| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| sillyfoulks |
Posted - Mar 09 2006 : 08:29:48 AM
I am curious to know who does the majority of the day to day chores around your farms. I know in this day and age, usually, one or both persons leave the home for work. This leaves less hands to get the work done.
I know around our house I am typically responsible for seeing that things get done. My husband, who works a fulltime job, leaves the house around 6:30 and returns home about 5:00. During the winter months, getting the chores done is really no great feat. However, spring, summer, and fall bring a boat load chores, and projects. We also have two children who are active in the community, and require our participation.
A typical day during summer months starts at our 6:00. Morning chores like breakfast, dishes, laundry, quick pick-up, and feeding takes about 2 hrs. Then it is an hour or 2 for any gardening. By this time kids are ready to find some fun activities, so we are into town. It's the library, pool, friends house, or the like. Now, the afternoons are typically for projects, or larger chores that need to be done everyweek. Mowing fits in here. Typically I spend 8 hrs each week mowing, breaking it into small increments. Around 4 o'clock it is time to think about dinner, and getting kids to evening activities ranging from football, soccer, or girlscouts. If there are a few minutes left before sundown, we might get a few more minutes to work on any projects, or gardening.
Each day isn't always the same. Some afternoons the kids with stay home to help with a project or friends come over. Other days it is off shopping or just cleaning house. The weekends are just as full. Typically one day is spent running somewhere, and one day at home working.
The kids have their list of chores to do. Typical things like garbage, feeding animals, and helping with meal prep, as well as, being responsible for the upkeep of their persons and space. They also have a list of projects they need to complete. Things such as moving bricks/rocks, or cleaning out a building or shed.
So I am curious who does what around your place, and if you have kids what chores and responsiblities do they have? How do you make the best of your time, and resources?
Elizabeth
Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.
http://livingcountrystyle.blogspot.com/ |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| grammazena |
Posted - Apr 17 2006 : 8:53:15 PM
I have always loved the embroidered distowel sets...Monday is this day, Tuesday is that day...etc. I wonder what a set for our lives would look like now...just think of all the things we do. Morning is to teach pre school. Afternoon is to chop wood. Sunday is for church and family..Wow! |
| truebluecountrygirl |
Posted - Apr 17 2006 : 1:05:15 PM
Wow - I'm really gonna have to take notes - you gals are SO organized! I'm envious! I get up at 4, fix the coffee and lunches, wake DH, sometimes do some laundry, hopefully have some quiet time, get DH off to work by 5 or 5:30 (he works in Ag, so he's an early bird, too!) then I shower and get dressed. Wake up the kids, get them ready for school. Daughter is at school by 8, then my boy and I go to PreSchool (I teach it!) At noon, we come home and have lunch or run errands, and I try to catch up on housework and laundry. Then back to town by 3:15 to pick up daughter from school. Chores (feed animals, split and haul wood if needed, mow the enormous yard) and fix dinner. I'm also the bookkeeper for our church, so usually 1 or 2 evenings a week are devoted to keeping that updated. Hopefully, fall into bed by 9, and get ready to start all over again! Weekends I usually play catch up, do the heavy-duty shopping, and Sundays are for church and family time. Of course, it doesn't always happen that way - but I'm working on it!!
Karen |
| MullersLaneFarm |
Posted - Apr 17 2006 : 05:35:02 AM
My husband is "Chore" man of the board at the farm. He takes care of the animal chores (draft horses, milk cows, hogs, chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks) & the fruit orchards. He has a Handyman business so can set his own hours. I work outside the home and am gone by 6:00 AM and get home by 6:00 PM. I take card of the gardens (about 7,500 sq ft of veggies with assorted herb & flower gardens) and the honeybee hives.
Everyone pitches in with the household chores. We stay on top of it so it doesn't get out of hand. The older 2 kids aren't around as much (college & Sr in high school) but when they're home, they're BIG HELP!. My 13 yo son loves to cook so that helps out a lot with dinner.
Cyndi
Say NO! to National Animal ID
http://www.NoNAIS.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Illinois_Against_NAIS
Joshua 24:15
Muller's Lane Farm
http://www.mullerslanefarm.com
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| Kay in Kentucky |
Posted - Apr 15 2006 : 4:05:48 PM
I have only been at this for a few months and my present state of mind is to do what ever I feel like doing at the time. The weather has been a big issue as for which project to do or what gets done. I am not big on schedules; lived with deadlines and time frames all my life don't want to do that sort of thing again. There is a reason they call it a deadline.
I do what I can when I can some things have to have a regularity to them such as taking care of live stock. I only have pets and chickens now, later I will have other stock and their needs will drive my work plans more than anything. The garden is my first in years and I have lots of plans. It will be interesting to see what happens with this garden.
I don't have children to care for and I am the only one here most of the time with help from time to time from family.
Kay
My blog;
http://oakspringfarm.blogspot.com |
| Libbie |
Posted - Apr 15 2006 : 07:50:31 AM
These ways and times of doing things are so interesting to me! Thanks for the ideas...
When you all are working on "regular" outside or inside chores - do you schedule them, as in "it's monday, we must be weeding" or do you do them as you see that they need to be done? With an upcoming new babe and a little one, I'm wondering how I can set things up so I can be pretty much on autopilot for a couple of months in the middle of summer...any hints?
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
| LJRphoto |
Posted - Mar 11 2006 : 7:50:15 PM
Wow. I am so envious of all of you who have *real* schedules. I have never been good about keeping a schedule, but it's definitely something I've been working on and I hope that as we add animals (I just got my first baby chicks and will probably be picking up more chickens on Monday- yeah!!) So, I aspire to all of this schedule keeping and discontinuing being wasteful with my time!
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." -Mark Twain
http://ljrenterprises.blogspot.com/ |
| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Mar 09 2006 : 10:15:50 AM
My husband works full time and is gone from 7am to about 5pm Monday thru Friday and once a month 8:30 1:30 on Saturday so I do most of the household and farm type chores. He is a great one to do mowing for me in the summer when it gets really hot, but I do most yard work the rest of the time. I don't do well with really really hot days. I wilt.
STeve gets the kids up and breakfast in them on weekdays since he is up first (he is a morning person I am a nightowl!) and I get up while they are still eating. I do "set him up" the night before...I have everything out on the table for him to prepare..table set and all too, otherwise I don't know if it would happen. On weekends I make big breakfasts for everyone.
I do all the morning animal chores and milking and housework during the day, since I do reading tutoring at the elementary school about two mornings a week (I am on a come when you can sort of schedule as a volunteer) and volunteer at the library for story hour twice a month I do have some mornings I rush out to things..most mornings I prefer to stay home.
After school I do the running the kids around to cubscouts, piano lessons and dentist, things like that...and sports ..right now none of them are in a sport..but basketball just ended and it won't be long for baseball season to be here. I will no doubt have 3 kids in baseball on at least two different teams.
My 11 year old daughter helps so much ! She feed the animals in the evenings while I make supper and then I milk later on.
The kids (4 at home) have a rotating chore schedule that changes every Saturday morning. The 4 jobs they can have for the week are 1. Pet helper (feeds and waters the dogs and cats twice daily and cleans up the back porch mud room area twice weekly 2. Kitchen helper (sets the table for meals and straightens up the family room daily) 3. Bathroom helper (cleans bathroom daily...not deep clean, since I do that...and sweeps bathrooom and hall and 4. Trash helper (takes kitchen trash out to the big trash can as needed, cleans up area by trash can in kitchen, which seems to be a gathering place for baseball mitts, empty 2 liter bottles and boxes!, and takes big trash can out to street on trash day, and straightens up the stairs.
So those things help alot. They can always have extra jobs to earn extra money...so I usually have them fold socks, sweep the front porch, and vacum the family room, organize the video shelves..things like that during the week. The girls are more into helping than the boys...and usually end up with more allowance from the extra jobs. They all make their own beds before the tv is allowed to be turned on and husband checks their rooms Saturday mornings and they have to be clean before they can go out to play on the weekends..so they usually have it done before that. NOW>..that being said..my house is never completly clean..wouldn't that be nice.
I have to say..I do look forward to someday having help with dishes and laundry!!
We all work together on the garden in season..but the girls and I like it best.
My husband is great on big projects, especially in the summer so I get him on something like that and the rest of us doing the little things.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
| cajungal |
Posted - Mar 09 2006 : 10:08:53 AM
Gettin' it done? I'm not sure if I'm very successful. I start out each day with lots to get done but don't always get it done. There are some basic routines that have to be completed. Each morning usually runs the same until about 10:00 a.m.
4:45 a.m. I get up, have my Bible time, exercise, chat on the Farm Connection, sip my coffee and organize school stuff for homeschool.
6:30 I wake the girls and give them a few minutes to get the cobwebs out. Then we're all hittin' the ground full speed. Feed all the animals, fresh water for all the animals, clean coops, clean pens, care for inside animals, and then play a few games with our dogs that are so deserving of some lovin' because they "care" for the animals all day and all night.
8:00 Come in, clean up, probably change clothes from gettin' dirty and eat breakfast.
Immediately after breakfast, the girls go back to their rooms for their personal Bible time and then practice their musical instruments. I clean the kitchen and hubby has gone to work by now.
I'll sip more coffee and check in with Fox national news.
9:00 The girls come back downstairs and we have a Bible study together, sing some songs and pray. Then math gets done. Both girls are about 2 grades ahead so, we're doing Algebra 1 and 6th grade math.
10:00 This time is when things get different each day. My oldest has tons of 9th grade work to get done and my youngest is still being allowed to be a kid. Some days are Science, World History, American History, etc.... We school 3 - 4 days out of the week and by the time the week is done, we've covered all the subjects.
Mondays we school up until 3:00 and then go horse riding for a couple of hours. In between all the school stuff laundry (about 9 loads) gets washed, hung or dried, folded, but rarely put away! I'm working on that one. We come home after horse riding and do a quick sweep and pick up of the downstairs, get supper ready and play until Daddy gets home.
I try to sew or garden when the girls are working on something independent for school. This is a bit difficult but I keep everything out and accessible so I can just pick something to do and do it for a few minutes. I need more time in the garden this year because I'm trying to expand and have more to sell.
Tuesdays, we school up until 1:00 and then I take the girls up to the library for research work and then they volunteer at the library for 2 hours. Sometimes we ride horses afterward. Tuesdays are bathroom cleaning days.
Wednesdays, we school until 3:00 and then go horse riding.
Thursdays, no school if everything has gotten done. The girls work on their own sewing projects, crafts, letter writing, playing with the animals, etc.... My husband and I also own a vending route and I make a few deliveries. Thursdays are also left open from commitments so we can travel to see my mom or the in-laws.
Fridays, no school, if all is done. Laundry, Super-cleaning to be ready for the weekend and all yard work is done....mowing, weedeating, etc... This way we have the whole weekend for family time and hopefully, I get to garden and sew and such.
Well, my girls are over my shoulder right now pestering me about taking them to the store. They are reading this as I write it and none too happy about it! See y'all later.
Blessings
Catherine
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt." |
| Libbie |
Posted - Mar 09 2006 : 09:30:58 AM
Elizabeth, it sounds like you really have some good systems and schedules in place on your farm - I'm taking some notes!
Since I don't work outside of the farm on most days, our days start when my early-rising boy (2-1/2) wakes up around 6am and says "Mama, come and get me, please!!!" From there, we straighten the house, get dressed, have breakfast, feed the cat/dog and head outside for chicken care and a check on the lambs and sheep.
After that, we are outside doing whatever yard work/gardening that needs to be done - this is one part of the day that could use a little more structure. On Wednesdays, we head into town for preschool storytime at the library, but that's the only day that we have a specific activity scheduled.
Around noon we're back inside for lunch, clean-up and with any luck, a nap. During which time I do any heavier-duty cleaning that needs to be done. I don't like to be outside when the little one is asleep. - I can usually get in some internet time, now too...
Afterward we check on the lambs/sheep again and work on whatever project that is next on the list until dinner, when the "meal cycle" repeats itself.
Since my little one is SO young, he doesn't have any chores or real responsibilities, but we're working on feeding the cat, since he can do that with minimal supervision. As he gets older, I'll add things, of course, but for now, his play is his work...
I am so interested in this topic, too - I can't wait to see how peoples "real" lives run...
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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