I was the only being who could walk upright (not including the chickens) on the farm Friday. Breakfast consisted of old-fashioned organic oatmeal topped with raisins, walnuts, and one teaspoon sucanat.
It was a whopping 15 degrees when I went out to do morning chores. My morning chores consist of:
Breaking ice on the stock tanks
Turning off the barn lights
Looking over all the sheep for signs of sickness or labor
Breaking ice on the chickens water
Opening the chickens doors
Feeding and watering the cats
Letting the cats out to roam
Changing the litter box and sprinkling with Pet Litter Freshener
*I used to use Mrs. Meyer’s Pet Litter Freshener, now I just make my own.
Pet Litter Freshener:
1 cup Baking Soda
5 drops Orange Essential Oil (be careful with citrus EO as they can cause skin irritations
10 drops Lavender Essential Oil
We use the inexpensive litter or floor absorbent from the auto parts store, so this freshener helps keep down odor so the cats routinely use the litter box and don’t decide to go elsewhere.
Once inside I make our bed, continue doing laundry, and refill the humidifier.
Humidifier:
3 gallons of Water
20 drops Tea Tree Oil
20 drops Eucalyptus Oil
I’m also on a mission to consume more Red Raspberry Leaf Tea to help with cramping. So at 5:30am, 8:30am, and 10:00am I treated myself to tea.
I managed to get our files organized and all our manuals (kitchen appliances, shop tools, etc.) filed away in a nice orderly fashion.
Lunch consisted of leftover Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken and brown rice. Oh, don’t forget breaking ice on the stock tanks. I also check on the sheep every two hours since it’s lambing season.
In the afternoon I headed up to Grandma’s to get four five-gallon buckets of barley/corn for the sheep this week. I also filled all four of our bird feeders with sunflower seeds.
By then it was time for evening chores which consist of:
Breaking ice on the stock tanks
Turning on the barn lights
Looking over all the sheep for signs of sickness or labor
Breaking ice on the chickens water
Feeding the chickens
Collecting eggs (or egg this time of year)
Feeding the cats
Cat Fight…..
Later in the evening just before dark we lock up the cats, chickens and the sheep for the night.
I also try to play fetch with our blue heeler, Ash, at least twice a day so she doesn’t drive Randy crazy the minute he walks through the door.
Like she tends to annoy Koal all day everyday.
Or how she annoys me by barking all day. If you have ever heard a cattledog bark you will never for get it. It’s a high-pitched yip that makes your temples ache.
So we aim for this…..
She’s a lot cuter when she’s shut down.
A Simple Prairie Life 