Many hands make light work

Well, I am super pleased and relieved to announce that Steve is working out marvelously! He is energetic, hardworking, and interested in learning absolutely every single thing about farming or homesteading. He also laughs loudly and suddenly at odd times with inappropriate enthusiasm, leading me to believe his delight with this place is drug induced, or possibly the result of insanity. Whatever it is, I like it!

In addition to Steve, another intern showed up to stay for a few weeks. She has worked here before (its Laura, who was my roommate shortly after I first arrived) so she already knows what to do. She is staying through the fifteenth, which is perfect, since I will be going on a vacation the fifth through the twelfth. Now I can vacation guilt-free!

The increase in interns has already made a huge difference. Yesterday we plowed and re-fenced the north vegetable garden. I dosed all the baby goats with their coccidia medicine. Poor little goaties have all been infected because we didn't get the barn clean enough. Then we gave copper and selenium and wormer to all forty bucks. It was awesome. It was pretty entertaining watching Steve and Carolyn "rassle" the skittish and bouncier goats. Some of them never hold still anyway, always playing and hopping and fighting and scrapping among themselves. Then when you chase them, they get nervous, though they still feel tempted to play with you. In addition to those tasks around the farm, I milked in the morning and made dinner for everyone in the evening, and read some of my book. I felt so efficient! I love days when there are lots of tasks to do, and enough people to actually make a dent in the to-do list.

Speaking of to-do lists, I acidentally aid down the law around here. I got sick of not having a plan, so in my frustration, I bullied Marcia into making a schedule then I hung an enormous to-do list on the wall for the interns. I think bossiness is one of my worst habits, and getting worse all the time. I wanted learn, not direct, but apparently I am an out-of-control control freak. But I try to be a benevolent dictator, keeping the iron fist hidden behind a witless smile and a curtain of manipulation! I am mostly kidding. There is no way I can compel the other interns to do what I want. But even if they don't follow the list, at least it will be a good way to keep me on track. Today I have no milking shifts, so its a project day today. I will have to consult my list to see what I told myself to work on!

I think I will work on clearing out the greenhouse. The greenhouse is a kit greenhouse that looks like a plastic shed and is currently being used for storage of a bunch of odds and ends- broken bicycles, wire fencing, old cardboard boxes, and dirty buckets. It is sitting on the driveway in one of the least sunny areas on the land. I'd love to se it moved but unfortunately its a bit of a beast. For a structure made of hollow plastic pieces, its surprisingly heavy. No matter where it sits, though, the interior needs a thorough cleaning. Of course, there is really no where to organize the contents of the greenhouse to. I'd like to put them in the garage, but it has been compromised by the chickens. They seem to think it is their coop. There are chicken droppings and eggs everywhere. Thats a big project all on its own. Of course, the seedlings might not get enough sun in the greenhouse anyway, so perhaps I'll start elsewhere...

I might do some repairs instead. We have a fence down in the north pasture. I could go try to fix it today, but its tough to do alone. The fence panels are 16' long and weight four thousand million pounds each. Well, almost. So I can't do it unless I can figure out how to get the panels out there on the tractor, or harass another intern into helping. Unfortunately, the pasture has a "creek" running through it that turns the exact area I need to do repairs into a total swamp when it rains. Hmm.

Maybe instead I'll muck the barn. If we do it now, after the boys were paid to clean it, it won't turn into such a nightmarish chore by next week. Then maybe we can prevent more babies from getting sick. I don't know, though. I am a little wary of going in the barn as I spent this morning researching all the zoonotic diseases- meaning viruses and sicknesses that pass form livestock or animals to humans. Ew. Now I am scared of the barn due to the rat population AND the pathogen population. Great. That is the problem with online research. Sure, you may find the info you need, but along the way you may turn yourself into a total hypochondriac! So if I just avoid the barn 'til I forget how it will probably make me catch Q fever, I could instead....

Trim hooves? Don't know how.

Plow the field? Too rainy.

Cook lunch? Too early.

Butcher a chicken? Too icky.

Feed the bees? Too scary.

Build a greenhouse? Too expensive.

Prune the apple tree? Too high.

Clean the driveway? Plant tomatoes? Feed the dogs? Weed the garden? Turn the compost? Check the mail? Muck the run? Fix the feeders? Make some tinctures? Brew some beer? Start some sauerkraut? Build a picnic table? Fill the troughs? Bake some cookies? Grind some herbal medicines? Plant the pasture? Fertilize the soil? Build some worm bins? Bake some bread? Walk the dogs? Exercise the founderers? Check on the pregos? Rotate the pastures?

Gosh, if only I could think of something to do with my day....

Maybe all the help is making me lazy. Social loafing, I think its called. Just the other day I was bemoaning the lack of organization and berating myself for lazing about in my few hours of spare time, while feeling understaffed, overworked, and self-pitying. Now we have plenty of troops to accomplish some big stuff, a whole list of big stuff that need doing, and here I am not doing any stuff at all. Alright, Erin, stop internetting around and go get something done!