The last week sure has been a tailspin for us… and a heavy thinking week.  Trying to get back into our routines and make new ones in the process.  Maggie is doing a lot better… still a few rough bits now and then, but it’s remarkable how fast a young person can bounce back.   If it had been me?  Haha…  ahem….  I would probably still be in the morphine stage!

Jessy and I have been teaming up to keep things running smoothly.  It was so wonderful that we had most of our garden put in and had some good friends visit two days before because of course, we really worked hard that week to get the place all ready for their visit.  We had such nice cool weather that we took advantage of it.  Now I thank the Lord we had the foresight to really push to get our lists done because it’s made it so much easier now that time is a little short.

That being said, we still have areas that need some help and projects that might not get done this season.  But that’s life.  Still, I don’t want to just go dormant for the whole season and there is no need for it.  If it’s one thing we have learned, it’s slow, consistent effort that seems to really get things done.  An hour or two a day with two people can accomplish a LOT of extra projects.  And our product lines are slow this time of the year, so it’s a blessing and a curse…   a little more time but a lot less income!  Still, our feed bills are super low since most of the bigger animals are all on pasture now and our utilities are awesome since there is no heat needed and it stays light a whole lot longer. We’re saving on gas because we can’t go wandering the world at the moment.  We’re breaking up projects into littler bites.  If something takes three days that might have taken one, well, it’s okay.  It’s still getting done.  Last I heard Martha Stewart doesn’t plan to visit.  Nor do Better Homes and Gardens plan a photo shoot or something.

Our plan at the moment is just to simplify.  Simplify, simplify and simplify.  Like taking our meat chickens in to Freezer Camp on Tuesday.  It’s time, they are 13 weeks old!  Nice and big.  And they really take up the lion’s share of chicken chores.  They eat a TON and they poop a TON and they are just high maintenance right now.  Their time is numbered.   We have a second batch in the brooder but they are week old chicks and still cute, tiny and fuzzy.  Even Jessy can help to take care of them, they are not in the large scary bird category yet.

The garden is just about in…  we have four smaller raised beds to finish and that should be tomorrow.  They have all their compost in, just need a top dressing of dirt and planting.  We have one bed that totally failed.   Of course, it’s mainly because I planted 10 year old seed corn!  Haha… hey, I figured it MIGHT grow.  Well, none of it did.  Not a single seed.  The fresher Indian corn I planted is up and doing great.  So that bed needs to be reseeded.  I have a fresh pack of sweet corn, so I might plant it again and see.  We have a bunch of zucchini and squash seedlings that are doing pretty good, so they are going to be transplanted into the garden.  I have like 12 cabbage seedlings and no real place to put them.  So…  I think I’m going to plant them in some pots that I have laying about in the courtyard!  Funny, and if they grow, great!  Even if they don’t make good heads, they will probably produce a bunch of bunny chow leaves!

We had planned to try and produce a lot of our bunny food this year from our garden and yard.  Not that they are really a high burden on the feed bill….  in reality, they cost about $10 a month to feed.  Still, it is more a quest for self sustainability and wonderful fresh food that they adore.  We had gotten a bunch of cheap seed packs at the end of the last year so I have planted a lot of things that we might not have eaten, just for the bunnies!  We’ve been trying a few of them… kale…  swiss chard… collards…  interesting for sure.  The swiss chard is my favorite so far… the colors in the stems are just amazing!

The lambs are ready to be weaned and sent on to their new homes.  Have a couple spoken for and a couple to pop on Craigslist.  Would love to keep them all, but I just really don’t need that many boys!  I’m sure we will find lovely homes for them.  Shetlands are a great newer breed and desirable.  And our first crop of lambs is just lovely.  Very nice youngsters for sure!  We will be keeping Travis, the last little lamb as a wether…  and Emma, Beulah and Harley.  Otis will be joining the gang sometime this summer.  When we are done, we will have 12 sheep.  A nice number.  Molly, Bridget, Noel, Ivy and Iris, Fergus, Angus, Emma, Beulah, Harley, Travis and Otis.  7 ewes, 3 wethers and 2 rams.  Next year the plan is to keep only a few choice ewe lambs.   Harley and Otis will be our rams for at least two years of lambs…  and then we’ll evaluate for the 2016 lamb season.

Inside the house, we’ve gone and gotten a bunch of paper plates, bowls and silverware.   I know… we’re going to the dark side and it’s sooooo scary!  I hope the planet will survive.  It’s just that right now, for a few weeks, I would rather cut down on the dishes we need to wash and all.  Just a temporary simplicity move.  Works okay anyway, in the summer we are sandwich and salad kind of gals…  just lighter foods and meals.

I’m glad we had the garage sales up at the neighbors and had done some in house clutter busting…  that has helped too!  Plan to keep at a few more troublesome spots…   less stuff means less cleaning and taking care of said stuff.  I’ve been reading a great blog called   www.everydayminimalist.com.   Another that is interesting is  www.MissMinimalist.com   No, not really going to ditch it all, but there is a lot to be said for making your life simple and streamlined.

We finished our farm nook area and that has been so wonderful.  A place for everything and everything in it’s place sounds good to me.  I really want to keep tackling the “tool” thing…  For whatever reason, we have tools that seem to gather all over the place!  I wish I could figure out a way to make it work well for the homestead.  The problem seems to be that with 6 outbuildings, everything migrates around the place and there isn’t a real good game plan for what goes where.  Rakes and shovels, hammers, etc., it’s just nuts. Maybe it’s a guy thing, but I figure it’s like any other collection of things…  organization and a system that works for you, is the key.

I guess with the next couple weeks of simple living, taking care of the important things and getting our ducks in a row will be a good thing…  a blessing in the midst of a trial.

Isn’t that what life is all about???  The bright spots that lighten the dark ones?

It’s all good…