Well, the crud that’s been going around finally worked its way over to this side of the county. Fortunately it seems to have diminished in virulence from when it was beating A* down a few weeks ago; our version hasn’t involved any revolting alimentary effects; mostly just sore, weak, aching muscles and joints, and (for me) a splitting headache. It’s been twenty four hours, though, and it looks like I’m over it. The girls got through it really quickly, too (they were able to choke down a gargantuan serving of little ice cream after supper tonight)—DH has been the hardest hit, though now I’m beginning to wonder if he was just looking for a good excuse to go to bed early tonight. He tries to go to bed at 8:30 every night!

The girls and I picked black walnuts out of the yard last night, and dumped them in the driveway where cars will drive over them, thereby removing the (very messy) hulls for us. It was a tremendous walnut year this year, and I’ve decided that we’re going to learn to like them. This is worrying the girls. But, holy cow, there are so many of them!

My sister has a new blog—y’all stop by and say hello if you get a chance.

Twice now, in the very recent past, I’ve managed to uninstall Internet Explorer 6, which I need to be able to post on Blogger. Don’t ask. Like my sister said, I seem to know a little too little and a lot too much about the computer.

Anyway, it’s nice to be back! My poison ivy is just about gone—I’m only mildly and occasionally itchy, and I no longer look hideous—-just slightly disgusting in a scaly sort of way. All the skin between my fingers has fallen off, making me a little self conscious when shaking hands.

Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed by your life? I barely know which way is up these days—-there’s just so much to do! And I feel responsible for so many lives, and they’re scattered all over the county! The horses and cows are still up at the old house; the coyotes yipped and howled all night, causing Fionn to bark until his voice was gone; the sheep need hay; Mousie has some nutritional deficiency, but I can’t figure out what it is; the goats need breeding right now, but I haven’t located a buck yet; well, it goes on, but you get the picture.

Enough complaining; the trees are more beautiful than I’ve seen them in years, and the weather is spectacular. The girls are cruising through homeschool with nary a word of complaint; we’re all warm, fat, and happy; I just took three gorgeous loaves of bread out of the wood cookstove, and the girls are watching a really sappy episode of The Waltons on dvd. Life is good—-it’s just a lot.