Chickens like pasta and other things I've learned

I wrote a draft post two months after we moved in and read it again a week ago and giggled to myself.  Oh I've learnt so much since then.  I am learning all the time on this farm.  Not just about the animals but about this life.  Sometimes it's discouraging and sometimes it's eye opening but most of all it's rewarding.  I want to write about what I've learnt every Tuesday because I know when I look back in a year from now I'll smile and nod to myself and realize I've grown.

What I've learnt - September 2013 to February 2014.

1.  Cleaning out a horse stall takes 10 mins but you'll smell like horse pee forever, so you'll want to wear the same jacket every time and probably wash it once a week.
2.  Those black, sturdy rubber boots with the red bottoms.  They are the best.  Nothing fancy needed here - and they even make great winter boots with the right socks.
3.  My dog may never learn how to walk on a leash.  It's the beauty of training a dog to be obedient but a worry when you think about taking them into the city for their vet visits.
4.  I've learnt to climb a ladder and not be afraid to do so when required.  On the same note, lifting a long ladder is heavy and dangerous.  If you are on the bottom end of the lift, do not lift UP.
5.  Straw makes great bedding for chickens and when it's covered in their poop, is easier to lift off the layer of frozen poop in the winter than to scrape it off bare wood.
6.  I will wear layers.  All.  The.  Time.
7.  My kids appreciate a hot water bottle or a heating pad in their beds at night in an old farm house.
8.  To make the most of my trips to town.
9.  Electricity is expensive in the country.  Do your laundry in the off hours and on the weekends.
10.  Your neighbors will help you.  With advice, with manpower, with resources.  It's the way it was meant to be.  And in the summer I'll bring them eggs and produce to thank them.

But I guess what I've mostly learnt is to be adaptable.  To enjoy the snow days indoors.  And that the work is never done, and that's the best part.

Oh and auto correct has informed me that learned is not a word, it's learnt folks.  Learning all the time.