A Trip to the Mailbox is Never Just a Trip to the Mailbox

(First of all, make sure you start with the first post - that gives the initial set-up). Okay, so I said my second post was going to be "Farming isn't a job, it's a lifestyle," That post is still going to happen, I have a lot of great ideas for it. But I can't have just finished with this incredibly crazy day and not write about it. We had a great friend return from Argentina yesterday, and visiting with him shifted our schedule. The work won't wait until Monday - it is there, when you get home. We needed to plant sprouts today instead of on our typical Friday. I told Luke I would help him out by washing all the sprout trays for him. Washing trays isn't an easy job, they need to be thoroughly washed and then sanitized to meet the requirements of planting sprouts. So, 2.5 hours later, I was feeling good about being done. Luke was going to finish up with his work and then be able to plant his sprouts, and then we could start focusing on our day up north. Well, things are never as they seem. I started my blog, and then decided to take Tobshu on a trip to the mailbox to get the mail. Well, a trip to the mailbox is never just a trip to the mailbox. Not on a farm anyway...and so the chaos ensues.
On my way to the mailbox, Tobshu (the loyal farm dog of Twin Elm Gardens) decided to take a joy ride through the Christmas trees. After finally attracting his attention and getting him to run up the house, he noticed our new yard cat, that we so fitfully named Kat. Now don't go thinking that my husband and I aren't creative people - the cat is named Katherine, we just call her Kat for short. You won't get it until you meet her; my mom thought it was a terrible name, but after seeing Kat, she realized it was perfect - it fits. Tobshu and Kat decided to get in a fight. During this time, I noticed 6 chickens had escaped from our fence! And oh boy, Tobshu loves chickens more then cats. I quickly got him in the house, and preceded to chase chickens around for 10 minutes to get them back in the pin. Catching a chicken isn't easy, you can run around in circles forever and still not catch the damn thing. They are quick, and you can't hesitate. Just go and grab. If you ever want to experience it, just let me know - chicken chasing is a regular thing around here (One of my favorite days was when Luke chased a chicken around a Christmas tree for 5 minutes - both of them just running perfect circles).
Well, then I decided I should transfer the new berries from their freezer trays to bags. I noticed that the freezer was much warmer than it should be - definitely not 0 degrees. The freezer wan't working! Mind you, we had just butchered 40 chickens 2 days ago that were sitting in the freezer! Fortunately, I had found it very quickly after it happened, and every chicken was still frozen solid. Phew. But what chaos. We checked all the other fridges, and it turned out they weren't working either! We had to transfer all the veggies and strawberries to our fridge and our grandparent's fridges. It was chaos, literally. Moving boxes everywhere, and lots of stress. Also, a thrown PVC pipe, but if you weren't here, you wouldn't understand how we almost lost a few thousands of dollars with of food because the fridges decided to shut down. Fortunately, my parents showed up, and in their unending support, preceded to help us out for the next 4 hours. Food safe, strawberries cleaned and froze, sprouts water, sprouts planted, raised beds watered, greenhouse watered, potato bugs picked, and another chicken butchered. Wow... I thought we were going to have a relaxing evening, and we worked our little butts off until 10 pm.
Alas, where my rambling all points to: things are never as they seem on a farm. It may seem like an easy day and that relaxation is right around the corner, but the work doesn't stop and new things constantly arise. A person needs to be flexible, because being static means panic. If you aren't willing to work with what you are given, then you won't make it through your day. Also, count your blessings - because even if it seems like everything is crumbling around you, you still got a lot going for you. That is what I was trying to remind my husband as he picked up the PVC pipe and chucked it 50 feet into the air. Sometimes the stress does overcome, but hey, just another day on the farm.