It’s the New Year! Time to re-evaluate the previous year and plan ahead for what’s to come. Organization and planning are key to making the homestead run efficiently, although I will proclaim I am not that good and will probably always be a work in progress.
The first week of the year is nearly gone and this week has been a week of finalizing much of the 2018 paperwork. New seed catalogs are arriving in the mail making my heart giddy for the upcoming planting season. One of the goats is beginning to bag up (for my non-farmers that means her udder is getting larger), and she should be kidding (giving birth to goat babies) in about two weeks. Chickens are beginning to lay eggs again as the number of light hours once again increases each day. The Americana hens, yet again this year, are the first to lay. I so love that breed!
The weather has been cold, damp and overcast. For many of you over 50 with bad knees, you know what this means. Yes, they hurt. No, I won’t stop. Once I’m moving, it’s all good. It’s the getting moving in the morning that’s the hard part. I’m not complaining. I choose my lifestyle, and I wouldn’t live any other way. I have started getting up very early and going out to take pictures in the early morning light. Not only is the lighting better in the morning, but it is peaceful in the morning and the hiking seems to loosen my knees up for the day. I have especially enjoyed hiking at Seven Points, Lake Raystown Region this week. The clouds laid low over the Appalachian Mountains and the mist was, well, mystifying.
In the office I have been working on the new website. So, if you are reading this post, welcome to the new website. It’s not all complete, but take a look around and let me know what you think. I have been listening to all the comments and criticisms and taking everything to heart. I will try to give more detail as to the happenings at the homestead this year. I think I got off track last year, and I thank those who pointed out that they want to know what is done around here. Sometimes when you live it daily it becomes ordinary. I did not realize that I was leaving gaps and that some of you were yearning for more information. I am so grateful that several of you have taken the time to put me back on track. I will try to be better this year, but feel free to contact me if you want more information on a topic or if you see me wandering off course.
While we are on the topic of communication, I want to apologize and explain why I am not always available at a moment’s notice. The increased popularity of Pioneer Mountain Homestead on the social media accounts has been a total blessing. However, this has also generated traffic significantly and unexpectedly. I am not complaining, and please don’t think I am ungrateful. However, at any given hour of the day, I receive many messages, texts, emails, etc. I have had backlogs of 40-50 messages per day in the past month and I simply cannot get to them all in a timely manner. Additionally, I have been dealing with excessive migraines for the past month. The headaches are the result of a neck injury from a vehicle accident well over a decade ago and seem to flare up occasionally. On days with headaches I focus on getting the minimum done (primarily dealing with the animals), but this means other work gets backlogged. All I can say is I am trying, folks. You and your messages are very important to me. I do read them all, and I cannot express how much I appreciate you taking the time. For those that knew about my headaches and sent words of kindness, a big thank you and virtual hug to all of you. I was very touched.
I will sign off for now as this blog I believe is getting a little long. I will try to post regularly, so please check back. I hope you all had a lovely holiday season and I wish you all a happy, healthy new year! Take care. – Bee
