February Farm Diary: A wrap-up on a short month!

A creek and a rock are great entertainment for these two. 

On Mondays, I like to "reset" for the week, because on weekends, we tend to break from routine and are out and about more. 

I typically get caught up on the laundry, do a little more thorough house clean and put things away, and water my houseplants. That's not all I do, of course, but this is what I'd consider a bare bones to-do list for the beginning of the week.    

Remember the housework rhyme from the old days?  

One version goes like this:  Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday, Mend on Wednesday, Churn on Thursday, Clean on Friday, Bake on Saturday, and Rest on Sunday.  

Many of these chores are pretty obsolete for our modern era--I rarely iron anything, for example.  I've found that if I take clothes out of the dryer as soon as the buzzer sounds, then fold or hang them, they really don't wrinkle.  

Mending?  Muhhhh.  I seldom do that, and I certainly don't churn.  

But Mondays are for sure laundry and catch-up days, and Sundays are definitely for church and visiting.  The rest of the week is less predictable and often depends on the weather, if you live on a farm.  

If the weather is good-there's lots of work to be done outside.  If the weather is terrible, I find something to do inside.  

Taking care of the animals gets done regardless of the weather! 

I do think it's a good idea to have a schedule of sorts for managing a household or a farm.  People, myself included, sometimes get overwhelmed with all the things that need to be done and say they don't know where to start.  A schedule, a routine, a rhythm, just having a plan, can help with that.  

Another tip?  If you dread a chore, just start.  Determine to do it for five minutes, and see if you don't find the energy to keep going.  We tend to exaggerate in our brains the length of time it takes to do stuff. 

***

The grandkids were out of school again on Monday and Tuesday, meaning they are going to be attending school until mid-June at this point; that's assuming they don't miss more days for spring blizzards or flooding!  (Edit: The school board voted to take away spring break, so the kids might get out the first week of June.) 

On Tuesday, though, Clay had a doctor's appointment in Lexington, so I tagged along with Hannah and all three of her kids.  We made a day of it, with some shopping and lunch.  

I enjoyed their company so much!  These kids are getting old enough to have some interesting conversations with.  

Nearly every day I'm amazed at how quickly time passes and how fast the grandkids are growing up.   I still marvel that our own kids are grown, for heaven's sake. 

Clay's appointment went well; his x-rays showed how far he's come since his rough beginning more than 14 years ago!  The doc says he's on the verge of a growth spurt, which Clay is very excited about. 

On this day, he was talking about plans for his future, how he'd like to attend college at UK, so he could get discounted tickets to all the ballgames!  😁

Now, that sounds like a plan! 

***

Goodness!  I took a break from this blog post, and all of a sudden, February is over!  

On Wednesday,  I gathered up laundry after cabin guests checked out, and I finished cleaning out the high tunnel.  I hope to get tomato seeds planted this week. 

Here are last year's tomato vines--out with the old, in with the new! 

On Thursday, my dad came down and I helped him navigate insurance, which is confusing to older folks and not-so-old folks.  Why in the world do companies have to change names every year?  Is their intent to confuse and befuddle?  Because if it is, they are succeeding!  

I also had three grandkids for the night while their parents went away for the night, a belated V-day trip, I guess you'd say.  And we had two grand-pups here!  I'll have to say, the grand-pups required more care than the kiddos, lol!  But they were all fun.  

Friday was a beautiful day.  I worked in the yard after running to town for some errands. Then on Saturday, I spent the entire blessed day outside, raking and pruning flower beds, then helping the hubby run new fencing.  The weather was lovely too. We worked in shirt sleeves, enjoying blue skies and birdsong.  

So that's a wrap on some February farm activities.  I feel like I accomplished a lot of prep for the upcoming growing season, although there's not much growing-yet.  

But I expect that to change within a week or two, as we are now in "meteorological spring" and the days are getting longer, sunnier...warmer!  

Thanks for following along with me!  💚

See that green grass coming on?  And that blank space of a garden?  Full of possibility!