Anybody want to tell us what you do all day. I know you aren't all eating bon-bons and watching soaps!!! I'll put mine on later, no time right now!

-- Melissa (cmnorris@1st.net), October 11, 2001

Answers

OH, how I long for a typical homestead day again! Rebuilding and moving really puts the damper on lots of things, but I did get my garlic planted.:~}

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony@countrylife.net), October 11, 2001.

After seeing the kids off to the school bus, I sit and wonder where the time went. They are getting so old. I look across the corn field and figure the farmers will be getting to that. It is really dry and I can see the yellow ears peeking out as they rustle. The bean field looks like it was just clean shaven, as they just harvested it. If you go and walk around on that field you can still see the pea sized soy beans that were missed. I found an old golf ball that the kids hit into that field. The turkeys see me and start to gobble a greeting. They are nice sized and beautiful, with their heritage colored feathers. They are wanting food, even though the sky is still orange with the sunrise. The chickens are looking for treats as well. I guess they see me as the food giver, but it helps out when I need to catch one or two strays. I love to collect eggs, just like my daughter! My dog runs the property. She is about the same color as the golden dry fields in the red morning sun. She runs behind the corn-crib that still aches to be taken down. That old corn-crib is mighty pretty with the vines dressing up the side. Seems like a post card, if you forget about all the beams that fall in the wind and that it is basicly un- used. Do you ever wonder about the history? Who lived here before, and were they thinking about the past as well? I feed the animals, pick up some items left by my wild kids, and think about getting back inside to the baby, dishes, laundry and all else that I must do. I need to write a list of things to get before winter. Buy extra feed and straw, get that snow fence up that has been laying by the drive, etc. I have to smile, considering just five years ago I was dwelling in a city, renting. I will try to always remember to be thankful, even when my husband fixes yet another leak on our old farmhouse. Thank you God.

-- notnow (notnow05@yahoo.com), October 11, 2001.

Hello Melissa, Today, we went into town (30 miles) to have my daughter's check up. When we got back, Meli did some "camper cleaning" and I built a composting toilet, finished hooking up the stove pipe on our woodstove, install a support post on our porch and when to the mail box for pick up my copy of this month's countryside magazine! We had lunch. I went through the green tomatoes that Meli pulled from the garden and got them ready for canning. Drained the water from the four buckets of tomatoes and green peppers, (as they had been outside during the rain we had last night). Went down and cleaned out the chicken coup and dug out the "chicken tunnel" as all the rain we had had washed it half full of silt. Came back and played with Caroline (my 18 month old daughter) for a while. Meli finished cleaning the camper and came up to the house and took Caroline back in. I grabbed my twenty-two and the dogs and we went squirrel hunting for a while until it got dark outside. Meli cooked chicken caccatorie and we had dinner while I got "caught up" on my email and forums! Sincerely, Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), October 11, 2001.

IS there such thing as a "typical" day??? Seems to me, each day has something unplanned or unexpected (like the day the 50' spruce tree fell, taking the power line with it, just when we were starting to cook supper). So I'll just tell you what we did today.

We all got up between 7 and 7:30 a.m. Before breakfast, the boys got the trash out to the road and the chickens and cats fed. 9yo daughter cleaned out the rabbit hutch, putting the debris on the garden, and fed and watered the rabbits. I took clothes off the line from yesterday and folded them, and put two more loads out. Hubby cleaned old hay out of the garage where chicken-with-the-broken-leg has been recooperating. 9yo tried putting her in with the other chickens, but they pecked at her leg so we let her run loose while the others stay penned up in tractors on the garden. Oldest boy put breakfast (cereal) on the table. Ate at about 8:45.

After breakfast, all children got their rooms thoroughly cleaned and swept and made their beds clean. I kept going with the laundry, including all the dirty sheets (1 king bed, 2 double, 1 single, 1 toddler). I also started going around checking up on everybody, heard memory verses for Sunday school, got school started. Everybody got their school work done (math, language arts, Canadian history, science). First one done made egg salad for lunch and put beans to soak for tomorrow's supper. Ate lunch about 1:30.

After lunch, I kept going with laundry. Stuff from this morning was dry, so I brought that in and folded it and put out more. Made my bed clean. Meanwhile, two older boys put the old hay cleaned out of the garage on the garden, 9yo finished the rabbit hutch and helped the boys and three youngest pretended to rest. Hubby says, if I want to take the children to the library and do some shopping, he better drive (brakes need work) and let's go now. Three youngest were delighted to forego their rest time. Children gathered up library books and loaded up in the van. Went to library, grocery store and Wal-Mart. Got gas. Home by about 6:30.

I got laundry off the line, folded it, got children to put it all away. Still more to do; put some through the wash to hang out first thing in the morning. Total of 11 loads washed today (that is NOT typical, but includes all the sheets). Got some lessons ready for school tomorrow. Hubby put van battery on charger (had a little trouble with it in town). Meanwhile, 3 oldest prepared "clean out the refrigerator" for supper; hubby came in and fried sausage and onions. Ate at about 7.

Children got ready for bed, cleaned up the kitchen, finished putting clothes away, read books while I typed this. Bedtime is occurring even as I "speak"; hubby is tucking in. It is 8:30. I will put the last load in the washer and maybe listen to the 9 o'clock news on the radio while putting a few stitches on a quilt. Get ready for bed and maybe read a little myself.

Good night, John Boy!

P.S. Having trouble posting this. While waiting for computer to work, 11yo boy comes clomp, step, clomp, step, down the stairs. Can't untie the knot in his army boot; needs my help!! VERY un- typical; this is an extremely organized, self-sufficient child!

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), October 11, 2001.

It is now 10:30 and as my day comes to a close I finally have the chance to sit and tell you about my day to day life. I usually get up at 6:00. My 2 older girls are up getting ready for school. I make my bed (first thing!) get dressed and straighten my room. Then I pack my husbands lunch if he is working. He leaves about 6:30. Wake younger two kids up, we all meet in the Living room for a 20-30 minute Bible Study. This is a commitment I have made and sometimes it is hard to get up that early, but it is really in my heart to send them off to school with good thoughts in their heads. Older two catch the bus at 7:10. Younger ones quickly get ready while I help them and usually throw in a load of laundry (used to start the wringer, but the motor has quit and we haven't found one to replace it, oh how I miss it!!). By 7:45 they are ready and we all go out to feed and water the animals. Usually are done with this about 8:10 then their bus comes. Then I take a 1 1/2 mile walk, unless it is raining! After this I come in, turn on the computer and catch up on the forum for about 20 minutes or so while I eat breakfast. Usually an apple I pick from my trees. After this it depends on what day it is. On Monday and Thursday I clean house!! Every room is thoroughly cleaned, the kids keep their rooms clean I just have to sweep, scrub and maybe do some little things in them. On Tuesday I will do a quick pick-up and then I do some extra chore like clean out a closet, cupboard, drawer etc... On Wednesday I teach pre-school, on Friday I usually go shopping if necessary. These things are usually done by 12:30. Then I eat lunch. Afternoons I am usually a little tired, so I will sew, read, work at my desk, or bake, or can if there is anything that needs done. About 3:00 I start supper as the kids are home at 3:10, and 4:00 and they like to eat as soon as they get home. We all eat together at 4:00 when my husband gets home. After supper, everyone has a chore to do. Then we have different evening activites: Tuesday we volunteer at our library, Wednesday is piano lessons. Thursday we do outside chores like cleaning barns, or whatever little things I see that need done. Tonight one daughter carried wood, son cleaned horse stalls, another did dishes, and oldest daughter and I cleaned our furnace room. We all picked a few bushels of apples to put in fruit cellar, and my son helped me plant tulip bulbs. I dug holes, he put bulbs in. We came in, kids did homework and bathed, I ironed all their clothes and made a snack. We watched a Tv program and everyone was in bed by 10:00. My days are always productive. I try to accomplish a lot each day. It is important to me to cook my family good meals, and to keep my house very nicely! I usually do about 15 hours of volunteer work a week, preschool, library, school. This is usually done on Tuesday or Wednesday. When my husband is laid off in the winter I do all of these things, I just do them quicker! Because this is when we will do work on our house and I like to help him with whatever project he is working on. Well it is 10:45 and I am getting tired so I'd better close out this day on the homestead!! Good Night All!

-- Melissa (me@home.net), October 11, 2001.

On my CITYstead, I get up about 5:15 - 5:30 a.m. I dress for work then usually take the dog outside. Once back inside, I feed the dog his breakfast , figure out what to make for dinner that night and take any meat out of the freezer to defrost. Then depending on what needs to be done, I either unload the dishwasher, throw in some laundry and/or fold laundry, take out the trash, pay some bills, make out any bank deposits if I'm going to be going to the bank that morning etc. I then wake my son, and make his breakfast. While he's eating, I pack his lunch for school and my breakfast and lunch for work. Usually about this time the other two members of the family arise (my husband and 17 yr old daughter). They are both usually dressed and out the door within 15 minutes for hubby and 1/2 and hour for our daughter. I lay out my son's clothes and he gets cleaned up and gets dressed for school. We give the dog his bye-bye treat and my son and I leave about 7:15 a.m. for his school. Once at his school, I volunteer in his 2nd grade classroom every morning for about an hour, then leave to go to work. I work from 8:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. then I take a break and go pick my son up from his school and bring him back to my office where he has a snack, does his homework, we go over his day and then he watches a video or reads awhile until it's "quittin' time" (4:30 p.m.) If I have to run any errands, I do them after work. If not, I go home, take the dog out, unpack all the lunch boxes, check the mail and get dinner started. My son usually feeds the dog and the turtle and helps out where needed. We eat, I get the kitchen cleaned up and then I listen to my son read to me, I might spend some time on the computer or watch the news, do some more laundry etc. Then it's in the shower and off to bed usually by 11:00 p.m. where lately I've been dozing to the evening news.

-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), October 12, 2001.

Son heads off for the school bus at 6:30, husband leaves for the jobs for the day around 8:30, so after that I am on my own. I start my day with Dr. Murray, Shephards Chapel, which is now on the internet, I like doing a lesson early so I have something to think about doing chores. I heat the milk, or pasturise, and head off to the barn, feed infants, milk, grain, check and fill hay and minerals, clean up a bit (I have a schedule, Monday is waterers, Tuesday is pen 1, Wednesday is Pen 2, Thursday is Pen 3 and Friday is waterers again) and then its the hens, donkeys, dogs and my obession with tidyness, carrying a bucket I pick up anything on the ground that is out of place :) Back to the barn I check on all the goats, today it was Pet and Dallas who had been bred last night, so I write it down on the breeding calander, which is the last of them unless someone recycles. Today I raked some leaves which had blowen in on the storm yesterday. Back to the house to pasturise milk and pull out all the plums from the freezer to make jam tommorrow. 7 gallon zip lock baggies. Dishes, finish laundry for the weekend and get son's uniform ready for the Football game tonight. Make sure husbands jeans are clean so he won't just drag on a pair of bibs:) Washed my car. Checking the internet, then I have a bunch of sewing to do which has to be done by Monday. Daughters come in this evening so dinner will be whatever bar-b-que is at the game. Defrosted several things trying to put together what to cook for the weekend in my head. This is just what I did, now for the list of what I really NEED to do :) Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), October 12, 2001.