We clearly need to establilsh some rules around here...

(WARNING: No photos...sorry)

OK, when the sheep and all the stuff that goes with them was at my in-laws, I could really get in to this sheepin' business. Yeah, go out, play with them, vaccinate them (well not me, but I'll watch), even draw blood (OK not this either, but I can shake the vials so the blood doesn't coagulate), shear (I draw the line at bathing them-I don't even like to bathe my 13 pound dog).  It was fun.

Fast-foward a few years and now on OUR farm, this weekend...

My husband put sheep blankets and towels and other washables in my washer.  The washer that is in the house, that I wash my babies clothes (and mine) in.  And my sheets.  And my dish rags and other kitchen linens.  When I figured out what my husband had done, my mind raced.  Will bleach kill diseases like ring worm and sore mouth and scrapie and whatever else (I don't even know if scrapie is contagious-I need to do more research on that, but that is not the point here...)? How about those washer cleaning packets? There is no way those are cut out for this task. Eugh, can I just put my washer in a pot and boil it for 10 minutes?  Will my clothes ever be clean again?  Or am I destined to have that tangy smell of poo following me around forevermore?

I realize that this may sound crazy to some people who live on farms, I've never noticed it on any of our friends, but still in the back of my head, I cannot get over this.  It's the City Girl coming out in me.

So back to my story, my husband opens the washer and the smell of poo, slowly begins to creep deeper in to my house down the hall to our bedroom, toward the kitchen.  Then, [GASP!] he turned the load pink (this would not be the first time he's dyed a load) and decided to wash it again.  Sheep laundry run through twice?  I could hardly breathe.  Seriously.  So we decided to put some Oxy Clean in the load (I mostly thought this might help my washer recover from being violated, I didn't really care about the sheep laundry).  We washed again. On Hot.  This morning, he opened the washer door and again, the smell began permeating our home.  So maybe my washer doesn't work?!

Then (I know, how could there be more?!) he hung the sheep laundry in the garage to dry.  This is MY garage. Where MY car is parked (because his enormous truck won't fit in it), where my treadmill sits collecting dust (I'll be honest,  I don't use it much, but it's still there).  This is NOT a place to hang sheep laundry to dry.  My husband must have noticed the smell on his way out as there was a tick of cinnamon vanilla air freshener looming in the air when I went back out to get the kids in the car to take them to school.  It works about the same (except worse) as when you use it in the bathroom...I'll just leave that there.

You have no idea how fast that sheepin' smell creeps up and engulfs your skin and hair.  It's truly remarkable.  Crap, I wonder if I smelled sitting at my desk today?  Anyway, I got home, pulled in the garage and wham!  There it was again! And it will remain there until my husband gets home and does whatever he needs to do with them.

So, here is the start of my Sheepin' Rules:

Rule #1 If you are washing sheepin laundry, you must use a washer cleaner packet AND run a bleach cycle after.

Rule #2- We do NOT hang sheepin' laundry in the garage

That's as far as I've gotten, because as I am writing this, the washer is making a terrible grinding noise instead of spinning and my laundry is locked inside soaking wet-all I can think about is MOLD. Who knew I was such a clean freak, anyway? [This will shock my mother.] I fear my poor washer is headed to the washing machine graveyard. Excuse me while I continue to try to get my wits back about me and processes the violation to my laundry room and the subsequent breakdown.