Solo Part 2

Grace squirting milk in to Iris's mouth

A fitful night of sleep as I worried about not having found the hole where the cows got out.  What would I wake to find? Cows in the feed hall eating all the feed?  In the upstairs of the barn mucking about in this winter's hay?  I lay in bed at 6ish thinking of what to do, how to fix the fence, get cows where they should be, appreciatin my husband.  The thought of our friend Joe, who used to live here but moved to the Eastern Shore came to me.  I thought "if Joe still lived here, I could call him., he'd help me."  And this is where life gets wierd.  At 8a.m., the phone rings, and it is Joe.  And he is here at Deep Creek Lake with friends.  He wants to come over and get firewood.  So fine with me I tell him, as long as you help me fix fence and put the cows in!

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, just Tess and I.  Quiet and peaceful, and a bit lonesome after being used to a house full!  We got the chores done without much trouble.  I went out to turn the lights off  in the barn around 10p.m., and let Libby and Puppy out for one last romp.  The romp ended up in a severe skunking! P! U!  Libby got a direct hit, and was very unhappy about not having access to the house.  A cold night, and no dogs for warmth.  The spraying must have happened close to my room, because it smelled as if the skunk sprayed my pillow.

When I layed my weary head down, Tessa woke, and I snuggled up to her and realized she was burning up.  Her fever was around 103, and we had a night deprived of sleep.  No high drama here, just the downfalls of motherhood, with a good blest of skunk to go with it.

When we got out of bed, the temp outside was 22, pretty cold for a feverish baby to do chores.  We bundled to the best of our abilities and Tessa was content to be warm and close on my back.  All was well, animals full and happy, sun shining, and I knew Grace and Leon and Iris would be home later that day.  It is good for me to do Max's chores, like that old tale of the man and woman who switch places for the day.  It is true that you come to appreciate what they do.  It is good to know I can do it, that we can maintain as a farm while the main man is away. Let's hear it for family power!