Snitville

Thing has thrown down the gauntlet (and a lot of other stuff, as well).  The last time I went into the barn I picked up all the red hot-wire gizmos Thing had flung around, put them into the blue milk crate, and swept the aisle.  In an attempt to reach detente, knowing Thing had pushed stuff off shelves in the past, I put the crate out of his way in the middle of the barn.  I don't know if this is Thing's idea of home decor, or whether I just sent him (I think it's a "him") into a snit and he threw a hizzyfit, but this is what I found when I went in to find a tool yesterday.  Thing had to work hard to get all those gizmos out of the crate, find more paper to tear up, and add more rocks to the pile in the foreground.  I wasn't happy when I went into the barn, and Thing sent me into a snit of my own.

Bess and I had gone down to the big road to get the mail.  On the way back, my neighbor flagged me down to tell me that one of the goats had gotten tangled in the fencing that Tree Guy had put up in preparation for planting the mulberry trees.  I'd told TG some weeks ago that the girls were pushing on the fences and that was a problem, a problem he'd chosen to ignore.  Ruthie had freed herself, unhurt, by the time I got back to the house, but the chicken-wire fencing was a disaster.  I'd gone to the barn to get a really neat tool that is a combination of hammer, pliers, twister, puller, and wire cutter; indispensable for working on fencing.  That's when I found the mess that Thing had created.  With the goat pen job at hand, there was no time to deal with Thing, but we're going to have to have a talk.  I did speak with Tree Guy, telling him about the downed fences and that the girls had snapped off one of the PVC water pipes he'd installed. 

On a bright note, in the mailbox I found a care package from my friend with a sweet card, a cute plaque, and a bag of licorice.  Licorice for dinner, yum!  A second bright note:  Pete said the stuffed dates were delicious and he'd scored big points with his son Jake.  Mom rules!  (Now if I can convince Thing of that.)