Almost June. Still cold, today partly overcast. I don’t think we are going to get any more snow until we are on the flip side of summer. And the days are still getting longer. Yesterday, during the hawk talk, we were told there are fewer robins around. Those that remain, they are hanging out here. Usually, it’s the rare birds that are special. Robins are special to me because they are not rare. I wish I had a way of knowing if those that return are those that were here in previous years. Hard to say.

I got Hrimmi out for a ride this morning. I was right in my thinking, which was that I needed to make getting a horse out an immediate priority, because often, later in the day, I don’t ride. It was not, as it is now, raining. Looking out the upper window, I see that even though the sun isn’t shining, the green is near iridescent.

Alys, Raudi and Shadow

So today, duly noted. I worked on cleaning up the upper quadrant. I first cleaned the goat shed, beginning by hauling out the older bedding. The last time, it was frozen but did not smell. This time, it was not frozen and did smell – like ammonia.

I next cleaned Pete’s bee keeping piggy nest, which is the area above the goat manager, then cleaned shelves, and the floor. Also cleaned the upper chicken roost. I then moseyed into the back area of the goat yard and raked up the poop and left over hay.

I saved the best for last – this was the porch area. I gathered up the dog toys and put them in a bin. I also put various and sundry items in the empty stall in the goat shed.

I wish the empty stall held baby goats. Alas, with baby goats comes responsibility. Baby goats of course need to be fed and cared for. And mother goats need to be milked. And their milk either needs to be sold or turned into cheese. Goat soap – this is kind of a joke – the soap ingredients (yoo hoo) call for a minimal amount of milk. Far better to make cheese.

I would like to make cheese, but I don’t foresee my having the time to do this.

I was saying to Pete that living a semi-subsistence lifestyle takes time. And so time spent on home front chores takes time away from BLBP work. And time spent on BLBP work takes time away from home front chores. When I’m here, I like being here. And when I’m there, I like being there.

I do not like commuting. Commuting by car is an hour eater. I’d like to ride my bicycle to and from town, but this would be very time-consuming. There would then be less time spent here.

I do need to find a balance. A month off may help me find this. Then again, it may not. I may then again fall back into the same old routine.

Right now, being me is harder than it ought to be.

Next: 146. 5/27/24: Hoarding