For years my morning routine has been to get to work. I heat up a big bowl of raw milk and put a shot of espresso in it and sit down to study, prepare lectures, translate. Now with Ancient Ponies Farm, this is all changing. Now there are morning chores. So far the chores are pretty easy for me but I am looking forward to more as the farm takes shape. For now, I get up before the birds (which moved from 4:30 when I first moved in to 5:15 in such a short time!) and walk out to the barn to give the horses their morning grain. With all the grass here, they don’t actually need the grain but I give them a token amount so we have some morning and evening routine together. Then I have to muck the stalls. This takes less than 20 minutes I would say.
Right now, my tractor, Bertha, has a broken tire so I am not able to take my full 20 cubic-foot cart out to the garden yet. I am dumping the manure down a hill behind the barn for now and will take it to the garden later. It seems it will take about a week to fill the cart so there will be the routine of my weekly tractor ride to dump it in the manure pile next to the compost bins.
I am anticipating the chores growing and growing. The prospect of winter seems a bit daunting to me! I have a bucket on my tractor as well as a snow blower but I will have to do the driveway and the driveway down to the barn so hay and shavings can be delivered. I may have to plow in the pasture in order to open the stall doors if there is a lot of snow. I’ll have to make sure that the water ice gets broken off throughout the day as well.
Come spring the chores will really grow as the gardens get planted for the first time.
There is something wholesome and grounding about having these chores though.
It reminds me of being the mom of a little child – when every day you have to address the needs of another being. I loved that relationship with my daughter as she grew up. It grounded me and connected me. 
I am also enjoying feeling the strength of my body every day.
Yesterday before dinner, I went out on Jasper to find mushrooms for dinner. I wanted to find black trumpets but I think it’s been too cold for them. They like 90 degree humid weather. This July it has barely gotten above 80 and last night the temperature went down to 50. I did find some wonderful chanterelles though. I brought them home and cooked them up with garlic scapes.