Intelligent Barnyard Animals = not food?

     I have seen many articles concerning the viewpoint that many of the barnyard animals we raise for consumption have a higher intelligence than most give credit for. This is the rational for not being able to eat them versus the cat or dog. An article of persuasion to stop consuming meat. So I am one who raises several barnyard animals solely for consumption. Pigs are in a way similar to dogs in their composition. They enjoy seeing you when greeted. They will lay to get their bellies scratched. It is all very amusing and delightful, but they have a purpose here. And that is to feed my family. While they are being raised here they are being treated with the due respect they deserve. They have a good life while they are here with us, unlike their cousins inside a factory that grocery stores buy from. My arguments to vegans is this....a vegetable is alive. Does it have intelligence? Maybe; maybe not. But you are still consuming something that is alive. Should I judge you for eating vegetables and plants. How about the millions of trees that you use daily to write a letter or build your home with. I believe as a human being we were built to consume both vegetables and meat. Our bodies need both for proper survival. We can live a long life eating either or, but is it quality? So why do people make these arguments? To persuade to not eat meat? I would rather people be persuaded to stop buying from the grocery stores and start raising your own animals for meat. It is a matter of opinion, and I am so tired of seeing these articles that try to deter people from doing what nature intends us to do because of an opinion.

Dreams and Goals

Knowing what to do in life can be a big challenge. I know what I want out of life. I want to be a good wife and mom. I want to tend to the home; cook, clean, bake...I want to tend to the homestead. I have these things, but things that I did prior to getting these things is causing me inner stress. Prior to getting our homestead I began school, because I was tired of living pay to pay and never accomplishing anything that we wanted. Our dream was to have land and be self sufficient, but we did not have the means to do that. Until the fateful day that we literally stumbled upon our land. Now, I am pursuing an education that is useless for me. I understand that education is never useless, and I may need it someday. I am just heartsick over the debt I caused my family due to what I thought was needed back then. I will begin to have to pay on my loans this fall. This hurts me because the point of this lifestyle is to work out of debts. So I think about what I may be able to do out of the home so that my degree is not useless. I will not feel as burdened by the debt if I am actually using it somehow. The problem is, what can I do with it at home? My AA is in business. So I suppose that selling homesteading goodies out of my home could be considered using my degree in a sense. It just isn't enough though. I have been trying for years to get my name out there to sell baked goods and it is a hit and miss thing. It is not enough to sustain us financially. So what do I do now? Do I continue schooling? Do I continue trying to find some kind of work at home opportunity? Do I keep trying to promote my baked goods? Or all of the above?  If I could supplement our income, the loan debt would not be as much of a burden, at least in my own mind. I know I need to sharpen my skills for baking. I would love to do wedding/occasion cakes from the home. I believe I have the skill, but I'm lacking in experience and proper equipment. I believe if I had the proper tools I could develop my ability and be able to make a decent living. I would also continue selling cookies, breads, etc. Another dream I have is to try my hand at wine making. I would like to be able to profit on that as well, but that is years to come as we just began our orchard. We would need to plant a lot more fruit to make it profitable. Our homesteading goals is not for profit. Our goals is to be self reliant, but if I could help us financially by using our land and abilities we would be able to stay home eventually and live the life that we have been striving for.

The Overwhelmed Housewife

     My home is overwhelming to me, and with the life we are leading it should not be. I just do not know how to get past the overwhelming feelings I get towards our home. I begin by trying Monday mornings to get the home clean. It is a task to get the three main rooms clean the correct way. The week consists of the gathering of much clutter that comes with having a large family. I am ok with clutter if it had its place. I have tried several times to create a place for clutter; to organize it. It just does not seem to stay the way I put it. I get to a point where I give up and just tidy up so the home is livable, until I can't take much more and do another full day of deep cleaning come Monday morning. It seems to last a day. Then things begin to pile where it shouldn't; dirt, papers, toys, food, odds and ends accumulate to the point I get exhausted. I know my role is to continue day and night to pick up after it. This is the only way to stay on top of it. It is how any good housewife and mother does it. My Grandma did it, my mother did it...so why do I have a hard time? It goes back to motivation I guess. I need to get back into a mindset of early rising and getting work done first thing, most of which would be done before the husband and kids rise for the day. I started a good "schedule" a few months back. I got pretty motivated, but I exhausted myself and it has been hard to get back into the routine again. I disappoint myself as a housewife and mother for not staying on top of things like I need to; like I want to. I aspire to be like my Grandmother. The prime example of how I want to live. When she began her family she was taking care of elderly folk in her home for income. They were family in her eyes though. She would be up and ready by 3 am - 4 am everyday. By the time her 3 children and husband was up for the day she would of had 2 or 3 loads of laundry done, and not just clothes, bed sheets, towels, etc.. She ironed everything, had bread baking, breakfast going and dinner started. Home was picked up, dusted, vacuumed/swept, dishes washed mostly all before the rooster crows. The rest of the day was maintaining, cooking, and any other chore of the day. This is my inspiration I need to live up to. So how do I do it and stay sane? I just do it. The trick is to continue it and not give up in frustration. It does feel great to get up and shower and get myself looking nice, getting the home cleaned up first thing and be able to enjoy being in our home. I do not enjoy it when I know I have been lazy with it. Another excuse I let myself have is that I am so tired come Monday morning after working 24+ hours over the weekend. My job is physical and can be very emotionally draining as well. To begin first thing Monday morning can be a hard challenge, but I know it is just mental. It is a mental block I need to fight past. Thankfully, my grandmother is supposed to come for a visit this upcoming Monday morning. It is going to make me get out of bed early and clean. I refuse to have my "perfect" grandma come and view me as a disaster. I know she does not view me this way as she tells me how good of a mama I am all the time, but my home looks nothing like her home. That is what I want to achieve and I believe with the right motivation and aspiration I will do it correctly forever.

The Wonders of Goats

     Our goat adventure has kept us on our toes since day one. First with a little escape artist the day we brought them home to now a sickly one. We began to notice that his "poo" was not right since the day he came home. Goats are supposed to poop berries, and his was clumpy. So we kept a close eye on him and it began to turn to diarrhea. Something of which could be deadly for goats. We have been researching and keeping a very close eye on the lil guy. He was beginning to be on the lethargic side and food and water did not seem important anymore. This is when my concern turned to worry. We stopped his feed and only offered him hay and water with electrolytes. He gave me encouragement as he was up and about now and again nibbling on some hay. Still having diarrhea and on the lethargic side we decided we should get him medicine. So here comes the challenge, because although our lil girl can not get enough human attention the two males are not so sure yet. The sick male even more so than the other male.
                                         

                                             The curious male

                                             
                                             Our shy and sick male

                                             Friendly lil girl

We bought them each a brand new collar to assist in walking them and tying them to the post to work on them easier. We started with our friendly girl and gave her the medicine, which she gladly accepted. Over comes the curious black male sniffing, but not too sure of what was going on. Even our sick lil one came over to investigate. Thankfully after trying to lure him over with feed to catch him he decided to go into his house on his own. Then we were able to go in and corner him. My husband was able to catch him, and while he held him in his arms I was able to get the medicine in him successfully. Catching him tonight may pose a greater challenge though, but it is necessary to get him healthy. So my hope is now that we got this dose into him and another today that we will begin to see a difference in him soon. What will be our next adventure with these lil guys?

School Decisions

     I still find myself trying to make a concrete decision on whether to homeschool or not. There are several reasons why I should and should not..As I have said, the reasons I should outway the should not's, but that does not make it any easier to jump in feet first. When I think about it and research the things I want to do and buy for school I get excited. When I think about all the educational journeys I can take them on excites me. I have so many ideas, but get scared that I'll let them down, hence letting myself down. I do worry about taking that "school" experience away from them, but that is coming from someone who attended public school; never excelled myself and had many educational difficulties, which turned my school experience into something it should not have been. I want to encourage outside activities, because I want them to experience social situations outside of their brothers and sisters. I want them to be prepared for the world around them bad and good.  I think my main worry is not having what they will need or what I will need to teach what is needed. At this point my plan is to purchase some books and workbooks, and a laptop/printer. I want to teach them on my own terms while abiding by my state's demands at the same time. My initial thought is to have 2 days of teaching. For instance...Monday I will "teach" math, science, art, and Wednesday I will teach history, language arts/reading. Tuesday will be devoted to seat work focused on Mondays lessons..Thursday will be seat work focused on Wednesdays lessons..Friday will be physical education and outing to a place focused on the week/months lesson. This is just a rough thought of what I'd like to do. Obviously this can and probably will change according to needs and wants as we do this. I've learned that homeschooling does not need to mimic Public School, which is a mistake for beginner homeschoolers. My ultimate goal is to teach what they need to learn no matter how they need to learn it. I want to spend time in the woods learning about everything around us. I can incorporate almost every lesson of every subject somehow within the boundaries of the forest. That is exciting. It is thinking outside the box; outside the bounds of the brick and mortar. It is a mindset that I have to allow myself to have to be able to accomplish it the way I want it to for them and me.

Our new "kids"

This past weekend my awesome hubby and kids worked hard in the sweltering heat and humidity to get a goat pen and home up and ready for our newest arrivals to our homestead. While I was at work they prepared the pen and built their home mostly without a hitch! It is beautiful as my Hubby has become quite the craftsman. He doesn't realize it, but I am so proud of what he does and what he has accomplished. Before I arrive home Sunday he picked up two of the billies and one decided to be a "free spirit". He found a nice little hole to squeeze himself out of. It was not till I got home that we could trap him using another piece of panel. Before we could even get excited for catching him, he popped himself out again. So we figured we would let him be as he stayed at the pen with the other billie.  I figured if he could get out he could also get back in himself. So he spent the night outside the pen and most of the next day. I guess he began to get bored and thirsty I imagine so he did go in. I immediately blocked the panels to avoid another espace. We double paneled the pen when Hubby got home, and I think its safe to say at this point that they are content. Monday we picked up our female who is more human than goat! She loves the company of people, but I think has taken nicely to her new found friends. Last night we made a nice little climbing area to keep them occupied. Unfortunately they did not get to play too long as a storm came in and they did not want to play in the storm!

Husband and wife

Sometimes it's hard to take a step back and let our husbands lead...I am a believer in having the man in our lives be the head of the household and let him be our guide and strength as a family. Sometimes it is hard when you feel as if you can make a better decision for something, or see something completely different than your husband does. That happens on occasion with my husband and I, but I take a step back to try and not come across as being bossy etc.. I try to incorporate my ideas to our life to try and give a different insight to give a possible better result to something we are doing. I have found though that sometimes it is better just to let him lead and do what he feels necessary for us. There are things I can quietly do to ensure this or that, but sometimes it is not worth the disagreement. Now, let me clarify because I do not want to sound like a wife that cannot have a mind or thought. My husband wants my opinions and suggestions, but  understand that he is the brains of the family. He is intelligent and smart and 9 times out of 10 his ways of doing things works very well. Thus, why I usually let him just lead on most projects. I am "in charge" of many things here around the homestead. I am in charge of the kids well being and nurturing needs, the food and baking, the home in general which would include the cleaning, laundry, hopefully homeschooling will be added to this list, etc...I do think about how I would have gone about what we have done so far on our homestead and I would have done things completely different. In my opinion we are doing thing right off the bat too fast. I feel other things needed accomplished first before we do the thing that we have done already. But again, that is just me. We are a partnership and I cherish that partnership. I know he incorporates my ideas and thoughts into our life, just as I incorporate his thoughts and ideas. I think during the time we've been married we have truly learned how to sacrifice for one another, we have learned how to listen to one another, and find that balance that comes with marriage and intertwining lives and personalities. At times I know I inadvertently make him feel bad. I am a pro at talking about things at the most inopportune time. I just have a habit of bringing something up if it pops into my head. I don't wait for the "right" time I guess. It is something I am working on because I hate when I make him feel less than, even if that is not my intention.

Some pictures of our homestead

The beginning of our garden this year

Cooking over the fire while my son collects sticks

Chickens awaiting being let out for the day

Piggies

Ducks enjoying the sun

Our newest fluffy members of the family

Help fund our homestead

http://www.gofundme.com/3dm5xg

Please take a moment to look at this link. It is a fundraiser to assist my family in achieving our homesteading goals. We have started a wonderful lifestyle and we have accomplished so much, but have so far to go. It is an honor to bring our children up knowing the old ways of life and teach them the value of hard work, dedication, and respect. Any contribution to our lil homestead is greatly appreciated and will be put to good use for our needs to be self-reliant on our land. Thank you all for following me on this journey.

To do list

Today did not begin the way I was planning all weekend. Today is supposed to be the start of getting back into a good routine. I had hoped to be up early before the kids so I could have that "me" time for at least an hour before the crew wakes. I had a bad several weeks, and had a lack of motivation to say the least. I will get done what needs done today though. I have to get a deep clean on the kitchen and reorganize and clean the living room. I'll have the girls clean their rooms and bathroom today. It does not look like I will get laundry done since it is raining. I will however wash hubby's work pants for tomorrow at least. I need to bake a couple loaves of bread. One to sell and one or two for the house. I'm still working on my bread making skills. My white bread is either too light or too dense. It's always yummy though:)

Rain, rain, and more rain....

Last year our crops seemed to burn up right in front of our eyes due to the heat and lack of rain, this year so far it is the complete opposite. Rain is abundant so far this summer. There was just over a week of uninterrupted sun with worry that we would have a repeat of last year, but so far that is not the concern. My worry now is drowning our poor lil plants in all this water. It is hurting my need to get laundry done as well. I do not have a washer and a dryer. I hand wash all my clothes using a washboard and plunger method. I had to sadly break down and take a load to the laundromat last week because my clothes stayed wet all week! The simple life is not so simple sometimes:)