My To-Do Hell

This weekend’s to-do list:

Finish the goat pens
Rototill the garden
Set plants in the garden
Landscape a small piece of ground around the Terre d’Esprit sign
Purchase various plants for planters and areas around our steps and the sign
Plant above plants
Fix the engine on our rototiller
Clean the house
Do the laundry
Make treats for church on Sunday
Shave Rocky (he sheds so badly in the summer)
Build a chute for Joe Llama
Put Joe Llama in the chute and shear him
Finish a newsletter I am working on for an organization to which I belong
Send my friend her baby gift (the baby will practically be driving by the time he receives his gift—which I have, I just haven’t sent.

I crossed out those items which are done, and the ones that

What a weekend it’s been. We got up at 0-dark-thirty yesterday morning and worked all day long. It was one of those days, however…

We have a rototiller that we got for free. It wasn’t working, and while I know NOTHING about small engine repair—let me rephrase that: while I KNEW nothing about small engine repair, I decided that it was worth a try. And it may well be worth my try.

I thought perhaps the gas line might be clogged. So I removed the gas tank and cleared the line with B’s handy air compressor. It did start up, but didn’t stay running. After several unsuccessful attempts at adjusting the carburetor, I had two thoughts:

1. we are wasting time fixing this Barbie-sized rototiller and we should just rent one, since I have an approximately 10 x 20’ garden plot planned, and this will take 2 weeks to till
2. maybe the rototiller needs a spark plug, and we could get it running with a spark plug

So B went to the TrueValu and rented a rototiller and bought a spark plug. The rototiller was half as big as my car—and good thing, too, since I had never done this before. And the little one would have been as effective as me out there with a garden trowel trying to dig up the 100 year old established grass carpet.

As it was, rotilling out there really made me closer to God. You know, as in, I WAS SCREAMING HIS NAME!!! If you have never had the experience of rototilling, I would NOT recommend it. Well, I would recommend it if you would like to find out how weak you are by being dragged around by a machine that has a mind of its own. Then the next day you are reminded how weak you are by how your muscles are moaning. I have slathered my entire back and arms in BenGay for the past two evenings, and I am still in screaming pain. People, you will be taking Advil for a week if you try this at home.

Am I painting the picture here of a pleasant experience? It was hellish, let me tell you!!

As I was doing it, I asked L to bring me several loads of compost from the manure pile (the manure we brought out when we first moved in is beautiful black dirt now!). He complained with every load. You would have thought I had tied him to the tiller and dragged him around. It was really endearing, since I was living my own personal hell trying to command the stupid rototiller. But we got it done.

B is one of those men who does not have a problem with women being independent. If I have a crazy idea, he is usually supportive, and he lets me do it myself. He doesn’t usually try and step in to help if I struggle, since he knows that I think it’s important for me to do my own thing. I see some men that can’t stand for the women they love to struggle, so they will “rescue” them every time. And I seriously do appreciate that about B. I think some men try to be chivalrous, but he respects me and lets me do my own thing. But Saturday, he asked me if I wanted him to do it. And I practically begged him to. He finished off the last pass while I went to whimper in private while ensuring my arms were still connected to my body (since they felt like they had been ripped off).

Let me rephrase this, if I haven’t been clear. This rototilling process, it kicked my butt.

We finished tilling the garden, but the day was young! We went down to Winterset and bought some lunch, took the tiller back, and spent too much money on plants and seeds for this new garden.

We came back home and B went into the barn to work on Ernie’s pen. I was still struggling with my limbs, but L and I tore out some grass to make way for some flowers around the Terre d’Esprit sign. It’s a really steep slope there, and it’s terrifying to drive the lawnmower down such a steep incline. So we decided to plant flowers around it. We put roundup on the foliage that was there, and tore out a section of grass and put landscaping bricks in. There is also a large hole on the other side of the driveway where it appears a tree stump had been removed, and last time I mowed I got the mower stuck in it. So we filled it with good compost and lily bulbs. I also bought a cool Zinnia and planted it in a planter for the new table on my front porch. It goes with the new patio set we bought.

But wait, there’s more! We came in after the animal chores, about 7:00, and enjoyed the sunset on the front porch. B went to the store, where he proceeded to purchase all of the ingredients for me to make snacks for Sunday’s church service. We are in charge of treats every Sunday this month. So I made brownies, lemon bars and cherry cheesecake bites. We didn’t get to bed until about 12:30 (B was stargazing while I was baking), and got up bright and early for church.

I figured that since I had been doing a lot of calling upon God’s name on Saturday, that we really didn’t need to go to church Sunday. But we had to bring the treats. After service we had a road cleanup. I was actually thankful that I was able to stay behind and clean up the dishes from the morning snack/coffee, but B and the kids decided to go on the 2-mile walk.

We came home and went back into the barn, where we got busy on Ernie’s pen. I will have to take pictures when the pens are done—B has crafted them like a master. He plans the construction so carefully—trying to anticipate where any weak spots may be, or how the animal could get out or get hurt. He also tries to anticipate how our use for them might change, in case we might need to add more pens, make them smaller or larger, etc. He uses bolts and screws that can be removed or moved if necessary.

We stopped and took a supper break, but worked on the pens until 10:30 pm, and then went to bed. Needless to say, I am exhausted, and I am cursing that noon meeting I have today, since it will be next to impossible to stay awake…

No rest for the weary, though. Today I will stop on my way home and pick up another board that we will need to finish the job. Hopefully we can get the pens done this week.

Because…

Next weekend we are visiting two goat farms in Iowa, with the intent to add to our herd! We will then have plenty of room to allow for our new additions.

I will post photos I took this weekend…