2023 Looks Good To Me
Hello all! I can’t speak for anyone else, but my year has started out strong, and on solid footing. Some of it is complex and a bit “ behind the scenes“ for right now. But other things are out in the open. I’ll start with the slightly meh aspects. The cabin is still at a standstill, it’s mostly a cash flow issue – I let someone else oversee the financial part, and we are up the budget at a rapid pace. I’m back in the lead, and regrouping. Since this happened right before the holidays, and the cold months, taking a brake hasn’t been tragic… if one can overlook how deeply I longed to already be living there for both selfish and selfless reasons. I just want to be there, but also to be there for my family, and help care for my baby niece. But it’s okay. I’ll get there.
Another bump in the road is that my geese will start breeding soon, then nesting, and I haven’t got my pens for breeding pairs set up yet. I sadly lost one of my Cotton Patch ganders, so rather then three pairs I have two ganders, and three geese. Based off of another breeders experience, pairs in their own space have a much higher hatch rate then those in group settings. She averaged 9 goslings per nest, rather then 3. I also want to separate them so that I can provide genetically diverse breeding stock to other people. The plan is to have two full Cotton Patch pairs, and one CPG/African pair for meat only. I also need to put a proper coop here for the chickens, and I’d like to set up some breeding pens for my Muscovy ducks to maximize their production as well. These are all things I had intended to do at the cabin, and I will end up having to do it all there, but the show must go on, and I have to get busy.
But even with all of that things are looking good. One because I have those animals in the first place, and a lovely home of my own in the works. But I’ve also started the year strong, physically and emotionally. The wether here has been mild, so I got to work outside. I moved and cleaned some rabbit cages. And I started to fortify some of the cages as well. Most of mine don’t have baby saver, and I’ve lost too many kits that got out of the nesting box and caught in the wire, or fell all the way out. It felt good to tick a few things off the to do list, and on my own. I have more cage modifications to make today while it’s still nice out. I got several rabbits bred yesterday as well. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to be flooded with rabbit kits soon. It’s going to be fun. I hope I’ll have a baby boom with the water fowl too.
On top of all of that, my mind is in a good place. That can be a struggle for me if I’m being honest. I’m sure I’ll have mental and emotional ups and downs. But for now I’m thankful to have such a good start to the year, and I’m going to enjoy it as much as I can. I’ll believe all my goals for this year are an extension of last year. From the animals, to the education of my children, to gardening, to finishing my first novel, my physical well being, and my faith. The year feels full of promise, and hard work. And I like that.
