Oh, yes, I've had my moments! Recently, it's been with the chickens--Mother's silkies to be exact. I can keep big chickens contained, let them free range more, and in general, they are easy keepers as anything can be. But NOT the silkies. Total PITAs. They can get out of any small hole (and will), are determined not to willingly sleep in the chicken coop (read: have to be gathered up before sundown), and in general try to circumvent every effort I make to keep their fuzzy little white butts alive. Mother loves them. That's the only reason they aren't history. We've lost 3. I told Mother that I'm not replacing them with more Silkies. I'll get her some pretty BIG chickens.
I've also changed my expectations of my breeding program for the rabbits which was a HUGE burden reducer. I didn't so much reduce the size of my herd as just my mental anxieties and expectations.
This time of year is hard. Like Aldo, I get up at 6am (which is still dark now) to feed the animals (in the dark) and tend to the sprouting grains etc. I get home and again, have animal chores to do before it gets dark. No problem unless we need to run errands like we did last night. Mother and I had to make a run to Walmart and to the HFS to pick up my order of raw milk. We were making good time to get back home before dark for animal tending...but there was a HUGE accident that held us up for a while. So, tended the critters in the dark and had a late dinner. While Mother was away for 4 weeks, my dinners tended to be a glass of milk and a sandwich because it was just to late to make anything else. I think it is the "in the dark" thing that gets to me...makes it feel more wearisome than doing it in the light...weird I guess...
I always feel behind on chores like clean-up and organizing and mowing and ... oh, Aldo--don't rake, vacuum! I mow up ("vacuum") my leaves with a mulching mower and a bagger. So much easier than raking!! And, this Saturday, if it is not raining, I've recruited two teens to help me get some chores caught up. One girl has to do "community service" for school. She'll get her community service credits and I'll get some much needed help! Works for me!