not for the faint of heart...

Oy!! This all happened yesterday...
 I'm tired. My day began at 7:20 when I dragged my carcass out of bed to go milk the cow and didn't end until 9:30ish when exhausted I fell into bed.
I beat Matthew out to the cow barn this morning! He did the other chores while I milked. Then we went to collect sap, seemed like it took all day. It really didn't. Matthew helped one of his brothers move his skidder that had been in the "shop" getting a gas leak fixed. I came home and washed out more buckets to put the sap in, the buckets were over flowing! When Matthew got home we had some lunch, then finished collecting. The kiddos were super good too. While we were collecting I saw an empty beer can (we find lots as we collect and the snow melts) on the side of the road, and thought I'd go get it and make .05cents, well that was my first mistake. As I leaned over I realized I need to take one more step, can you see it coming? Stupid me I did and fell to my waist in the snow covered ditch! Both feet landed on the ground, in the water, as I let out a little screech of surprise! I'm glad I had on my rubber calf high boots. The water was up to my ankles, and snow to my waist. Matthew was laughing as were the kiddos! He came over and took a picture with the cell phone laughing the whole time, as I tried to climb out, but to no use. I held out my hands as Matthew grabbed them and hauled me out of the ditch. I could see the humor in it as well and I laughed at myself and demanded to see the picture that he sent to one of his brothers so he could laugh too! Oh well. It was kinda funny and I can laugh at myself. Oh and if your wondering if I got the beer can I did. Was it worth getting snow down my boots, dirt and wet all over my lower half? The jury is still out! After we got the last of the sap we came home and  I changed. Then we went to the mill so Matthew could get some things done over there, I took Little Matt to Cub Scouts and DaLaney had a sewing lesson at Mie Mie's. The little two stayed with Daddy and I went shopping. I had limited time to shop and was in a hurry. Late afternoon is NOT the time to go grocery shopping if your in a hurry, or if your hungry. Thankfully I had a shopping list and did well not to buy snack food. I had to be back by 4:30 to get Little Matt, DaLaney and the others do evening chores. For all the running around I had been doing and falling in a ditch I bought myself a Dove milk chocolate bar and an iced tea. They were gone in no time flat. I was hungry and very thirsty. By the time we got home it was 5 and Matthew went out and did chores as I looked through the fridge for something to eat. We had leftovers. Nothing to get real excited about, but after a busy day running and literally not being home all day I was not in the mood to cook. If I hadn't found anything in the fridge we would have had PB J's!
 So I guess farm life, sap collecting is not for the faint of heart. It's hard work. My arms were sore and my back hurt after falling in the ditch. But today I find myself anxiously waiting to start it all over again and wondering what today will bring in the day and life of a family farm! I'm praying for a great farming year for SweetLand Farm, starting with the sapping season, and ending in the fall with the fall harvesting of our garden, and possibly planting some more winter wheat!