The supervisor is taking a break.
I had a glorious afternoon in the barnyard this past week. A glorious, nutty afternoon. I started by making a to-do list then headed out into the beautiful, sunny day.
First chore? Moving the rock pile. It’s too close to the proposed site of the shed that will hold up the roof I bought. Not fun, but hey, I’ve got a cart and a strong back. How hard could it be?
I didn’t factor in my assistants, Brandy and Jessie. Moving a pile of rocks with two goats helping is nothing short of ridiculous. Ri-dic-u-lous. I couldn’t move without nudging a goat.
This rock is taking up all the space on the cart. Where am I supposed to ride?
It’s my turn to be on the cart! No, It’s MY turn!
Can I ride on this load? PLEEESE?
Doink gets disgusted with the lack of cooperation and leaves. Brandy claims victory!
Look! I can push!
For a minute, I found myself getting frustrated. I simply wanted to get the job done and move on to the next chore on the list. Then I imagined how insane we looked – a small woman moving a big pile of rocks with two goats helping and one pig supervising. How stupid of me to be frustrated!
Ok, you can ride and I’ll push. But only this once.
I am so bad at living in the moment. I was out in my wonderful barnyard with my wonderful animals on a wonderfully beautiful fall day. And I was worrying about checking things off my to-do list.
It was one of those perfect ah-ha moments. Live in the now, Joan. You are surrounded by BEAUTY and GRACE and JOY. (Not to mention goats and pig and chickens.)
I don’t want to go to my grave and have everyone at my wake nodding, “Yeah, she could really blast through her to-do lists, couldn’t she?”
I am lucky enough to have found a thing, a hobby, a whatever this is – this animal wonderland in my backyard – that makes me crazy happy. Every day I get to scratch a grumpy pig behind the ears, get a piece of clothing nibbled on by a curious goat, see my chickens come scrambling across the barnyard for a good treat.
Life is good. A chore may will take longer with a couple of goat assistants. I’m gonna try and not worry so much about that.
If you need me, check the barnyard first. That to-do list is gonna take a while. A glorious, fun, silly, happy while.
(Shared at Clever Chicks Hop, Homesteaders Hop, Homestead Barn Hop, Tuesdays With A Twist, Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Down Home Hop, HomeAcre Hop and From the Farm Hop!)
Wonderful, although I would have liked to ride on the cart also…..
You can ride on my cart any day, sweetie.
Cute pictures . Love your captions so funny.
Well, those goats speak for themselves 🙂
Joan Hobbs recently posted…Life Lessons In The Barnyard
I hear ya! I also am bad at living in the moment but I’m learning. I’m envious of your farm life. I grew up with lots of animals in a rural area and now live in a track house with 4 (illegal) hens and two dogs. Its the closest I can get to farm life!
I think illegal hens are the BEST!
Absolutely hilarious as usual. You really are a brilliant storyteller. Joan I envy you and the goats and the pig. What a great life. Really these animals make life so interesting and make us all laugh wistfully.
They DO make it interesting! I’m a lucky girl 🙂
Hilarious post as always Joan, I really love your writing style. Wise words too, it’s easy to get lost in a list but the animals have a way to bring us back to what really matters don’t they 🙂
Jen recently posted…Life Is Good…
Thanks Jen! Those animals DO make us sit up and pay attention 🙂
what a marvelous blog you write! I just love your writing, your sense of humor…and all your lovely, adorable helpers. Good for you for taking your time and enjoying all that is! You are blessed.
Thanks for stopping by!
Oh – moving rocks (they look pretty big to me!) sounds like quite a daunting chore! I think your animals knew you needed to do it slowly, so they hampered your speed! Hahaha! Really, I think animals are so much more intuitive than we give them credit for!
Vickie recently posted…Outhouse progress
Haha! It didn’t seem like they were helping, but maybe they actually were 🙂
Ahhh that is so me! Tick Tick Tick checking off my never-ending to-do list as quickly as possible and forgetting to look up. Always wishing for “this” to be done so I can get to “that”, with never-ending anxiety over getting to the next step. Meanwhile, life passes by. This was a good reminder to stop and smell the roses and to just breathe.
Great blog! Im a new follower and really enjoy your articles.
Welcome to the barnyard!