A Thursday
I think yesterday was the last warm day we're going to get. It was beautiful. 70+ degrees. A little overcast. Hardly any wind. So I took everything outside and attempted to work. But really, I just couldn't. So I sat with the girls (it's that time of the year for hawk migration and therefore less free ranging time for the girls). I even thought about reading a book, but I couldn't do that even! So I pulled out the camera and started snapping pictures.
The girls are doing good. They are tired of being cooped up but such is life at the moment. Unless I have the time to sit outside with them, they are locked up. I do like having chickens and would rather them not become meat birds for the birds of prey (or any other predator but so far we only seem to have issues with hawks). I did have a dream the other night that I scared a hawk out of the trees in the front yard. Pretty reminiscent of when we had a hawk kill one of the chickens in the front yard a couple of years ago. Sigh.
I've been working on setting up some organizational systems to keep myself on track and see where my business is headed. I'm moving everything over to Quickbooks (Simple Start). I have been using Excel but it's a lot of inputting of data and so far I've found QB to autofill a lot of things once I've put the information in. I also like that I can pull a report fairly easily. I like Excel. I use it for a lot of things, but I'm not very well versed in how to run reports, etc. so it just isn't inspiring me to do any paperwork/bookkeeping/accounting. I have it on my calendar that every Friday is supposed to be paperwork day (i.e. enter expenses, income, file, etc. etc.) but that has yet to happen. Mostly because I feel uninspired. But now I actually want to put those receipts in! I want to see where I'm at with my business! I'm also taking a good hard look at our personal finances too. We're going into the season where there won't be a lot of income (but we've saved a ton of money this year) and I want to keep track of our expenses. Have you read this blog before? I just discovered it last week. It seems a little repetitive but I've learned some things from cruising back through the archives a bit. One thing she does that I really like is track her monthly grocery spending. So I'm starting that for October. Join me if you'd like. At the end of each month we'll just do a little post about what all we bought and how much we spend for the month. It'll be fun! And a real eye opener I think.
I made applesauce the other day and used the peels and cores to make apple cider vinegar. It's super easy. Just take all your peels and cores and put them in a clean jar. Cover with water. Put a weight on the top to keep the peels and cores under the water (they'll mold otherwise) and secure cheesecloth to the top. Date your jar (I use a piece of tape with the date on it) and then in two weeks or so, strain out the peels and cores. Cover the jar again with cheesecloth. Wait another 4 weeks or so and you should see a 'mother' growing. Once it has a mother it's pretty much ready. I store mine in the pantry but someone over on insta just told me they read to store it in the fridge. My one jar of ACV from last year just grew a 'skin' over the ACV. I left it in the pantry with the cheesecloth still on it. It works for me, but do whatever you're comfortable with. It's super easy and free! I want to make all the ACV now!
My calendar is filling up fast. I'm happy about that. I have a lot of behind the scenes things to do this winter (including that winter prep to-do list) and I'm grateful for a full plate. It'll keep me busy and on my toes for sure! Speaking of, I have a special order of soaps and washcloths and salves and balms that I need to get to work on! I'm phasing product making out of my business but will always take special orders! And I'm still working on more classes. My goal is to have those ready to roll out next week. Stay tuned (they're all virtual classes!!!). What would you like to learn about? Let me know and maybe you'll see it as a virtual class!
'til next time
-k
xoxo