Knowing my limits

I’ve always known my limits – what I’m capable of doing and what I’m not.  It’s just the part about admitting my limits to myself that I have problems with.   For instance, when Glenn and I first started discussing him becoming a truck driver I knew I wouldn’t be able to take care of and train all these horses, take care of the garden, work full time, and keep up with all the farm maintenance by myself.  But, I was more than willing to kill myself trying.

Last week when one of the many thunderstorms rolled through the area and the rain was coming down in buckets, I took a break and chilled out on the porch to watch it rain.  That was the first time I had really stopped, taken inventory, and made a mental list of everything that had to be done.  Like the yard grass being over a foot high in places.  The trash that has blown in that I haven’t picked up yet.  The burn pile growing out of control.   The pasture fence that I keep hastily fixing just for Ellie to push down again with her butt so she can come back into the yard.  The outhouse, which is still an outhouse and has not made the magical transformation into a chicken coop for the meat birds and guineas.  The porch, which is still a disaster area from all the times Ellie has done a midnight raid looking for food.  The round pen that isn’t built yet.   The gutters that still aren’t on the big barn.  The run-in sheds in the top pasture that still aren’t built.  All the plants and seeds that are still waiting to go into the garden.  All the rotted manure that’s still waiting to top off the garden beds.  The perennial flower bed that I need to make.

The list just keeps going on, ya’ll.

And let’s not think about all the riding and training I need to be doing.  Really, let’s not think about it.  Please?

So once I got over the depression caused by thinking about all the stuff I need to do, I had to come up with a solution.   I needed to hire some help, but who?  I really didn’t want to put an ad in the paper and go through the process of interviewing people.  That would be just one more thing on my to do list until I found someone reliable and sober.  Emphasis on sober.

Well, duh.  Anastasia teaches adult re-education classes and also has about a million nieces and nephews.   So I sent her an email to see if she knew anyone reliable and hard working looking for some part time work.  She called me back within two hours with the perfect family!   Dad used to be a truck driver, but was held at gun point at a truck stop and is ready for a new career.  Mom has always been a mom, but is now getting ready to start college in the Fall.  They came over Friday evening to meet me and talk about hours and pay. 

Dad has carpentry and mechanical skills, mom will be cleaning the house once a week, and their two teenage boys will be keeping up with the mowing and weedeating.  I warned dad that he will  be put to work!  He’ll be tackling all those building projects that I’ll never get to and the whole family will be replacing fence while I take care of the horses and finally do some riding.

Keep your fingers crossed that this works out because I’m really excited about finally getting some projects done around here and having more time to spend with all these horses!  They start tomorrow evening so I’ll let you know how it goes!

 

Because nature abhors a vacuum and I abhor a post without pictures, here’s a pop quiz for you!  Don’t worry, it’s an easy one.  Who does this muzzle belong to?

 

 

If you don’t know who belongs to that adorable, velvety little muzzle, then I know you all know who this is!