Today is starting out as “one of those days”. We all have them and the more interesting your life is to start with, the more creative the chaos can become. Sick kids we can handle. That happens all the time.

How often, though, do you fall off a deck while chasing a dog who wants to run up to greet someone walking along the road, only to fall into the one patch of dog-doo that you haven’t cleaned up yet, cutting your foot along the way (the dog was fine)? Then, upon returning to the house, you trip over nothing (maybe a phantom cat?) while emptying a bucket containing the lees (dark purple-red sludge) from a batch of wine that was just racked, emptying the contents all over the bathroom. Immediately (of course) the cat runs through the mess and the rest of the house while two dogs split and synchronize, with one chasing the cat and the other frantically trying to lick up the sludge.

Such a morning! If I hadn’t had enough sleep, I would be in tears right now, but all I can do is laugh. My foot is bandaged, the dogs are quiet. The cat has travelled to another dimension (I think) and the mess is cleaned up.

My life is many things, but you never call it dull.

I just slipped out the front door for a moment to breathe and to smell the February Daphne, which sprung into full bloom this morning. I suspect they bloom in February elsewhere, but here it’s my April or May flower and I love it.