We helped cousins start a bigger run and coop for their 6 beautiful chickens and we need to go back and finish the job sometime soon. Let's just note I put in 1500+ staples without getting a blister. I don't think that is a proud moment more like a show of how much stapling of chicken wire I have been doing lately. I was making sure the chicken wire was secure, they have a much bigger dog problem then we do and they had a bit of duck tragedy recently.
I let him sleep in, it was his weekend. We do that, we alternate weekends of sleeping in, normally it is just one day of that weekend but its good to know that the option presents itself. We also alternate nights (or mornings) when the kiddos arise before the chickens. It doesn't matter if you're sick, tired or just went to bed, if its your night then its your night (or weekend). Anyway, I get him up around 9 and I was just finishing up the dishes (which is why I got him up to watch the kids since I was busy for the next 30 minutes and they are a bit too spirited so early in the morning, I had been up since 5am). The phone rang, he was off to work to put in some cattle. Our plans for the day up in the air again! When he got home we went to go pick tomatoes, you know the ones we don't eat, from his boss' garden. I am so looking forward to all the tomato powder I am going to get from these lovelies to boost my stews and sauces this winter. It is really a different taste one must experience in life... even if you don't like raw tomatoes.
Having a homestead can have you hopping all day, every day. Then having kids keeps you on your toes during the wee hours of the morning. Let's throw in some kittens we have inside until they are fixed and weaned. Why don't we add in the family farm needing to be tended, along with my own business. Taking a breath is something that should happen more often then it does and it is well needed when it does happen.
My breath moments come when I do a bi-annual ritual of watching Dancing with the Stars with my Mother-in-Law and my Aunt-in-Law. We go to my AIL's house and watch the show, eat some sweets, drink some coffee, and chew the fat. It is 1-2 hours away from being... well... me. I get to be the person I was before kids, marriage and homesteading. I don't have friends my age near me. I had a select few friends in High School (Mr. Native Farmer was my best friend in those days), all of whom have moved away from our impoverished area to find better opportunities elsewhere. My college friends are even further flung afield and my Scotland friends are even farther spread then those. I tend to make friends with people who like to travel, even my friends from when I was younger in Texas have spread out to far reaches of this Earth. So no, I don't have anyone my age except my husband to really relate to, so these times with my in-laws (who are apparently awesome since I choose to spend time with them regularly) are my "adult-single-kidless-me" time.
So if you are wrapped up in homesteading and you find yourself doing the dishes at 4am or even 2pm and you find yourself sighing. STOP, take a breath. Your body is telling you, whispering to you stop. Many things about becoming all my titles is learning how to let it go, let it slide, and knowing you can't and won't get it all done today, maybe not even this week, but it will get done, or not. The world will keep changing. If I have an empty dirty laundry basket, inevitably about 5 minutes after enjoying that fact my kids will pee on the floor (potty training at its finest here) or I dunno... spit tea all over their room and their white shirts. So before going off the rails with the unfairness of that, take a breath and laugh a little. Take life a bit less seriously and everyone will be happier for it.
If you seem to not be able to bring yourself to that: Please feel free to download this photo and put it as your background.
Hours old kittens
Or 6 week old kittens
Now doesn't that make you smile?? Happy Crafting and Homesteading!!
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