Up in the morning, coffee in hand, and a fire going in the wood stove, like I do every morning. The quiet of morning is broken by the arrival of the children on the scene, the cat’s meowing at them, and the rising crackle of the fire. Youngest wants help getting cereaal down rom the shelf, and oldest can’t be bothered. The fire burns hotter. It has to, in order to clean out the soot that has built up in the chimney overnight while it smoldered just enough to keep the chill of the house. Maybe the kids just need to clean their soot out too. It’s all part of waking up.
Today is the last full, normal day of my sister-in-law being with us from the UK. It is hard to keep her from doing certain things around the house, such as wanting to help with painting, or doing the dishes, taking out the rubbish, or bringing in the day’s firewood haul from the wood pile. I wonder to what extent we have been spoiled by her being here, and how we are all going to miss her for the jobs she just assumed when she got here. I think we will know the answer to that before a week is up.
Our home has been warmed with her laughter, and her upbeat spirit, and her down to earth nature. At the same time, I only hope that while she has been with us, it has given her a break in her own life in the UK, giving her a chance to stretch her legs out a little, and relax her mind, ready for her next step there in her post Uni life.
Our youngest daughter is starting to read, a little late, but she is showing progress, and that is very exciting. I sit wth her to read each day now, and I am just beginning to try to encourage her to read the words around her in her environment as well. I think it is going to open the world up to her in ways her mind has not yet imagined. But to know this child is to know that she is already brilliant and imaginitive without being able to write it down, or pick up even more through her reading.
Our oldest is right to her lessons already. She has figured out that she can get her lessons done first thing, and be free for the day to do as she pleases. She is one of those meticulos students who is going to end up with a strong practical knowledge base because she keeps practicing at it. At the same time, she is the one who can get up in the morning, prep a loaf of bread, and have it made ready for hot service at lunchtime.
Another light is on in the house now, as the youngest has gone into the parlour to do her studies. The temperature in the room is rising to the radiant heat from the stove, and the light from the windows is showing the world beyond our home in greater detail. The snowy blanket of winter has not given way to the recent warm spell we have had here, and practical winter pessimism keeps my hopes in check.
It is wonderful that in our homeschooling situation, we will have no trouble stepping out long enough to get my wife’s sister to the airport. We can’t go long because of the homestead, though. The animals will want feeding, and will need us back before too long. I have to check the weather forecast aand assure that we are not likely to come back to frozen pipes in the house. If so, we will leave the water running at aa drizzle while we are gone. These are just some of the everday things we have to think about just to take an extended day and a half away.
I feel like this year holds more potential for us than any yet. We are on our feet, but it is time to put more than our feet on the ground to support us. Yesterday the garden seeder arrived, and I assembled it easily. It only needed the handles put together and on. I want to start seeding larger gardens with the proper spacing for easy weed control. Gardening is only one way we can establish a better life for ourselves. I am optimistic that this year will be productive there.
There are a million other things we want to be able to produce on our farm, too. I think that if all goes to plan, we will be able to better set ourselves up for it all.
As well as the many things we want to establish, there are several things that need to be de-established as well. We have too many pigs, and too many chickens that require daily effort, and contribute to pinning us to the farm and preventing even the shortest periods away. Grazing livestock does not do that, so the llamas and the horse are okay. The goats also require daily attention, but they can be put in a place where that is not so. The ducks and geese are also in a sort of middle place that way. If they can be left, they need to be set up so. It would be good to be able to find a time of year after all that when we can get away for a couple of days and take at least a small break from the farm.
In unrelated news, we may have found a much safer and somewhat simpler solution to our wood gathering for winter heat. The dump down in Logan, Utah has an amazing pile of wood! I suspect from what we saw there late last year, it is more than they can handle. If I make a consistent go at running down with the trailer and picking some up, I could get us a year or two ahead. The only big problem I see is the loading. Maybe because the wood is wet, which I have generally been restricted from in the mountains, it is as heavy as can be. But it is in the ground, thus safer than felling trees beyond cellular range. So it is better, still.
The wood in Logan raises questions of availability of raw resources to process into sell-able goods. If we can get the finances arranged, a wood lathe may come into play to help us along the way. I’d like to see that happen. There are many other things to do with such a supply of wood as well. But gathering it and a few tools needs sorting out first.
Last thing to say this morning is that I am trying to sort out myself so I can get more blog posts up. There are stupidly frustrating things that slow me down. Things such as the keyboard on the device I am using is proned to insert the letter m in place of a space between words under the careful tap of my thumb to the space bar. The device as an attachable proper keyboard, but it stopped working correctly ages ago. It only works intermittently as it does not make the proper electronic connection to the device’s metal connection points. It is a mass of problems like this, and it is tiresome. I just want to sit and write, comfortably, and without constantly having to fix something to make a simple task happen.
Right, I am going to leave this now, and get the day going, and make breakfast for Missus.
Kelsey