I'm busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, a one legged man in a butt kicking contest, a one-armed paper hanger with a mosquito bite on his knee, a gopher on a golf course, and mustard trying to ketchup all rolled into one.
See folks, I'm trying to get chickens arranged. The ones I wanted that were SUPPOSED to be at Orscheln today . . .WEREN'T. So I started a mad scramble of telephone calls to find some within a reasonable distance, plus pretty close in age to the chicks I'll be getting tomorrow. No joy. So I posted it on the Kansas Poultry Swap on Facebook, and thank goodness there are people willing to come through for me. Keena, if you can find them for me, pick up my cage from Nicole and meet me, I'll be more than happy to pick up your Silkies. Heck by that time, both of us will have covered half the state. So I've been orchestrating that.
I spent quite a bit of time on the phone today. Most of it was work, but some of it was talking to a friend because he needs someone to talk to. He's one of the wonderful guys that checks out my firearms for me, and it just so happens that he's laid up in the VA hospital at the moment. Yeah, it ate up quite a bit of my day, but he's got fabulous stories to tell. The best way to have a friend is to be one, so I love listening to him talk and giving him a little bit of crap to cheer him up (if any of you know bikers, that's normal).
Most of the rest of the day was occupied by talking to folks about this farmers' market that I've been made the chairwoman of. Mind you, the closest I've ever gotten to that was running a lemonade stand (that failed miserably) 30 years ago, but I think I can make it work. Still, the sheer TIME involved in creating documents, contacting vendors, contacting charity groups that might want to serve a meal as a fundraiser, and trying to network with the other markets in our area is nothing short of ridiculous. YOU try to do it with a 4 year old yammering in your ear. That's all in addition to planning our produce so I have enough to sell at the market itself, plus keeping the critters fed, the family fed, and keeping us all in clean clothes and dishes.
I actually got so mad at some of the state regs today that I had to put the paper down, load my pistol, and go shoot some cans. So it's OK to sell apple pie (that I could have blown my nose in) but not (boiled) smoked eggs still in the shell? It's just peachy to sell produce that some wild critter might have peed on, but I can't sell canned pickles? Then there's the packaging requirements. Folks, I always thought when you bought from a farmer's market, you knew you were probably buying something from someone's personal kitchen. You took your chances. After all, you were supporting local food and local economy. I guess times have changed. I might have to go out and shoot some more.
So I guess I'll add taking on the food system to my list. In the meantime, I still plan to have fun with my family, my critters, and my farm. The world WILL change, one step at a time, in the right direction. Sleep well folks, and imagine my little chicks coming home tomorrow!
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