Life on the Homestead

Things are changing. I am changing...and it has more to do with what is on the inside, than what you see on the outside, though somehow, I think there might be a connection.

On the outside, if you came by my house on any given day (just be careful, the to-do list is looong!), you will probably find me in tube socks, tall black boots with polka-dots and a baggy T-shirt. See, I have found that when you are messing with chickens, it is almost ALWAYS a good idea to have on boots. There is the poo, the mud by the run, the curious little boogers who like to peck at your shiny toe nails if you go down in flip flops, and did I mention the poo? There is lots of poo.

I have also discovered that when you live on a homestead in the woods, you can expect two things. 1) there will be ticks dropping out of the trees, just about all the time. 2) There is poison ivy. LOTS of poison ivy. So to combat both of those inevitable occurrences, I add to my ensemble a much washed green slouch hat and a pair of long, cotton workout pants....not exactly my usual summer attire...but it suits my new life.

I am changing in other areas too...the other day, I found myself sitting on the ground in the chicken run with AJ, and we each had a pile of chickens napping in our laps. It was soooo cool to do that with him! I don't imagine if you had asked me a few months ago to sit on a chicken run floor in 90 degree heat with mosquitoes buzzing around that I would have thought it was cool...I think I would have checked you for heat stroke and gotten the heck outta there!

And today, after getting up at six to drive to Marietta to help "process" 60+ hens for a CSA, I came home and went right outside to join my husband who was putting in a shooting range. He also got the chipper out and made mulch to cover the mud all around the run. You know that I would have rather come in the A/C, poured myself a nice cold drink and read a book...but we had a great time out there with the kids, covered in sweat and sawdust and mosquito bites...nothing like working on a project all together!

So those are some outward changes...what you don't see on the inside is how happy it makes me that my not-so-little Jalapeno LOVES to come with me to the hen house to help me wrangle the chickens...and he is really good at it! We have such a tough relationship, and are so often at odds, that I am loving the time with him, working together on something that we both enjoy and that is building some great channels of communication. I love that every time we go out, he looks for his chicken "Fuzzy" and says to her in a sing song voice (as he chases her around to catch her and put her on his head)..."Fuzzy! I wuv you Fuzzy! You are my biggest fan!"

I am also really enjoying all the new things I have to learn to make this homestead thing work. I don't even know what I don't know so I can ask questions, at this point! But I have plenty of ideas and dreams that I would like for us to be able to achieve. The big thing is I am thankful that all of this outside work has really helped my adrenals to start working better, so my memory actually works!! It has been really hard to live in such a fog for so very long.

So these are a few random thoughts from our little homestead in the woods...stay tuned...there is more bumping around in this noggin' of mine!