Can it be that we are halfway
through the year and I’ve yet to write a blog entry for 2013?! Well, that means
I’ve not done well with at least one of my goals for the year! So, how about
those goals, anyway?
Regarding the homestead goals:
- I have planted muscadines, figs, blueberries, plums, pomegranates, blackberries, raspberries, and elderberries. I have mulberry saplings growing in pots that I started from seeds. I also have dogwood and lilac saplings. I still want to plant hardy kiwi and strawberries but that will have to wait until the Fall.
- I’ve not ordered more rugosa roses. The ones I planted last year are growing and already have off-shoots which I can transplant in the Fall. I have planted some knockout roses and climbing roses. Perhaps I can try again with the hazelnuts come Fall.
- Planting beds have not gotten far thus far. We’ve had a very rainy year and I also tend to run short of time. I have tire beds by the dogyard and backdoor that I’ve planted tomatoes, peppers, and basil into. I have also planted some herbs and cucumbers in boxes along the chicken yard fence. I have a huge amount of work to do to begin to get some garden beds of flowers and herbs going.
- I have not gotten more laying hens. Mother wanted silkies so we added seven silkies to the flock. They are adorable and will lay small eggs but I still would like to add larger hens at some point. Oh, and our Muscovy ducks are producing ducklings for us this year! One is now raising 11 ducklings and the other is setting a nest after losing her first try.
- I’ve added five hutches to the rabbitry. I still need more cage space! I have added a French Angora doe and am increasing my Silver Fox does from two to four.
- The food pantry is a work in progress. We’ll see how things pan out by the end of the year.
- Have not had time to work on the Natural Feeding eBook.
As for my personal goals:
- I am working on getting healthy. I’ve started on what I call the Pro-Thyroid Diet which is a mix of plans/ideas that is working thus far.
- I struggle to protect my prayer/Bible reading time but I fight for it. I am having an amazing year with the Lord and going deeper in my relationship with Him and hungry to go deeper still.
- Obviously, I’ve failed on my goal to work on my blogging! Sorry!
- Have not worked on the eBook “Why”
- As for fitting in more time for crafts, reading, and relaxation time…well, not so much! I get some reading in when I read to Mother. I’ve pulled out the crochet needles and knitting needles again so I can make myself some hats and finish the prayer shawl I started for a young lady last year. My pastor recently found out that I used to paint. He has encouraged me to paint a picture for the church foyer. I’m wondering if this is God’s way to open—or reopen—a door that I’ve failed to walk through before. Time will tell.
So, on the whole, I guess I’m doing pretty good so far with
my goals. Better than I thought to be honest. Sometimes I get so bogged down in
the doing of things that I fail to see how much I am getting done and how far I
have come rather than how far I’ve not.
My heart cries to be free of desk work and to be at home
making my life here. I think, when I dare to, that “if only” I could have time
to write and to paint perhaps I could support Mother and myself and this
homestead right here. What I don’t see is the path it would take to get from
here to there. Perhaps God will illuminate that path for me.
