Work on the homestead is almost unbearable this time of year. I'm in a variety of homesteading groups and in each one the message of Spring is the same. We're all OVERWHELMED!
My Mom invited us to dinner the other night and I quickly sent her back a text message: “Shaye is dying of exhaustion. Shaye has now died. Shaye is dead.”
Of course, I hadn't really died. But at 4:45 in the afternoon I was already soaking myself in an essential oil steam bath in an effort to soak away the fatigue of the day. I was exhausted.
Exhausted seems like an understatement. My eyes were burning from the amount of dust and hay that had found a home in them. My nose was plugged with dirt. My hands were cut, bleeding, and battered. The uterus was aching. The girly parts (sorry) were in pain from standing all day. My thighs were on fire. And my feet resembled cloven hooves.
That's the reality of another day of spring on the farm.
What sort of things have you been so busy doing, Shaye? I hear you ask.
Allow me to run a to-do list, will you?
Spring On The Farm
– Clean out the cow pen
– Reorganize the shop, make a run to the dump, make another run to donate old furniture
– Set up mouse traps in the canning room and vacuum up old mouse poo
– Reorganize baby stuff
– Get the meat chicken pen ready for the chicks
– Paint the chicken coop
– Add a gate to the meat chicken coop
– Plant the remaining 1,294 vegetable seeds
– Fill boxes with soil and add a vine to cover the shop
– Feed and water the pigs twice
– Feed and water the chickens
– Milk
– Weed the garden
– Arrange sheep pick up
– Fix pig paddock
… and that was the list for Saturday.
I don't wish to glorify the “busy” of life. In fact, we try to really moderate our work load and the balance of projects and play. Hence the reason I was in the bath at 4:45 p.m. But that was twelve hours into the work day already and frankly, in my pregnant mind, I'd earned it.
I don't mind the hard work. I love it. I love being exhausted at the end of the day and I love the horrible but gratifying feeling of a tired and aching (but accomplished) body. It's not a feeling that many of us get to experience these days – that feeling of putting your hands and heart into the soil for weeks on end, reaping no benefit other than the promise that a harvest will come in one… two… or even six months down the road. Spring time is a time of hope – for all to come in the coming harvest season. It's not the bountiful season – nor is it the restful season. It's the get-your-booty-in-gear season. The laziness-will-cost-you-in-summer season. The dream-big-and-break-the-bank season. The season of fence building. Pasture watering. Birthing animals.
It's a good life here on the farm. Sweet goodness overflows in the form of raw milk, pastured eggs, early harvests of spinach, new budding fruit trees, and happy hogs. A good life that overflows in blessings, emotional strain, and physical exhaustion.
Spring. My best friend. My personal challenge. My mountain to climb.
Spring is the season of hard, hard work.
And so I sit here… on this rainy Sunday… thanking the good Lord for not only hard work but also for a mandated day of rest. A day where I can sit in my comfy chair with my feet propped up and a hot cup of peppermint tea to reflect, think, worship, and give thanks for the good pain that the remaining six days of the week bring.
Crystal at Whole-Fed Homestead
I am so glad you wrote this!
This is our first homesteading spring and every weekend I have been questioning whether or not we are completely crazy and in over our heads. I am finding out that we aren’t the only ones and this seems to be spring homesteading-norm!
Malerie
Beautiful.
Isis- Little Mountain Haven
Wow did you deserve that bath!! Way to go on all the hard work!
Lorri
I just told my family yesterday, while being late for church fixing a hole in the gate (that the chickens and baby goats could fit through…and did!) that God was most definitely NOT a farmer! He is our creator, our father, our friend, but NOT a farmer, because farmers don’t get even Sundays off! The animals still want to eat and have fresh water. They are still ornery and manage to escape perfectly built fences surrounding marvelous acreage that is just for their enjoyment! Nope, God was NOT a farmer, or he would have better behaved farm animals so we could fully enjoy our one day of rest! 🙂
Life Breath Present
You’re list makes me want to re-think the desired to homestead…but not, too. I think I’d enjoy the working busy because arty the end of the day/week/month/harvest I have wonderful good wholesome food with which to feed my family! In the end, to me right now, pre-homesteading life, it’s enjoy the easy-hard life 🙂
Good taking care of you and your pregnant self!
Judy
Are you aware that it’s impossible to subscribe to your blog?
I keep getting an error message when I try.
Shaye Elliott
Judy, how are you trying to subscribe? RSS feed?
Judy
It was thru the little box on the right that says enter your email here. But yesterday I was able to subscribe thru a pop-up. So all is well. 🙂
But while I have your attention, a little paragraph about you and your homestead would be nice on your blog, since I just discovered you and have no idea who you are and where you are homesteading.
It’s a dream of mine to homestead also some year. Right now I’m just trying to be content where God has placed me.
Daniel
I agree with Judy. I’m reading this site for the first time today, and a little “About” section or paragraph somewhere to give some context about what, when and why would be a useful addition and a good starting place for new readers.
I think your blog and photography looks lovely, by the way.
Shaye Elliott
I’ll get on it! Thanks for the tips.
Shaye Elliott
It’s in the works 😉
Tami Potterf
I love your blog! I started following you because we have taken up farming all while trying to homeschool our 6 children. It definitely makes for an adventure and some serious memory making but even with all the exhausting days…I wouldn’t trade it for anything! Being together as a family as I believe God intended it to be! Thank you for all your wonderful tips!
Miley D.
I have waited 50 years or so to find my sanity and tranquility on my little farm – my co-workers and friends think I am out of my mind to take on such challenges in my “advanced” age – but like you Shaye, I LOVE being so exhausted that you can’t move as that means you have challenged yourself to a day of the BEST life ever – outside in the fresh air; watching the wonderful life cycle of birth, life, and of course, death; of seeing your plants grow; and lastly, knowing you are doing the best you can for you and your family!
AMEN!