If you could see my house right now, you'd undoubtedly feel better about your own. That is assuming, of course, that you can see your floor through a layer of dirt, manure, and straw that keeps finding it's way in on clothing and little boys' boots. It's also assuming that you, at some point in history, have actually done some laundry or washed a dish.
Apparently, I haven't.
It's as if the end of the winter season came and whisked organization away for a romantic weekend, leaving behind only spring and you-know-who. Chaos. She's charming, but boy is she disorganized.
Meet my friend.
She has a way of getting the better of me, continually pushing me to buy more chicks and potted plants, before slapping me over the head with exhaustion and blisters on my shovel-yielding hands.
During winter, I wasn't given the choice. The choice was always dishes, laundry, housekeeping, and general tidiness (my physical appearance included). Now, it's as if someone's taking me to a fancy restaurant, and given me the option of a hamburger (still delish) or a grilled, grassfed steak (more delish). Naturally, I'm going to choose the steak. And naturally, I'm going to choose digging around in the manure pile, planting Johnny Jumpups, trimming back lavender plants, and building herb gardens over mopping floors. Was it ever a contest?
The answer was no. Obviously.
My legs ache from shoveling. Gravel. Manure. Old bedding. New dirt. But my mind, and dreams, insist that this ‘ol bag of bones presses on. Forget about eating… forget about obligations… forget about your body's needs… this is spring, baby. And, particularly on the farm, it takes no prisoners.
Can I confess something?
The last three nights I've scooped up a large pile of clean (at least at one point, they were) clothes from my bed and piled them on the floor before crawling in. Only to arise, scoop them up in my arms again, and flop them once again onto the (fine, I'll confess, unmade) bed. I simply can't give in to the seven minutes it would take me to actually fold and put them away. Alas, there are small ducklings to feed, goose eggs to gather, and seedlings to water.
You see? I'm must too busy to be bothered by the likes of organization.
And thus, chaos has come to stay – at least for the season. She's with me in all walks of life, or so she would have me believe, for the time. Emails remain unanswered. Cleaning stones remained unturned. Chicken feed litters the living room floor (little helping farmhands are also subject to chaos' ways) and as I type this, a wee little mouse just hopped out onto the hardwood floor from under the table to (undoubtedly) remind me that the crumbs on my dining room floor are actually cause for celebration (at least from some of us).
Stu is tutoring today and in a few short hours will walk into mine and chaos' surprise party. Oh hey honey. Welcome home. Meet my Friend. Do you remember my friend, Chaos?
She made sure the kids were extra dirty today. Yes, they're in their pajamas. No, they haven't had a bath… or lunch… and she can't remember the last time they brushed their teeth. They've strewn their clothes all around their bedrooms but instead of cleaning them up, she kicked them outside to play in the mud and make a mess of our yard.
Also, Chaos wanted me to remind you that she didn't make any dinner plans which means we'll most likely be eating eggs again. She says she's sorry about that, but she was insistent that we move manure piles and water the geraniums in the sunshine today. You know how she can be.
Lastly, she made a huge mess in the bedroom, dining room, living room, basement, bathroom, and kitchen. Please accept her apology and this big glass of red wine that will only serve to further spiral us into the season that is, obviously, hers.
P.S. Homeschooling? What's that mean?
P.P.S. Send help. And Amen.
More of my posts on Living Real Life:
Dani | Desolatehomestead
Yes, yes I have met Chaos. Thank you for the posts that remind us that you are *real* just like all of us!
Sarah
I am a new reader to your blog, but I’ve already got Welcome To The Farm, and I feel like you are my soul sister! This post describes exactly how I have been feeling this week. My house had been so clean all winter, laundry was folded, dinner was planned and ready. Now that Spring has sprung, all that has gone out the window. I totally get it.. only crazy people choose laundry and dishes over cute baby chicks, flowers that need to be planted, goats that need to be milked, hens that need to be fed. I read a saying once that helps me feel better about this predicament. “God makes rainy days so gardeners have a chance to catch up on the housework”.. It is so true! Keep on keepin on… You’re nurturing your food for your family. I couldn’t think of a better reason to let the house work fall to the back burner!
Shaye Elliott
Welcome Sarah. Thank you for reading! :)!!
Susan Boehrer
I tell everyone I am an event cleaner. If you are a friend and stop by, you are not an event so enter at your own risk. I keep it livable but like you will always choose farm, animal and vineyard chores above cleaning house.
Anajú
Autumn is kicking in here in the south and I still rather plant some spinach under the rain instead of doing dishes. I think I may need to move to a place with more severe weather so I can have snow and put clothes away at least three months per year.
Kelsey
Oh good, it’s not just me!
Kristin Mauer
I JUST DIED. Haha! Yesterday my 4-year-old son actually said to me, “I’m tired mommy! All we ever do is deal with chickens and poop and plant things!” Aaah… Springtime!
Michelle
Shes my amiga too! Hola Chaos! She’s a busy traveler this time of year!
Lauren
Shaye we got chickens! And I’m planting like a fiend around our little house. My quiver may be small but the dirt, mud and straw still makes its way about the house 😉 Unfortunately, in the south, spring also brings tornadoes 🙁 x (
Gina
Every word of this made me smile. 🙂 My spring isn’t full of quite as much chaos since I’m still confined to the space in my apartment. But, I’ll invite chaos in for a day when I go to the local farm to play in the dirt and go for walks in the park. Also, I definitely have been doing that with my laundry more and more. O.o
Roz
Haha! Girl, you are not alone in the clean-clothes-on-floor-then-back-on-bed cycle, nor in the “homeschool, what’s that?” department, either. Enjoy God’s beauty each day, even the beauty of knowing that only eternity matters, even when a day (or season) on earth totally sucks. xoxo
Sarah
Thank you for this. We are in our first year of homesteading, brooding our first batch of 40 freedom ranger chicks in.our.house. It’s been good for a first-time learner, but our house is a total disaster. Plus we are renovating. And doing a small garden. And trying to keep food on the table, clothes reasonably clean, etc. It is complete chaos, and the mess does stress me out, but I just don’t feel like I can do any more right now! But it’s all good stuff and I love it!
Samantha
Yes! thank you for sharing this. I actually took a whole day last week to clean the house (which in reality means just the kitchen, bathrooms and a little bit of the living room) and within a day it had all gone to pot. So that’s it, I’m just going to give in to chaos right now and let her move right in 🙂 And the pile on the bed? Every day it’s there, same pile, different “clean” clothes. 🙂
denesse ( rhymes with Tennessee) mcbayne
GIRRRRRRL !!! you just read my cards !…im a new reader of ur blog and loving every bit !! thank u for being so candid …..yes spring caos is my faithful companion as well . I amso glad that its not only me , i am new to thehomesteading life , up until June of last yr. I (52), was raising my 13 yr old granddaughter with aspergers living in less than 600 sq ft apt in gov, housing (prior drawn out illness, family crisis , loss of income ,resulted in loosing almost everything and moving into homeless shelter (thumb nail) surrounded by asphalt parking lot and cinder block walls , i had attempted to surround my little patio with containers full of fresh herbs and tomatoes , spinach, lettuce and strawberries, and pepper plants purchased from the local farmers market using my foodstamop card ,and hanging baskets of petunias which invited ruby throated humming birds to make a quick detour off the busy street and find mylsecrect garden and pay us daily visists until new management took over and with out warning they came in and poured concrete gravel on my little saturary leaving my containers tossed to the side and toppled over and they put up a cinder block wall completly blocking all light from my patio , i was devestated 2 yrs worth of gardening gone…….fast forward today as i am writting u I and my now 14 yr old grandaughter have relocated to a 3.18 acre goat farm !!! complete with now 37 goats thats with the 14 new kids …12 chickens , a 600 lb black angus/holstien mixed steer named ferdinand”ferdie” for short and my soul mate ! can u believe it ….God is so good just when i had felt like giving up God sent me my Goat man , andthe life to go with it ….now we are working on our 1920s simple farm house that has more wrong than right by others standards but we love our house and has become our home The part where u mentioned clothes on the bed then on the floor and back on the bed …..lol my life , the pots and plants and muddy sloggers caos on my front porch “hello ” right now ive got2 wk old diddles on my side board in my dinning room and 2 9 wk old goslings hanging out in my jacuzzi tub in the unfinished family bath , sink piled with dishes that i promise myself and goatman that i will get to , a crazy catahoula pup thats been trying to help me dig my garden beds …..by helping hes been pulling up my plants fast as i can get them planted …..but u already know …so my mornings are filled with the smell of freshed brewed coffee and pine shavings wet from goose poop and chicken litter from over night and iwouldnt trade it for the world ….thank u again for being so candid
Bonnie G
you are all an inspiration!!!! there are day I just want to cry there is so much to be done just cant keep up with it all. Thank you all soooooo much. It is good to know I am not alone.