This is what a usual day “off” is like for me:
5:00 am
- Wake Up with Randy (Monday he got up at 2:00am to go into work and yes I was up and at ’em with him.)
- Make coffee, breakfast, pack his lunch, and see him out the door
5:30 am
- Breakfast for the dogs
- If I make/allow myself I do yoga or just some relaxation time before beginning my day.
- Begin kitchen duties: this includes baking bread, making cheese, etc.
On Monday this included cleaning and freezing pumpkins, making pumpkin bread, yogurt, ww bread, and toothpaste.
7:30 am (Sun-up)
- Outside Chores
- Cats: let them out of the pool house, turn off their heater, food & water
- Chickens: let them out, turn off their heat lamp, food & water
- Sheep: turn off their lights, let out of sheds (we keep them locked inside during lambing season), break ice on water, look them over well to check for illness or signs of labor, check salt & mineral
8:30 am
- Back Inside: once the sun is up and temperature is above freezing I can start laundry (sometimes our pipes freeze in this area of the house). I always use my clothesline to dry my clothes whenever possible. If weather doesn’t not permit me to use my clothesline, I hang up all shirts and only dry what I cannot hang on a hanger.
10:00 am
- Frisbee with Ash (Australian Cattledog) and playing chase with Koal (a rescued mutt), he’s not into Frisbee or fetch. I have to put the cats back in the pool house before this can take place. Koal has a cat fetish and not a good one. We just play until Ash takes her Frisbee to the backdoor to let me know she is tuckered out and ready to quit.
11:00 am
- Lunch: leftovers or egg sandwich (love my little Banties)
11:30 am
- Back to Work: menu planning, prepare the week’s dinners in advance, tea time (RRL, Cinnamon, Chai, etc.), fill bird feeders (4) with sunflower seeds, spend time with my cats outside (all my animals need some individual attention), hang up laundry, fold, and put away
2:00 pm
- Start preparing dinner
3:00 pm
- Another round of Frisbee and chase to wear down the dogs before Randy gets home. Ash is a yipper (any of you who have Blue/Red Heelers can probably feel my pain), and if she has energy she makes sure we know about it.
3:30 pm
- Evening Chores:
- Grain sheep and water sheep
- Check chicken’s feed and water, collect eggs, turn on their heat lamp, and lock them up for the night
- Feed and water the cats, lock them in the pool house, and turn on their heater
4:30 pm
- Finish up dinner and have it ready when Randy gets home.
5:00 pm
- Feed the dogs. They eat near us while we eat dinner because Ash (aka Alpha) tends to steal Koal’s food if we don’t keep an eye on her.
- Eat dinner and spend the rest of the evening relaxing and paying attention to each other and our two dogs.
That is a typical day “off” for me. Sometimes I am ready to go back to work, so I can sit at my desk/computer and rest, haha. I love being home, but it does get lonely without another being that walks upright there with me, someone who can talk back in a language I can understand.
Have a great day and a great weekend.
A Simple Prairie Life 