This is our first week of second grade here at home. I like to ease into the year a bit, and we’re starting with Native American creation stories, form drawing, and gardening. On Mondays, we do baking & French. The week started a bit ominously, with the toddler waking up for several hours (wide awake!) in the middle of the night on Sunday, and being quite a crabby pants on Monday. I had a minor health scare (turned out to be nothing, thankfully), and had a few hours with an ugly nagging wondering, What if I have 6 months to live? A young mother died in our neighborhood two years ago, and that definitely haunts me sometimes, really knowing that any one of us could suddenly be gone. Despite the odd day Monday, we’ve had a lot of fun with school, which is just what I’d hoped.
The farm has been quiet(er) this year. We sold our two ewes over a year ago to another small farm, and without sheep, pigs, chickens, or horse, life has been a lot quieter (and calmer). Mostly, it was a quiet we really needed. We’ve talked about getting ducks for years, and about possibly raising pigs or chickens again for meat. This week, while going over our budgets, it was very clear to us that if we wanted to keep eating a moderate amount of meat, we had better start raising it ourselves again (eggs, too). So, voila, suddenly it wasn’t a question of whether we wanted ducks right now or not, it was time. Ducklings will be here in October, and baby chicks will be here by next week! The chickens will be processed before the really cold weather gets here, and I think we’re going to build a little pen for the ducks in the basement until the harshest winter months pass, then we’ll move them out to the old chicken coop.
I feel rather excited, and invigorated, to have farm animals on the way. The kids will be thrilled, of course, and I must say I sometimes miss my daily farm chores of hauling hay or grain, and checking water. It is refreshing, sometimes, to be forced to go outside no matter what the weather is – vegetables can be ignored, but live animals cannot.
Blessings on your week, friends.
