** I typed this post in the early morning hours of Feb. 15. But I didn't want to advertise to the world that I was leaving my home unoccupied so here are my thoughts... a few days delayed.
We will be leaving tomorrow for our "mental health break." We'll be Texas bound this time. I'm really looking forward to all of it- the road trip and the visits with relatives and friends. This visit coincides with the Mother Earth News Fair event in Texas so we're planning to spend a day there as well. We plan to return home exhausted! Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. Cramming fun and memories into the few days we have away sounds exciting to me. But before we leave, I've got to get the homestead ready.
I'm up early today to make sure I get everything done. I'm a list maker but instead of writing all the errands and chores out on a piece of paper, I'm sharing it all with you today. Ever wondered how difficult it is for small homesteaders to leave for a few days? Well, I think it's fairly easy if everything is carefully organized. Here's our to-do list for today:
1. Check over the vehicle.
I had it in for routine maintenance last week so today I will only have to make sure it is clean and all the necessary papers are in order. Since it's winter time and we will be driving through so many different climate zones, I'll check through the emergency kit, too.
2. Take the dog to the boarder.
She suffers from terrible separation anxiety and would likely harm herself if left without more attention than a daily feeding for a few days. Our vet has a great boarding service so we will leave the dog in his care.
3. Check the fences and cages.
An escapee goat or rabbit would be an awful experience for a sitter to deal with so we will double check all of the containment to make sure nothing has worked loose or rusted through.
4. Scoop the poop
Part of keeping a good sitter happy is making sure no unnecessary work is piled on at the beginning of the job. It's so much easier to maintain a clean set-up than to try to catch-up. We will reap the rewards when we come home tired but not facing a mountain of work.
5. Top off the critter hay and water.
We will be leaving before sunrise tomorrow and the sitter will be coming in the afternoon. But the goats and rabbits won't even realize we are gone if they wake up to a full hay supply and full water buckets. The chickens have an automatic door to the outside so they will be able to stretch and scratch to their heart's content when the sun comes up.
Add all that to the normal routine of getting ready for a trip and I'll have one busy day! But I'll be doing everything with a light heart and I'm looking forward to the next blog post where I'll share all about my trip!
