There are a lot of areas I wish I was doing a lot better, parenting for example. I suppose I'll just jump right in.
Gardening:
I know its a little early but it always makes me feel hopeful when I plan our garden. The goal is to save some money and eat better as a family. We now have 8 square foot boxes and 2 patches where I try and grow potatoes. So far 1-2 dinners worth of sugar snap peas, beets and potatoes grow in spite of me. This year i'd like to grow a bit more then that. Its also a good plan to rake up any leftover hay and crud from the sheep pens and use it as fertilizer around the fruit trees. It helps the grass come back in the sheep pen and helps the trees.
Parenting:
Here is where I feel like i'm failing the most. I yell way too much. I get wrapped up in my own stuff and need to pay more attention to my 2 wonderful children. My goals are to start and keep up with family fun/game night. To read a lot more books to/with my kids. Spend a half hour of quality one on one time with them every day. And finally, not yell so much.
Professionally:
I'm starting finally get some where as a professional artist. My Etsy shop, www.BittyKittiesPlace.etsy.com, has been picking up in views and a few sales. I've been trying to increase my exposure through events and using sites like Tumbler and Facebook. I'm going to be selling at several craft/art shows locally. I have 2 major ones lined up so far and a few small ones. I'm hoping to add a couple more larger ones towards the end of the year. I'm also going to try adding a countdown for each one, here on the blog. I've started teaching felting at a local craft store on Wed. nights, both needle and wet felting. Though i'm waiting for warmer weather for the wet felting.
Critters:
We've had a rough couple of years. We're down to 3 full time ewes, 1 ram and 2 weathers. That being said last years lambs are still here, so we have a total of 15 sheep at the moment. Lambing season will be interesting to say the least. We have 4 horses, 4 dogs and numerous cats. Want a cat? Yes, i'm being serious. There are also several major projects that need to be addressed this year. Adequate access to water for winter. Several of our tank heaters are not working. The pasture the sheep are on needs a rest. We're hoping to move the sheep to another area this spring. The door fell off the hose cabinet and consequently does not keep the hose from freezing. There are at least 2 gates that need to be fixed/replaced. The chicken and turkey pens need cleaned out and fixed up, as well as the outside dog pen. We're planning on raising meat chickens and a few turkeys this spring. The barn in general needs a good thorough cleaning. The more we get done this spring/summer the easier it will be next winter.
