Not just a setting on the washing machine

Agitation. Man, have I been feeling it lately! Part of it has been the weather, a long stretch of rain and mud, mud and rain. Yesterday it didn't rain ALL day and we even got some sun breaks(!) . . . so of course I woke up to snow this morning. No, not really enough to write home about, but still. Rick mowed the lawn for the first time yesterday (after those sun breaks), for pity's sake! How are Stella and I supposed to prepare optimally – or much at all – for our first show of the season (which is this Sunday)???

through the dirty bedroom window

Another big component has been noise. I am not noise-tolerant; I crave quiet. I avoid crowds as much as possible, and when I'm alone, I don't turn anything on for 'background noise.' My husband is hard of hearing, so if he turns on the TV (which he often does when he's home) or radio (in his truck), he cranks up the volume and drives me to distraction. But I can no longer head to the barn for some peace and quiet – oh no. The ewes start HOLLERING whenever they hear or see me, and the din is enough to make my head explode. I'm not sure what they are whinging about, but clearly management is not performing up to their expectations.

You can see it in his eyes; this dog is CRAZY.

With atmospheric and auditory aggravations at a high point, it doesn't take much for the dogs to make short work of my frayed nerves. Leo is underfoot outside and maniacal inside; even Poppy wearies of him. I wonder if that is why she went AWOL during chores Monday. I gave her some time, figuring she was scouting for squirrels, but when she didn't show up after a couple hours in the steady rain and my repeated summons, I got worried. I got in my car to drive the nearby lanes and sent texts to the two neighborhood groups asking people to keep their eyes peeled for her to no avail. She had never been unresponsive for that long, and I was certain she was somehow incapacitated, dognapped, or dead. It wasn't until I decided to walk our property line in case she was caught somewhere that I finally found her, ranging about in a stand of trees in our NE corner, well within earshot of all my calls, ignoring me even when I was within visual range. I took her up to the house, sat down with my laptop, read a bunch of reviews, and ordered a training collar!

I did some more enjoyable online shopping before that stressful day. I happened to read an opinion piece titled "What Are the Best Buy-It-for Life (and Beyond) Products?" and learned about Blarney Woolen Mills traditional Aran sweaters. The cold, wet weather had me craving warm clothing so I went to my favorite place to shop, eBay, and found quite a few very reasonable Blarney Woolen Mills sweaters . . . and may have purchased more than one. That will probably guarantee an immediate shift from winter conditions into summer heat about the time they arrive, but so be it.

Now that I have done a therapeutic amount of venting, I will close by counting my blessings – backwards.

1)  The small flat of vegetable starts (Bush Early Girl tomato, sugar peas, and arugula for my 'pot garden') I bought yesterday and left on the deck survived the morning's cold and snow!

2)  In spite of weather and a temporarily sidelined truck, I finally got a needed lesson on Stella this morning – and it went surprisingly well.

2)  These boots, waterproof insulated Keens also purchased on eBay, have gotten my feet through this extended winter warm and dry.

3)  Lamb races! Yes, the ewes have been driving me crazy, but their babies sure are cute. Yesterday when I turned everyone out, I was rewarded with the first lamb races of the season. That means the ewes 'raced,' too, not yet ready for their precious offspring to be that independent.

I'll close with more lamb cuteness. On Friday, the day after I went to my friend's to check on Spot's last 'girlfriend' yet to lamb, my friend's dairy ewe had a single striking ewe lamb. Prada bears a striking family resemblance to several of her full-Shetland half siblings!

Both days last weekend we had visitors who wanted to see the lambs; Easter was soggy so we stayed under cover, but on Sabbath we all went out to the pasture. I've been trying to get good shots of various lambs for interested buyers, too.

That's it for now from . . .