Tuesday

Maybe I shouldn't have gloated about how we missed all that horrible Wisconsin weather while away on our trip. Sure, no Arctic blast came our way up there in the mountains or in Paris, and yes, there is a warm-up right now in south central Wisconsin, but is this better? This still freezing air, the sleet coming down hard on the roads, the clumpy wet snow left over from the last storm? The cats, chickens and I say no, it is not!

Breakfast of oatmeal. We review the problems surrounding our cats. Seven is too much, we say! And still, what can we do? We feed them and make sure that each has a warm spot for the cold days. Three come into the farmhouse, five use the the sheep-shed, one has a warming hut on the porch. But they are territorial and occasionally they draw boundaries against some of the others. Too, chasing them out of the house can be a drag. They hide from us rather than being pushed outside. It's all a big winter headache and yet, here we are, looking after them, because if not us, then who?

To take my mind off of cats, sleet and slushy snow, I do ballet.

In the later morning, I go to the bakery to restock our supply of croissants and cookies for the kids and bread for Ed. It's good to be back at Madison Sourdough, even though I had no shortage of croissants in the last ten days! 

And in the afternoon, when the icy sleet turns to snow -- wet, accumulating snow, I get in the car once again, this time to pick up the kids. School was closed (again!) yesterday, so I was off duty then, but today I'm back on track. I'm told that both kids are happy to be back with friends and familiar routines.

So, they come to the farmhouse and we have a fabulous time, right? Well, not exactly. As I drive up to the school, well in advance of the pick up time, I check once again the air pressure on the car tires. One had been a tiny bit low and I just want to make sure it's holding steady. And it is. But what's this? Another tire, one that was just fine this morning, is suddenly very low. And I mean very. As I'm wondering if it has enough oomph to even get us home, I get a call from my daughter -- Snowdrop is sick, apparently with the same bug that Sparrow had yesterday and their mommy had the day before. And so I pick them up...

... and drive them home. Not my home, but their home.

And the pressure drops once again. And I know I wont make it back to the farmhouse so I detour to a tire place I know in the neighborhood and sure enough, I have not one but two holes in two tires and say, did you know that on a 4-wheel drive car, you can't just swap out two tires, you have to do all four?

I spend the rest of the afternoon in the tire shop waiting for the car tires to be changed and for the bill to be handed to me so that I can gasp in horror at how expensive the afternoon has become.

On the upside, we did not have a flat on the highway, we did not have to wait to be towed (I cannot change a tire by myself, and in any case, it is snowing and wet and altogether unpleasant outside), the kids are home, and the slow leak and the fast leak are both history by now.

[Ed later says -- I cant believe you had two such punctures! I can only respond -- who am I to question the wisdom of the tire shop? They're reputable, they've been around for decades. They say swap, I swap!]

Home now, with two cats that refuse to go out, with too many fresh croissants and fresh chocolate chip cookies, and with a distracted Ed who is working away at his machine design.

What an interesting first "normal" day back this has been!