I wake up at a few minutes to seven, to let the chickens out and make sure that they all have food and water. Especially the baby meat birds have to be looked after. Then I give Tango the horse her morning hay and take a round around the property with the wheelbarrow and a fork to pick up her poo. After that I eat breakfast (which more often than not contains fried eggs and some kind of fruit – Lori loves buying fruits).
In the evening, at about five, I take a round looking for freshly layed eggs. At six, Tango gets her evening meal. Just before dark, I get the chickens into their sheds and the barn again. The laying hens are usually in already, but the meat birds might need some chasing.
Those are my set chores, the ones I have to do every day. The rest of the time, I can more or less choose myself. I’ve been doing a lot of weeding. Sometimes I help Lori with packaging the chicken. I’ve taken the truck on errands, delivering things or getting chicken food. I’ve baked cookies and brownies and pie for the workers in the butcher shop. And sometimes, I just clean a little around the house, or on the property, or in the barn. In the evenings, I usually work with Tango, practicing the exercises that I learned from Jay.
It is not very demanding work, and I more or less decide myself how efficient I want to be. But somehow, the hours flow by so quickly and by nightfall, I’m so tired that I can barely think. It’s all the clean mountain air, I guess. And the sun. And just doing so much stuff all day.
So, instead of thinking, I drink tea with Lori, or watch a little bit of a movie, or read some “Anna Karenina”. Sometime between ten and midnight, I go to sleep in my cozy sleepingbag.
Katja Malmborg 