A "Day in the Life"

Every day on a small homestead or Farmstead includes chores.  Ours is no different.  The chores may not be the same, but a regular week-day for me generally goes something like this:

Wake up between 10 and 11, get dressed and get something for Bubba to eat along with the cats and dogs.  After that I start on chores.  The animals' needs require daily attention.  I usually start with the rabbits.  I'll haul feed down to the barn when needed, turning on the water before heading down, which can sometimes be a real trick with a 50# bag of feed over your shoulder!

If I've brought down feed, the first stop is the barn.  I know when the pigeons are out of food, because they start to simulate Alfred Hitchcock's famous movie, "The Birds."  I put the new bag of feed into the appropriate bin, then head out and check over all the rabbits and feed them while dumping out water bowls at the same time.  Then I go back through and give fresh water, scrubbing out filthy bowls as needed.  The pullets and hens also get fresh water, while checking for eggs.  After making sure everyone has clean water, I dump, scrub, and refill the goose pot and buckets, which they usually immediately soil, but I've got to at least try!  Then it's hay for the rabbits and feed for the hens and pullets.  Feeding and watering the pigeons is always a trip, because it becomes a frenzy for birds to get into the feeder and the squabs beat their parents into feeding them.

After all the barn critters are fed and fluffed, I head back to the house for those chores, casting an appraising eye over the berry bushes and beehives as I go.  On the way up, I switch out the hose director so one section of the gardens will be watered.  Today it was the tomatoes.  The cavies get fresh food and water, the chicks and ducklings too.  In the same area the raised garden, flower bed, herb garden, and a few potted herbs need watering.  On the way to the front yard, the potted trees and herbs also need water.  In the front, the potted plants and flowers need water, as do some of the garden plants.  Then I proceeded to weed the front garden. 

Then it's into the house to cool off for a bit, get something to eat, clean a bit, and get ready for work.  Before heading out, it's back to turn off the garden water.  I head off to work late in the afternoon and work until the small hours of the morning.  When I'm finished, it's home and into bed around 3am, to start all over the next day.

And that's just a regular day.  On week-ends I add in breeding, pan cleaning, mulching and fertilizing gardens, more in-depth weeding, mowing, selling animals, festivals and shows and swaps, cleaning nests, laundry & house chores, and much much more!  Somewhere in all this I still manage to find time to crochet, knit, and spin to have product to sell.