One step forward

You know, I'm learning to take each day at a time. Some days I feel like I am doing great and some days I feel like a total failure who stays in jammies all day and makes messes when my husband works hard to support us, but there is always another day to try to do better. I'm trying to look at what is realistically achievable for me and look at what my ideal is, then find a middle ground. By taking small daily steps towards what I want without beating myself up when I don't meet my ideal. It is easy to fall into a guilt trap but nothing really changes that way.

I think a important thing is finding balance but balance is not stagnant, it is a constantly changing and shifting thing. So you don't "achieve a balanced life" and get to hang out there, it is something you actively work at constantly, by making adjustments . You balance when you ride a bike or a horse, why would daily life be any different?

 Also no person is going to be able to be awesome in every area of their life, so you have to prioritize. For example I'm sure my husband would like it if I was more into cleaning but I am not so the house is usually fairly messy, not really dirty but messy. Cleaning is boring so gets a lower priority, feeding everyone is important to me so I always have good meals planned.

 In addition to the bare minimum of things I have to do on a daily basis I'm also drawing up a list of monthly goals to work towards so I feel like I am accomplishing things, this is not a thing to beat myself up over but something that encourages me. Some days are harder (today kiddo will not be put down) but I have also found if I am having a reeeeeeeeally hard time doing my chores it is usually because I am not making time for myself, often if I meet my needs (or just some of them) then everything else becomes easier.

I'm also learning to listen to my cravings, for example I recently got obsessed with expensive lingerie, like spending hours lusting over things I can't afford. I spent sometime thinking about it and came up with the word "luxury", I am craving luxury and my daily life isn't providing it, so I am making it a priority to do the things that make me feel beautiful and glamorous. 

fallfallfall

Getting ready for winter, lots to do this time of year such as getting the coops winterized, fixing horse fence, weed whipping fence line, plasticing windows and cleaning up every outside that we don't want buried in snow. I have a list.

We lost some chicks last week, very sad, there were a couple smaller ones in the outdoor coop that got chilled and didn't make it, hazard of starting chicks so late in the year but still hard. Pretty sure my special Silkies and Marans will be inside for ages.

And getting ready for Halloween of course! Smooshy is supposed to be a dragon, I'm making his costume and so far have a bunch of sequins glued to a onesie. We have a Halloween party this weekend and are hosting another next weekend. Uhoh, I guess in a pinch he could be a disco ball.

Smooshy and I just got back from a super fun trip to Ohio, it was a girly trip + one little one, we had a great time adventuring and playing. Plus Mr. Mama and Big Son painted the kitchen while we were gone, hurrah!

It is Smooshy's Half Birthday today! I can't believe he is already six months, wow does time roar by.

chickchickchick

Our last batch of chicks hatched out!

Since I have had several successful batches of chicks, I thought I would do a little post on how I incubate. Successfully incubating eggs varies a lot depending on factors such as your climate and incubator. I am using a Little Giant Foam incubator, which works fine but I saw a comment online about incubators saying the foam incubators had to be watched like a naughty toddler by a swimming pool, which is funny and true because they require quite a bit of fiddling.

I aim to keep the temperature between 100 and 102 degrees, sometimes adjusting it multiple times a day. I have been using a dry hatch method (outlined here)  and it works well, although it can be difficult to keep the humidity low enough during our humid Michigan summers. I tried to keep the humidity around 40 to 45% for the first 18 days and around 65% during lockdown.

This forum has lots of helpful info on all thing chicken http://www.backyardchickens.com/f/5/incubating-hatching-eggs

I couldn't find the breeds I wanted so I bought Silkie and Copper Maran eggs online. My eggs came shipped to me through USPS,  I originally got 19 Silkie and 12 Copper Maran. I candled them at one week and again at 17 days, 10 Silkie and 6 Copper Maran eggs made it to lockdown.

This is how I set the eggs, I hand turn them twice a day about 12 hours apart. I mark them with a pencil, with an x on one side and the date on the other.

 We have two thermometers, a digital one I place on top of the eggs and a digital thermometer/hydrometer to monitor the humidity.  One thing I like about this incubator is the window on top makes it easy to see the temperature without opening it.

On day 18 the eggs go into lockdown, which means higher humidity and no turning. I increased the humidity to around 65% by adding water and arranged the eggs for hatching.

 We have pipping! after the chick pips it needs to rest, but soon it will hatch.

 I use an old metal incubator to dry them off, they need to be totally dry before they go in the brooder. With the high humidity in the incubator I find they dry quicker in here, Also the new chicks have a tendency to crash around and can disrupt the other eggs.You must be careful not to lower the humidity for the remaining hatching eggs if you take out the new chicks.

 cute little things, they are sooooooooo awkward at first.

 

  This is our brooder, they are on pelleted pine bedding,  the cover is to keep the cat and dog from messing with them. Since it is so late in the year they will need to be inside for a couple weeks, usually we let the chicks into the outdoor play cage around a week and a half to two weeks old.

 Closeup of a Silkie chick, they are kinda ridiculously cute

Yay for chicks :)

Morning Chores

I thought today I would take pictures while Smooshy and I did morning chores.

First thing, I turned the eggs in the incubator, they seem to be doing well.

 Next I checked on the baby chicks, most of them hatched out on Monday, they are pretty sensitive for the first couple weeks so you have to be careful the temperature is good and they don't run out of food or water.

 Sadie loves them! She is super gentle with the poultry.

 Nice, healthy baby.

After breakfast I put Smooshy into the Mei Tai, I would never get anything done without it.

We fed and watered big chickens first, here are some pictures of our laying flock. We just added a bunch of new pullets so the mix is quite eclectic, we have Silver, Golden and Blue laced Wyandottes, Ameraucana (Easter Eggers), black Autralorps and some crosses.

 Here is one of the Ameraucana roos, he is cool but I don't think we are going to keep him.

These are the new Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, I really like them. The big chickens stay in their pen for the morning to keep them (the bad Ameraucanas mostly) from laying eggs in the barn, I let them out in the afternoon so they get to free range most of the day.

 Next we went to the small coop to feed and water the little chicks, they are always happy to get their daily greens and I feel it makes a big difference in their health. The larger Ameraucana is a one eyed bird someone gave to us, she gets to play nanny since the big birds pick on her.

 These are some Holland chickens we got in a trade, they are cool but but laying yet and are totally freaked out by people. The roo is supposed to be really mean and aggressive but hasn't acted it yet, they will be transitioned to the big coop soon.

We just finished up painting the little coop, looks nice! especially considering as of this spring it only had three walls.

Joy and Baby Horse waiting for their hay, unfortunately with the drought and paddock stress from having three horses I have had to feed hay much of the summer. They get to go out and graze in the afternoon.

 Poppy and Baby Horse saying "where's our bloody breakfast!"

 Last thing is feeding and watering bunnies, in the summer they get a large amount of grass and fresh stuff, they always have free choice hay. I feel that is especially important for the Angoras as they can get wool block and die.

 This is my cutie pie Silver Fox, she is growing nicely.

So that is it! I let the horses and chickens on pasture during the afternoon and horses get an evening "graining", doing chores in the winter is a little more work.

ZOMG!!!!!!!!!!

I HAVE CHICKIES HATCHING.

After fussing with the incubator for 21 days, my babies are hatching.

first egg pipping

first chick! fresh out of the egg!

Hatching eggs is super fun and I'm getting some Silkie eggs in a couple days, squeeeee!

quick update with chickens

Big surprise, but we have been busy :)

Smooshy is teething and very touchy, so that limits my "free" time, hah.
 

Got eggs going in the incubator, going to do a post on that soon as I looooooove incubating. We are trying to hatch some homegrown eggs from our little flock but I am getting some Silkie eggs next month. They will be my Brood Squad next summer.

cute little thing

 We added some Blue Laced Red Wyandottes to our flock, love them! so very pretty. We also let some hens go broody this summer and have quite a few new Easter Eggers and Golden Laced Wyandottes running about.

nice Americuana pullet.

Blue Laced Red Wyandotte

So that's it for now!

Freezer!

Something exciting happened today! my new freezer got delivered.

The reason this is so exciting is this is what my freezer looked like.

opening it is scary, things attack you

You literally can't fit any more in there. Since meat is amazingly expensive around here, the only way we can indulge my carnivore tendencies is to buy sale meat. Which means you have to stock up when you score. Plus we needed more space to store garden veggies and venison.We are also planning on raising some Silver Fox meat rabbits this fall and I really want to buy half a cow from a local farmer.

I can put a lot of Popsicles in here!

The cat is helping make the picture more exciting.

Now I'm going to buy Popsicles to celebrate all the new space.

baby steps

I have been thinking a lot recently on making life changes and getting things done, as anyone with a little one (or a generally busy life) knows it is hard to fit in positive changes, the lasting sort that make a difference in the quality of life. The most common changes I hear people wanting to make are losing weight and getting healthier. First off you need to decide exactly you want to accomplish because no one gets anywhere with vague ideas. Then come up with a realistic plan to get there, I think the main issue is people start off thinking too big. Like if you think of getting more fit and decide to work out for an hour every day, you might keep it up for couple days but then life happens or you get busy and the workout gets postponed, often indefinitely. 

 The truth of the matter is that you get there one day at a time, that person who lost tons of weight did it one pound at a time, that Olympic rider got there one ride at a time, and that marathon runner certainly didn’t start out running a marathon.

It is easy to make excuses for not doing things, everyone does. I believe it is important to make changes you can stick with, it might not look as impressive but you will actually get somewhere. You have to make things as easy on yourself as possible and that doesn’t make you a bad, lazy or weak willed person, it’s just being practical. I know I have a very short attentions span and get bored really easy, if I don’t work with myself on making changes that are easier to stick with then I would never get anywhere.

The biggest things that help me to make positive changes are small bites, peer pressure and planning.  For example it is much easier to follow through with a plan of writing two pages a day (or one, or ten words, whatever works for you) rather than saying “I am going to write every day”. Break it down into a small goal that you CAN achieve realistically and then do it, this keeps you from being intimidated.  Peer pressure helps with keeping you on track, if I tell my husband that I am going to do ten minutes of Pilates a day and I know he will ask me later how I am doing with that then that is motivation to keep at it. Telling people your plans and goals go a long way to keeping you on track, which is why people working on weight loss often do better when they have an accountability buddy or  group to keep them on track. Strangely I have become a big fan of planning, it helps so much in keeping me focused on a daily basis. For example I have a theme for each day so I know where to put my energy. Planning on a short term helps as well, especially after having a baby since I can plan on doing Yoga while he is napping for example.  I don’t enjoy cleaning the house so I find it necessary to schedule it in, otherwise I know I need to do it but will find new and interesting ways to postpone and put it off.

Mondays are errand days, it helps save gas when I am not running into town constantly (and lists help me remember what we need when I get there) Tuesdays are house cleaning days since I dislike cleaning I have to schedule this. Wednesdays are outdoor chore days, unless weather is awful but I can always find things that need to be done. Thursdays are additional errands or outstanding work day. Fridays are fun project days. Weekends are play or work days depending on weather. I keep the plan loose for maximum flexibility, so I do tidy the house on other days but having time set aside for it makes sure I’m not putting it off. It sounds counter intuitive but planning things actually keeps me more flexible and able to do the things I want since I am wasting less time avoiding the things I don’t like.

Lowering expectations is crucial, sometimes during my daily writing I write utter crap, occasionally it is something worthwhile. But I still do it every day. Whatever you are doing may not look like much right now, so don’t expect it to be glamorous. But when you look back on how far you have come then it all becomes worthwhile.

Things you have to learn about pregnancy yourself

I wasn't prepared for:

How exhausted I would be even when it didn't usually seem like anything was happening.

Needing sooooooo much sleep, in the first trimester I was a narcoleptic napper and in the third I was tired all the time, and the closer I got to the end the worse it got.

The food aversions (earlier) and heartburn (later), I didn't think food would be so much of an issue.

The permanent PMS-like emotional roller coaster, I could go from being "fine" to "want to eat your soul" type rage in seconds, likewise the cry on cue thing.

How my body would change, although that freaked me out more in the beginning when I just felt fat, later I felt like my belly was just rapidly growing to make room for baby and that's pretty cool.

How I would be soooo excited about little baby clothes and socks, I have a thing about baby socks and shoes.(although not as bad as the girl in "The Price of Milk" movie)

How other people would think I am weird for being interested in home birth, cloth diapers, diaper free, breast feeding, co-sleeping and baby wearing. All those things seem pretty practical to me.

How long pregnancy is, I felt like I would be pregnant forever and ever.

How little I got done on a daily basis and I was mostly okay with it.

Chores taking twice as long when I was so big!

The amount of support and love I needed on a daily basis.

 How much I would love the baby, even before I had met him.

Oh Hai.

Well,
Hello Interwebz.

I'm starting this blog as a place to share ideas and healthy recipes, talk about homesteading, and most importantly my thoughts (and feelings) on being a mother.

I guess I could be labeled as a crunchy mama, I see it as a more authentic way to parent and live. Like most parents, my goal is a healthy and happy kid, and I plan on sharing some of the things that work for me. I'm also interested in holistic health and wellness.

Welcome!