Some people ask me what I do all day. They can not quite wrap their mind around what a home school, farming family looks like on a day to day basis. Well here goes:

Wednesday, Dec. 7

Hungry Sheep Wait for their Hay

I woke up at a very dark hour-though I am unsure the exact time. I laid in bed mulling over all that I did yesterday and all that I need to do today and all that I want to do. Finally, at 4:30am, I rolled out of bed so that I could stop thinking and get busy.  I reviewed emails, researched more college options for my daughter and got in a few rows of knitting all before 7:00am when the cats discovered that I was awake. So into the kitchen I went to feed the cats and the dog. While in the midst of that routine, our ewe named Bonny, stood in the field behind the house looking into the kitchen window. Rats….the sheep have also discovered that I was awake. I pulled my barn coat and muck boots on over my pajamas and went out to do chores feeding the bunnies, sheep, chickens, and llamas.

College Mail Piles Up

The rest of the morning has been a flurry of activity. I have several large projects on the front burner which have captured my attention for the day. First, there is the sock order with Zeilinger wool that needs tending to. After several emails and phone calls back and forth with the mill in Michigan, I can focus on other things. Next in line is an abundance of college related communications. Again, after several phone calls, scanning, emailing again, and phone conversations-that too gets under control.  This week is Biology test week so my son follows me around asking when I can sit and do vocabulary words with him and oh yes-we also need to start the new grammar lesson. He must wait in line until I have responded to the various phone calls.

Ahhh….My Knitting

Once I sit down to work with my son on schooling I grab a pair of knitting needles. I have several knitting projects in various stages all over the house. I have the “quiet time” knitting and the “pick up and knit a few stitches” knitting. While reviewing grammar sentences with my son, or waiting for the computer to boot, I get a few stitches done.

The afternoon looks just as busy with fleeces to pack up and ship to the mill, an online order to box and ship, a pile of sheep coats needing mending, and the family laundry in various stages. Somehow I must figure out what we will eat for dinner and prepare it before leaving this afternoon to take my daughter to her ballet class. There I will get a couple hours of knitting while watching her class. We will arrive back home around 10:15pm just in time to get a few rows of the quiet time knitting done before falling to sleep.

Sheep Coats in Need of Repair

So there you have it-one day in the life of a home school, farming family!