I TRIED to make today a good day. I really did! But as the poet said: “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men/ Gang aft agley”.

You see, I started feeling sick yesterday and haven’t been up to par. My hubby has been great, picking up my chores in addition to his graduate studies. But tonight I felt better and was ready to take them back. So I put dinner on the stove – some beef strips for homemade beef stroganoff, water on to boil for the pasta part, and a skillet of wax beans in butter. Then I went outside to feed and water the rabbits, a chore that normally takes less than 10 minutes if you don’t want to dilly dally playing with them. My husband had checked on all of them earlier in the day, so I figured I could feed and run.

Of course it doesn’t work like that. First, one of my does had started pulling fur. Great! She and two others are due on Wed or Thurs. But then again…. there is a newborn but deceased rabbit kit. Dangit! I know I didn’t mess up my records, looks like she kindled early. So I completely forgot what time it was as I searched her hutch and the surrounding grass to see if there were any more kits. There weren’t, thank goodness. And then I remembered dinner…

Dangit again! The beef was burnt on one side and raw on the other – I had set the heat too high. And the wax beans had burnt to the bottom of the pan. Grrrr. Shove them both to the back of the stove, put the pasta in the boiling water, and go back outside to prepare nestboxes for all three does. If one went early it is possible that the others would do so as well, especially since one of them is her sister. I needed to get those to the does quickly, especially because the mom of the deceased kit might still have more – one is a small litter for her.

I come back inside and drain the pasta, throw some cream of mushroom soup in a pot to heat as replacement for the beef stroganoff sauce I don’t have time to make anymore, add the beef strips and scrapings from the pan to it, and boil some canned green beans to replace the wax beans.

By the time the sauce and green beans are done, the pasta has rather congealed to itself in the sieve. *Sigh* Dump it in a serving bowl and use a wooden spoon to break it up. Pour the mushroom soup and beef strips over it and stir. Looks OK. Serve it on plates along with the canned green beans.

Definately not the meal I had planned, but it’s filling. Needs salt and pepper. I should have spiced it, but I didn’t even think of that in the middle of everything else. But I guess the important thing is we’re fed, the rabbits and chickens are fed and watered, and nestboxes are prepared and in place several days ahead of schedule. Not bad for a day when I don’t feel well. Maybe it’s the end that matters and not the mess I make of things while getting there!

–If you’re curious about the quote, the full text of Robert Burn’s poem (and the modern translation) can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_a_Mouse