There are few things on our homestead that give me great job satisfaction after I complete them... over and over and over. The first comes after I scrub our wood floors and they glisten (for such a dismally short time). The second is when I flip litter in the chicken house and scrape everything down. And the third one is about trimming goat feet and keeping them maintained.
No one's floors are dirtier than mine most of the time, except the dirt floor in the cabin that Ben grew up in. Even though I try to keep up with it, our lifestyle usually gets the better of me- and they rarely get scrubbed more than once a week (if that, when things are really busy). Trailing in several goats to milk twice a day certainly doesn't help matters, nor does the fact that they free range right up to the cabin door.
But I feel pretty good about the way that I keep the chicken house clean and tended. When visitors drop in, I never feel embarrassed about taking them down there to check up on the girls. Sometimes I don't get it done every day, but I do a good job. The deep litter system in winter definitely has to be managed, but it is manageable.
And my goats get their feet trimmed at least once a month these days. In years gone past, I'll admit that I was not as studious about getting the job done. Today, I feel great about the state of my girls feet... once I whip them into shape after transplanting them to our mountain home.
When it comes down to it, it's these repetitive menial chores that farm life is really all about. I love it. I love that I enjoy the nastiest of tasks and take pride in keeping up with them. This is my day-to-day, and I am one lucky mama to get to live this way...