A bit of snow dusts
the ground about, cold and white
but only slightly.
January morn'
we greet you anew like old,
this face familiar.
Moon still bright above
I embrace your true beauty.
I cling to my door.
This winter face shows
me once again all I have.
Cold showing me warmth.
Alas my mornings keep rushing by. No time for words or quiet contemplation, just "Hurry up girls! We're going to be late!"
Never thought that my resolution to write each morning would be as hard to keep as exercising especially since I enjoy the writing much more than exercise. It all boils down to time vs. a need for sleep. The luxury to sit quietly alone is a pricey commodity.
That's my one big complaint, not enough time to enjoy a moment before having to jump to the next. I suppose the fact that I have time to think about that in itself means I have much more than others have who can't even catch a breath or pause to think about it.
I think too that much of my rushing is my own making, also very related to "stuff". The constant sorting and shifting of stuff consumes my free time. I have been realizing that I am going to have to simply sort some things out the door if I want to finally be able to enjoy the really important things.
That's easier said than done though when two people come together who tend to save everything and know that either through art, gardening or otherwise there's a good chance we'll "need" that later. Then there's the fact that we have raised two similar minded kids, especially Gabs who tends to keep everything down to broken crayons. I think we could enjoy creating in our favorite mediums much more if we pared our tools down to the most useful and important.
Once again I can maybe see some draw to the Amish/Shaker way of life. Simple home equals simplified mind. Well maybe uncluttered mind. Either way the extra breathing room and or room to think would be wonderful.
So I think I have talked myself into realizing that if I really want more free time I'm going to have to do the work to find it. Clutter, while not alone, is one of the culprits in stealing my time. I think I know what I need to start doing this weekend.
Up slowly today. Even the roosters seem quiet. Standing in the sun streaming through the kitchen door, the light falling just right to keep my coffee warm.
I bet if I looked deeply into the caramel colored swirl I can read my future..."you will drink coffee tomorrow." Wow! How does it know? I only wish it would forsee my house magically cleaning itself back up. It still looks like Christmas exploded in here. Oh well.
In complete disregard for the disorder in my home I got to use my Christmas toy the other day for the first time. Dennis got me a dremel which I love! I only did a few swipes because I was inside. Still have to get the electricity ran to the building so I can have power, light and heat. It's going to be a learning curve and I know I'll need goggles and a mask but as a wise woman once said, "the possibilities are endless! " I want to work with it more today but tomorrow is back to the grind for all of us.
There's laundry to do, outfits to put in cubbies for the week, dinners and lunch to plan (we're going to try and get back on the health bandwagon). I also need to get everyone up and going if we're going to church today. Time to pull Gabs away from My Little Pony and the two sleeping beauties out of bed. Despite what the song says it can't always be Sunday Fun Day. But it is a good day. Lazy or not, wishing for craft time or not, the sun is shining, we aren't trapped by snow, we're all warm, safe, overly well fed and my coffee cup is full with possibilities! Here's to the new week and New Year!
Selling Eggs Won't Make You Rich
A couple of people have asked me about how and why we started raising chickens and thus selling eggs. I can tell you it was never with the idea of getting rich in mind. This is a hobby for us. Dennis loves caring for them, the chickens are really relaxing to watch. Funny I know but they're like goldfish in that respect. I enjoy watching them meander about and like to photograph them, especially since Dennis has selected our flock for not just hardiness but also pretty colors and pretty eggs. The eggs are the other main reason for us raising the chickens.
Fresh Eggs Taste Better
Of course it's a matter of opinion but as far as I am concerned fresh farm or backyard raised eggs taste better. I actually didn't like to eat eggs by themselves before tasting this kind. For me many store bought eggs taste and smell sulphury. I didn't say all, but many.
I also love to bake and I think these bake up better. Having a ready supply of healthy, golden orangish yolked eggs for a Baker is pretty cool. Higher quality ingredients makes for a better end product.
All that in mind we are up to thirty some odd chickens and unless I get more time and a certified kitchen I won't be using that many eggs a week so we decided to sell some of them. Like I said you won't get rich selling eggs. We would have to get quite a few more layers, start buying seed and feed in bulk, get another fridge for storage and start going to some of the larger farmers markets to truly make any kind of profit. Still, even with that, factoring in everything you put into it it's not a get rich quick scheme.
I'm not trying to keep you from raising chickens. I just think you should go into it knowing what you want to get out of it. We raise them for fun, to have access to our own fresh eggs and have just a big enough flock that selling some of the eggs allows us to break even after feed, care time etc.
If you're wanting to do it as a business you need to really get the background information on the selling side. You can only sell so many out of your own home and not get into the tax issue. Notice I said out of your own home. Putting the eggs in a building outside of your home also brings up taxing and business laws.
Obviously I am biased in my information resources but If you really want to know more you should check with your local extension office. They are a great resource for learning the rules of small farm business, catering and more. They also have great classes on all these types of topics. The Library will also have great books on where you can get started and quite possibly has a librarian on staff that is passionate about your topic. And I'll tell you that if you don't see a book or resource on what you need to know request it. Our library and pretty much all others I know of want to offer what the public needs. If they don't have it there's a hole in the collection. Your request will help them fill it.
If you want to do it for fun and personal egg supply it's really pretty easy. You don't have to have a huge space, nor do you need a rooster. A person could raise a few chickens in their own backyard pretty easily. Of course you should abide by your local guidelines regarding this... I will say that hens are pretty quiet for the most part though. Some might even say "Covert". Kept in a fenced area that doesn't interfere with your neighbors I personally don't think there's any reason everyone shouldn't have the ability to raise a few chickens to keep their family in eggs. That's just my two cents worth though.
So it's the new year and I'm finally able to sit on the couch with my cup of Community Coffee , which I have to admit the commercials don't lie it's great (heavy cream and sugar don't hurt) bacon is in the oven, sausage in a frying pan too, cooking alongside a pan of fried apples. Just put the biscuits in and Dennis is going to make gravy, which I have no shame in saying, I can make but he makes better.
We're having a New Years brunch. We promised this to the hosts of our New Years Eve party last night, Tori and Gabs. They had a bedroom party (see the pictures below) which consisted of chips, dip, veggies, Christmas candy, Gabs sharing her coveted can of popcorn and a countdown to a YouTube video of the ball dropping around 8 pm, via the 2013 drop.
Tori is finally up. While the party only lasted around 40 minutes neither girl would go to sleep until after 11 and she, albeit not Gabs because she was up at 8:30, is tired. So here we are, waiting for the biscuits to brown. Everyone in their respective little electronic caves or one just too grumpy to talk until she gets her blood sugar back up. Not too bad a start to 2016.
I won't say I have resolutions,because I think that may jinx me, but I have plans. The usual. Get on budget, get healthy, get the house organized and clean, get me organized. I also want to get in the habit of getting up earlier so I make sure I can write and maybe just maybe start doing some sort of exercise. Right now my brain is all into this more because of the unusual decent weather than the fact that it's the first day of the year. My vitamin D is up and so far the seasonal affective disorder doesn't seem too bad. One good side effect of global warming I guess.
So good morning 2016. I'm still a neurotic mess but I'm a mess with a plan!
