Farm Chronicles
My husband called me a crazy chicken lady! He's going to think I'm even more crazy when I bring it to his attention that I intend on ordering 10 more chicks come March, show quality chicks that is. These chicks are almost double the price of the chickens that we normally order, but our children wish to do 4-H this coming season and I think chickens will be a nice introductory animal.
I love watching my chickens scratching for bugs, taking dust baths, and enjoying their new coop that I was excited to get to paint this week. It was considerably warmer in thier coop during these last few days with freezing temperatures.
Today the chickens are out and about just as happy as could be. They may not be song birds but they coo and chirp while they merrily play in the sunshine
We had wanted to be done with the calf pen already, but the weather did not cooperate with us. A lot of progress continues to be made though and that is truly what matters.
Soon we will be done renovating a trailer into a tool shed giving us somewhere to store many of our tools instead of unsightly on my porch.
Minimalist Journey
We have been downsizing and getting rid of a lot of things. We got rid of tons of belongings already. This weeks goal is to rid ourselves of the catch all broken china cabinet and most of the items on it. Having more room in the living room has been liberating.
We also got rid of satellite TV. We don't need it. We ended up only watching roughly 5 channels and paid over $100 (!) for it. Instead we have just internet, netflix, DVDs, and VHS.
We will be doing more camping, hiking, sports, bike riding, and fishing instead of TV and movies. No more trips to the pool come summer instead our own above ground pool and inviting friends over. Instead of driving into town to watch a movie and spending over $100 each time we will get a projector and watch movies here outside with popcorn and a monthly budget of $20 for movies ($5-$7 movie bin at Walmart will be our friend). This will cut our entertainment costs by a lot with minimum upfront costs. The kids have a large trampoline, a Playscape, and soon a swing set.
Family Life
Spring football and cheer will be starting up again. The kids are excited, but my oldest daughter has decided this will be her last season in cheer and she will move on to 4-H in the fall. My younger daughter is set on cheer while the boys still seem enthralled with football.
A lot has gone sideways in our small community here recently and it has struck everyone deep. Between deaths, illnesses, accidents, and burglaries the community has been shaken.
One thing that we regret is not having been active in the community this past year. One of the ways we are going to change that is by starting to attend church again which we haven't because of my work schedule. No more excuses. While I do wish the church had more of a youth ministry they seem to genuinely care for our family. Could someone really ask for anything more?
