This is something that commonly gets said out at the barn. Whether you’ve just heard that someone’s horse lost a shoe, or someone’s getting a divorce. It is the common catch all phrase that covers every possibly conceivable response required. (did that make sense?) It pretty much stands alone, requiring no real follow up remarks. Just nod, look sympathetic, and you don’t need to have an opinion on whatever it is you are supposed to be commenting on. Try it. So-and-so said this-and-that about this person. Oh, dear. You have commented, without really committing. Works most of the time.
Now, on a totally unrelated subject, it would appear that I had totally forgotten Christmas, New Year’s, and since gotten lost in a time warp for more than a month. Oh, dear. See? It works.
Over Christmas, we discussed our moving options. We had seriously decided to take another look at a place close to the barn. It had a small barn, fairly large house with potential, not very much land but enough that I could have my horse(s to be) at home. And chickens. And it was still close enough to town that the girls would be able to go to the same school. I could bike to the barn. And ride Bailey over to school in the arena (although considering how some people drive, and how some people are total asshats who think it’s funny to roar past a horse on the side of the road blaring their horn, it might be slightly dangerous). And then, two days later, I checked the MLS listings, and the house was no longer listed. Oh, dear.
Our other potential option is still for sale.It’s a smallish house. But liveable (ie. two bathrooms). It’s just so far out of town and needs so much work. But it has land. Oh Lordy, does it have land. And that was what we talked about. It might be too much for us. The kids would be country bumpkins. It would be an hour commute each way for Todd, every day of the week. A half hour commute for me. Is there any way to make living ‘country’ financially feasible? But it has land. Veggie growing land. Horse keeping land (long as the fences get mended). It has a barn (needs work). It has a chicken house (wouldn’t call it a coup). It has a kennel. (Don’t want to raise un-needed dogs). Potential for a pottery studio, if dh would ever do it. It has potential, period. The whole place. That would be a great name for the place. Potential Farm.
Oh dear.
