there! And she is getting to be such a big girl and so much fun.
Carol, that must have been something with the guinea! I worry that the hawks, owls and eagles will get my little dogs. They are so independent and go where they shouldn't even when I am right there with them. I don't have any trouble with spam calls on my cell, but they call the house phone constantly. I would screen calls, but between them spoofing numbers and hay customers with similar numbers they drive me nuts.
notthatkind, thanks! She is a great little helper.
Nita, I like her in blue too.....she is kind of a fan of pink though. lol