The blog has been thoughtfully quiet for a few months. With hubby and me both being immersed in our busy season at work, we barely have a spare minute, so our world sort of goes in to hibernation. We do the minimum at home, on the farm, with our family, with everything. But finally, just as the tulips begin their sudden bloom, the deadline passes, our work eases, and we have this glorious gift of time returned to us.

 But time on the farm must be managed quickly, we have goals after all. Well, maybe I have goals and everyone else just goes along for the ride. The planting season is limited. The summer will be here quickly. We would like to grow enough food to feed us for the year. We would like to have all our animals procreate. We would like to raise and butcher 1,000 chickens. We would like to raise fresh turkeys for Thanksgiving. Simple things really. Of course for me, I’d also like to repaint every room in the house, do a major overhaul clean out of excess stuff that we don’t need, take a vacation, learn how to make goat cheese and soap, and redo all the flower beds. Oh yes, I still have a business to run, with another set of goals there. When I write it all down, I realize why my brain feels a bit overwhelmed. I’m really great at making lists, I do alright at checking off tasks, and I always seem to have more commitments than I can fulfil. I’m working on that.

 So when my lists seem to be never ending, I try to make another list (I really like lists) of all of the accomplishments or tasks that have been completed. It makes the undone tasks feel better when I focus on the tasks that are done. So this is where we are. The seeds have been planted. There is a makeshift growing room off the living room. The second goat is pregnant. The first one actually delivered a few weeks ago, but we barely had time to be concerned. To be honest, I had no idea she was even close to delivering, it was a total surprise. Amy, the pig, is pregnant. That’s a happy surprise because we had to process Hank unexpectedly when he came up lame. We are happy he made his mark before leaving us. There are chickens everywhere. I mean literally everywhere. Hundreds of chickens.  We will process the first round in a few weeks and more are in waiting and on order. Turkeys are coming soon. As my husband says, “I think we are a real farm now.”  He’s right. We are a real farm.  There’s lots we still need to do, lots of tasks to check off the lists, and lots we still have to learn.  But I guess we might actually be … a real farm.