Drinking in the joy of the homestead

03/16/06 07:53 PM Filed in: General

For those of you who haven't yet had the joy of homesteading, I don't know if words can describe it, but I'll try. It's dusk in the UP, just after 7 pm, and I just came in from tucking everyone in for the night. The chickens were just gathering together, clucking softly as I collected the clutch for the day. I carefully counted our feathered friends, yes, 16, snug for the night in their sweet smelling (thanks to EM's) roost, warm with the thick winter pack built up. I take their empty water bucket and go over to scoop some from the cow's water trough (an old bathtub we pulled out of the garage). Daisy and Buttercup are contentedly chewing on hay and lazily give me a glance. Then I walk past the pen with our 4 milk goats and young jersey heifer and say my greetings to them. They are content and healthy looking. I notice that the horses are running low on hay and see that there's some leftovers on the ground in the other pen from where the guys had rolled the last bale to the cows, so I go tromping through the deep snow to fetch a few choice slabs of hay for them. They gratefully gather near the fence, and play their typical horsey games with each other.. tails swish, ears pin, let's play musical hay piles and see who's the boss of this herd anyway. They're beautiful. I reminisce about the nice time we had with them today, taking a few of them out for their first ever walks, and how much fun they seemed to have. After initially being a bit wary, Mary's mule gave her a look of disbelief when she later went to take some of the other horses out, leaving her behind. With that typical,"I'm going to get my way" mule attitude, she jumped the fence with ease to join the party. Well, ok, I guess you can come, too, if you're THAT set on it. I'm thinking ahead of how they will love the trail rides in the future, as they are all curious and enjoy getting out and checking out the world beyond their pen. They were brave today, a good sign. The kids had fun, too. It was as exciting for them as it was for their horses. Mary and Annie got to sit on Rapid, the horse we are boarding, while we walked, and got a taste for being up in the saddle again. It was a good day. I'm now walking back and peak in at the sheep, wondering how soon they will have their babies. The black one is laying closest to me and I can see a round bulge to the side of her that is unmistakably a baby, or two?? Johnny just came running out to greet me and I show him the sheep and explain where the new baby is and how cute that lamb will be when *she* (hopefully) is born. I start to head in, but Johnny insists on showing me a neat fort that the kids made where they shoveled out a drift around the wood for the house. Looks like fun, and I'm sure they'll have a great time playing in it tomorrow. I feel thoroughly and deeply satisfied, as if I just feasted at a lovely meal.