2021 Year In Review

We purchased this little 20 Acre Homestead in the Fall of 2020 and in the 12+ months we have lived here, I have managed to do everything I know NOT to do when freshly starting out.. or in my case restarting the journey again of being a small homesteader/hobby farmerette. 

 

Immediately bought chicks, they died after 2 barn cats from the previous owners were left, discovered their chicken nugget goodness. Had only the intentions of purchasing a mini donkey, but said seller wasn't going to separate the  mini donkey from the unbroken young filly, and then on pick up day they tossed in 2 free very pregnant pot bellied pigs.. which we lost all but 1 piglet to one of our dogs. Brought home our Great Pyrenees pup to discover he is not full bred, he has a small percent of husky which shows in his hyperness. 

 

Bought my first Jersey calf who was on deaths door and spent my days and nights doing round the clock care to keep him alive.. Which he did live and he is like one giant DOG.. who I think believes he is the family pet. 

Helped a fellow family out with purchasing their 3 horses with special needs.. bought 2 piglets with the goal of keeping one to be the family sow and the other for Freezer Food.. We had a horrible infestation of mosquitos and bugs this past Summer so we invested in Ducks and a Goose.. Only to discover the Hatchery sent me a Embden Goose and not the Buff Goose I initially paid for.  Rehomed two of the horses as it was becoming overwhelming for me to care for 3 special needs on top of 2 kids under 2 with the baby still struggling to sleep through the night. Throw in the fact that I have been pretty disappointed in the lack of work ethic around the place with 3 of the growing man childs. 

 

Dont get me started on the few biggies that took place with the home during our first year here... lets see if I can sum it up. Cold, Ice, Freezing Rain no water even after things thaw... = having to tear up the ceramic tile in the Laundry/Pantry room because the folks previous failed to put in a hatch/ access door to the pipes leading to washing machine.. when doing renovations.. and discovered there had been a leak  happening for a long time given the amount of water damage and rotting wood, with not having a crawl space it made the fixing a bit interesting.

 Yep I literally managed to spend more money and reap less all due to my over zealous behavior to Get It All and Get It All Now.. ugg.. in that I have learned once again some valuable insight from my mistakes. I started restructure,re home and take a little break.  I told my husband no more Lawn Ornaments. I sold the mini donkey and the filly together, sold the goats, and rehomed 2 of the special needs horses. We managed to butcher our Cornish Cross hens that I kept procrastinating on, and canceled at the time what was to have been a shipment of egg laying chicks. I am vowing among my frustrations with myself that I neededto get a grip on what was really important at this time and refocus on the long term goal.. not the short term wants. 

Starting with sleep..

Where Are You Christmas?

 

 The Christmas Season is upon us and only 8 days left until the Big day is here. Are you ready for it? Have you bought all the presents your gonna buy for your loved ones and closest friends? Did you manage to get the tree up this year? Or are you like me right now feeling a bit humdrum about the whole thing?

Ill be straight up honest, I have not been feeling very festive this year, the whole year in general has been a bit hit and miss on the seasonal celebrations. Life is moving more quickly than I initially had thought it possibly ever could, the more I try to tackle and do things the more quickly time passes and I am left feeling even more exhausted and tired and it doesnt seem I got anything done. I am certain alot of you folks probably feel that same way. 

What exactly is it? Is it the negative news that keeps bombarding us with its ho hum messages of constant defeat and negativity? Is this cancel culture attitude playing into the way people are treating one another, or Covid and the pressure to vaccinate or not vaccinate.. maybe?What I do know, is that this past year has been a emotionally, spiritually and physically exhausting one for me and my family.. Without to much detail, lets put it this way.. Inconsistent sleep of a 8 month old, constant bickering and very poor less than grateful attitudes from two boys and the deaths of beloved pets, and people have played a big part in the not having a happy happy joy joy kinda year. This year has been more or less a feeling of merely surviving than thriving.. and its quite plain to see... with my lack of Christmas Spirit this year. 

  So this Christmas, I decided to scale back on going all out in the decorating department, and turn the focus on keeping things very simple. I canceled what would have been our 9th year of the Boys Vs Girls Gingerbread Building Contest... I limited the tree decorating to a Let It Snow Theme, and hung up but very little decor and only that which sparked a Let It Snow . As far as gifts are concerned, we are limiting that too.. We typically buy all the kids something to wear, want, need and read.. this year we are making it a "BackYard Fun" Theme.. We decided we will take one of the paddocks, and turn it into an expansion for the back yard. My Mother is gifting the littlest ones with a Play land they can grow with, we are purchasing a tether ball set for the bigger kids, with hopes of having a nice back yard for fun and games for years to come.

In spite of what is going on in our life right now thats caused alot of drama, sorrow and stress..One thing for sure is God is still Good, He Is Still On The Throne, and He Loves You and Me!!