Okay, I'm here to admit that things are getting kinda crazy busy around the homestead. Without any help, as my family is still on the road somewhere in Montana, there's certainly more than enough to do.
Hauling water everyday is getting a bit old, but there's no alternative at this point. The goats and sheep and chickens require that I bring feed up the mountain almost everyday too... all equaling alot of time and energy for daily maintenance chores.
Milking, not a big deal. Feeding chickens and turning litter, so what. Making cheese, that's cool. Tending the greenhouse, always a pleasure. But the monotony of hauling hauling hauling is not my cup of tea. And that's the price I pay for living on a non-road-accessible mountainside with all my animals... and for making the conscious decision (fairly recently, actually) to be a farmer instead of a hermit.
So today I'm hauling water and more water, barley and alfalfa pellets, and probably more water to get caught up. Normally, as of late, if I haul a full load of water every day, then I stay caught up plus a little extra. But yesterday was my delivery day, and I was gone for 11 hours total. Needless to say, today I'm staying home.
But overall, things are progressing. Egg production is definitely on the rise, I have at least 3 goats that will give birth within the week!, and I'm getting more comfortable with being a shepherd. I've combined my delivery routes, so now I can go to town once weekly again, instead of 6 times a month. And I've attained some excellent drop-points on my routes... so instead of doing dozens of home and office deliveries, I now only have to stop 4 places!
The taste testing was fun and interesting, as usual. I got to meet several nice people who I'm sure will play roles in our life to come. And I made some important connections, not the least of which is a woman who sells Alaska wild fishbone meal, which my hens will be switched over to from oyster shell as soon as they run out. YAY for local products!
I really love that the folks who are hosting my drop points are so excited to have my business as part of their local flavor. It's very humbling and energizing to hear customers rave about my products and my philosophy of animal husbandry. And THAT'S why I'm doing what I'm doing... that's why I'm going to haul a bunch of stuff up the mountain today. Yeah!