My Mornings

Well, it is no longer light at 5:00 am and it certainly isn’t as warm/dry. But other than that my mornings are just about the same. Seven.days.a.week.

I wake up somewhere between 5:00 and 5:30. After the usual shower and getting dressed I sit down in the “sun room” (can it really be called a sun room when it is still O’dark thirty?) and do my Bible study. If I am really on top of things I’ll get a head start on my Latin homework. It is really annoying but my boys can do it so much faster than I can so I try to get a head start so I’m not left in the dust.

Once the sun has risen enough to head to the barn without a flashlight I go outside. I am immediately greeted by Luke.

He whines and paws me for attention.

He wants to be petted in a bad way. It is as if he is saying “All night long I have been without petting. I need a bunch and I need it NOW.”

This takes a few minutes and in the mean time kitty sneaks into the house.

Once Luke allows me to divert my attention for a few seconds I get kitty outside and feed him.

Then I attempt to put on my boots. Luke of course does all he can to stop me because he still needs a lot more petting. He will get between me and my boots, knock my boots over, sit on my boots. As a last resort he will go over to the cat food and start to eat it. I tell him to stop at which point he runs back over to me wanting more petting. If he doesn’t get it he goes back to the cat food (all the while glancing back to see if I notice) and then I tell him to stop which he takes as an invitation to more petting.

Finally. I can head out to the barn. Mornings lately have been foggy and damp.

I don’t mind the fog. I think it looks pretty cool.

Now when the constant rain comes that will be a very different story.

My morning barn duties include opening up the barn doors so they get some fresh nice smelling air. I top off all the water buckets and hay feeders. I sweep off the poop that they leave on their benches. Twice a week both boys and girls get a little bit of grain with an herbal worm formula in it.

Aren’t they cute?

Then it is off to the chickens. I feed them a fermented chicken feed. Basically it is just chicken feed soaked in water. We call it “gruel”. It makes the feed more digestible and brings out a lot more of the vitamins and minerals. I do this because it is better for them. Then I open the door to their enclosed outside area. Put more dry feed in the water and clean up a bit.

All of this takes about a half hour. Since it isn’t light until almost 7:00 I usually have to rush back to the house to wake the boys up at 7:30.

By then the fog has lifted.

So, it isn’t as easy as life was in the city. And it is an every day thing, but the animals are so cute and so loving that it makes it enjoyable.

Just a little peak into life on our farm.

Enjoy the day,

Karen