That mommy camel and I, we are both hoping that summer comes soon so we can shed some extra baggage. She is looking a bit haggard gazing off into the distance with her little one by her side wondering what she should do next; feed the kid, clean, laundry, work, finish a project…okay just stare into the distance, that’s really the best thing.
I think I’ve discovered that three is my limit for everything. Once I exceed three I’m toast. I find myself saying, “Oh CRAP! I forgot about that !” a lot these days. A lot.
I just hope I can get past May 15th, which is the final track meet of the season, without completely losing my mind.
I’m way behind on farm stuff and that makes me sad, so sad that I’m starting to panic a bit, so….might as well make a list.
Spring Panic List
1. Get the dad gum frickin’ garden planted!
2. Find two blasted pigs!
3. Mow..mow…and then mow again and then rake up all the gosh darn clippings!
4. April, you can’t raise meat chickens if you don’t go get them!!!
5. The orchard…remember how you were going to treat the orchard this year?
6. The bees…why Clay? Why did we get bees?
7. The porch, it’s rotting. Will we start that project before or after somebody falls through and breaks a hip?
Oh, gosh, I have to stop before I have a nervous break down and I just realized I have one hour to take a shower, clean my house for company tonight, go to the store and get to school to sub in a classroom. It’s all good right? Right? RIGHT?
One day at a time.
Need a Chicken Doctor?
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Oh my! My heart started racing, just reading your list. Maybe the next track practice needs to be farm work. They need to work a different set of muscles. Right? You can sell that, can’t you?
Whoa – the only camels I’ve seen have been in North Africa, where I guess they look different, ’cause at first glance I was worried something was terribly wrong with your camels. I’m glad she’s just concerned about you and your massive to-do list. Good luck!
I am right there with ya! My husband and I are trying to manage our 120 tree orchard, horses and fix our front porch before the slab falls out from under the Fed Ex guy……and clean the house and fix the broken toliet, broke tractor, broken microwave and dishwasher………
Isn’t there some way you can get all those track kids over to your house for some “volunteer work”?
Yes, one day at a time.
One thing you learn in your forties is to start saying “No” more often and to delegate so that you aren’t killed by fifty.
1. It’ll be okay if the garden is a little late. Lots of heat in summer in Kansas and it’ll catch up, right? Also this is why you had kids.
2. If the pigs are older than weaners when you get them it’s that much less feed you need to buy. Just make sure they are castrated.
3. THIS is why you had kids.
4. They’ll be hatching all summer.
5. You can spray sun oil later.
6. Clay’s job.
7. Clay’s job.
There ya go. Now take yourself out to lunch and stare into the distance some more.
Take each of these jobs and divide out a portion of the task to each person in your family if applicable. The garden is the easiest to divide. Remember, no one said it has to be done all in one shot. One kid can do prep on the evening they don’t have an activity. Next kid can week. Next kid can rake etc. Apply this formula to every task. Obviously some can only be done by Clay, yourself and your oldest ones.
Also, swap for some help with a neighbor, Amish-style. A six pack of beer brings all the boys to the yard:) Promise honey for help with the bees. Promise a chicken for something else. You can do it.
Holy smokes. One day at a time? How ’bout one task at a time. Good luck – you’ll make it.
I can’t tell ya how much staring off in the distance I’ve been doing – apparently looking for my brain or something. Totally with ya chick. I’ve been trying to focus on just one thing at a time but it’s difficult, still trying though.
So glad to know I’m not alone.
Ha ha, I love the people who suggest you divide the chores among the children. Yes, you should, but that will require twice as much work on your part. The only thing that has worked for me on our 80 acre farm is to go out and get a job that pays very well and PAY other people to do the farm work. I no longer run from my car to the house with blinders on so I don’t notice undone chores. Now I can drive up to the house and enjoy the view of my well-tended flower garden (I tend it myself because I have time to do that now), my new porch steps, the trimmed trees, the well-manicured yard. And the farm land is rented out to real farmers. My son, who is now 24, got a big share of the work when he was young. Now he’s looking for a city job where he can wear a suit every day. Some day you’ll be able to sit in your rocking chair and oversee your farm like a queen. It just might take a while.
Oh my… I have a similar Panic List with a deadline of July 1 to get this little homestead shipshape before settling in to have a baby… Aiee.
One step at a time.
I don’t know why we keep bees either sometimes. Did Clay tell you that we lost 12 of our 15 over the winter. So Clint, being Clint, ordered TEN packages of bees and 3 queens to split hives. So, somehow, his math equalled it all going back to the same as last year. I calculate that he snuck in an extra hive. Men.
It is so easy to get overwhelmed. There is always so much to do. You CAN survive track season!
I feel your pain! Good Luck! Oh and wish me luck with my panic list too!
Good luck! I’ll be cheering for you!
It’s that darn subbing that’s putting you in this panic state. Subbing leaves you in suspense. Take a few days off from school and get your real life in a little better order. If you could see me house and yard right now, you would be falling down laughing……and I am retired!! See, it never gets under control. So just enjoy the hectic life you are living, because you are just going to get older and still have the hectic life. It’s glorious. It’s life.
I have your disease except: I lay in my bed and stare at my ceiling in the dark. My list rolls through my head all.night.long. Then when I get up in the morning I forget what it was that kept me awake all night. Until the next night. I would put paper and pencil next to the bed, but it’s illegible when I wake in the morning.
I’m cheering for you to check everything off your list! (I was a too tall cheerleader, too, by the way.)
I’m unemployed (looking for a job)…. too bad I can’t tell that I have any time to fit IN a job. Run, run, run… wish I could get paid for all the stuff I do! And I wonder why I’m stressed?
Oh dear.
Your story gave me an anxiety attack!
They say everything works out…sometimes I thing “they” lie a lot.
Good luck!
lori
My mom puts in her garden late every year, and she still gets a good harvest. It’ll all work out in the end.
First, take a couple of days off from subbing to work on the farm -
Don’t go GET chickens, order them from McMurray Hatchery and they’ll arrive at your door.
Mowing always makes me feel organized. Order the chicks on the ‘net, then mow the yard.
Next day, get the chicks’ place ready for their arrival. While doing that, take a break, make some tea and call around looking for piglets while you’re sippin’.
Don’t do anything about the garden till you’re ready for your chicks. You’ve got all summer to grow your veggies!
You can do it. I envy you – right now we’re still in the looking for a house with a couple of acres to buy stage. Bummer! We used to live on 18 acres, why’d we ever sell? We’re idiots, that’s why. Loved, loved, loved having chickens and a garden.
Most of all, take a deep breath and enjoy yourself and yes, even your labors!
I have faith in you! I know that everything will work out somehow!
You can do it! Let’s hear more about your honeybees!