Michelle Harper

Hi All......Vote takes it....No on the moderator..now on to other stuff.........We have 3 dogs, 2 cats 2 birds, and 2 fish(one really big one)...Zain waters , and feeds the dogs about 3 x a week..the doggy that lives outside, everyday.  He feeds the fish in his room as well.  I for one would like to have more animals, but not just as pets, but farm animals, for food , eventually, and goat for milk..chickens for eggs....we're not quite ready for a set up of this sort..but I traded work at a croft for herb classes , and the teachers kids were homeschooled......they participated in the business, helped with the animals, and various other things...what I thought was interesting is one day the son had a friend from the neighborhood over, this 10 year old was so enthused by the responsibility that he had he came in to ask...can I milk the goat early today, so I can show my friend, he's never seen that before...he included him in doing all the chores that day, and with a great attitude..he was so proud he was able to share, and do things that alot of people don't usually experience, regardless of the fact that it was a chore....he loved it, and wanted to show off his responsibilites..I thought that was pretty cool.  Every year they have baby goats, and all spring they walk the goats for an hour in the woods behind their house...I went out with Emily one day, as she was showing me how it's done, because I was to care for them while their family went to Mexico for a ffew weeks.....the joy of a little girl , and three little goats..truly not everyone has these kinds of experiences(others I'm sure)....but she picked flowers, sang songs, talked and played with them, and showed me what they were eating, and not eating and why...the children were actually very good teachers, and so deliteful.....I thought it a very healthy, and imaginitive world for children to grow up in...I 'm sure their are day when the rabbit cages just don't seem so appealing, but everything there seemed to be changing at a pace in harmony with the season, so just as one thing became alittle old....new things came up to do.....and everyone rotated the responsibilites, and chores, so no -one was alwya doing the same thing....it was cool....everyone was responsible for picking, and cleaning up after themselves...dishes etc.  SO no-one was left to clean up after some-one else, really(people that is)  .  It was the neatest thing to see.  Now if only I could get the "JOy of work" into my house, I've almost reached it in the garden.........It was a learning experience.   Still pondering alot of what I learned there.    Michelle*

Tracy Oldfield

Michelle this sounds wonderful. but it helps, i suppose when the
'work' that's done is the kind of work that everyone can participate
in. there isn't much the kids can do to help me sort out my lll stuff
or the other stuff I'm doing, or daddy's accountancy. the garden
and the house are the things we do that can be classed as 'work'
that can be done all together and i think there's too much negativity
about the house from both dh and my family background. This
makes it hard, susan, for me to find 'fun' in housework, never mind
show the kids the 'fun.' Comes partly of not liking the place you
live, either i think. but that's definitely my problem. btw I was
walking home with the kids tonight, in front of my house were 2
sets of neighbours having a good old chin-wag. they barely
acknowledged me. Both send their kids to the nearby nursery that
has a dangerous trampoline outside. hmmm... Sometimes i relly
dislike living here :-(

Tracy (who wanted a smallholding to raise alpacas for wool...)

On 18 Jul 2000, at 9:11, Michelle Harper wrote:

> Hi All......Vote takes it....No on the moderator..now on to other
> stuff.........We have 3 dogs, 2 cats 2 birds, and 2 fish(one really
> big one)...Zain waters , and feeds the dogs about 3 x a week..the
> doggy that lives outside, everyday. He feeds the fish in his room as
> well. I for one would like to have more animals, but not just as
> pets, but farm animals, for food , eventually, and goat for
> milk..chickens for eggs....we're not quite ready for a set up of this
> sort..but I traded work at a croft for herb classes , and the teachers
> kids were homeschooled......they participated in the business, helped
> with the animals, and various other things...what I thought was
> interesting is one day the son had a friend from the neighborhood
> over, this 10 year old was so enthused by the responsibility that he
> had he came in to ask...can I milk the goat early today, so I can show
> my friend, he's never seen that before...he included him in doing all
> the chores that day, and with a great attitude..he was so proud he was
> able to share, and do things that alot of people don't usually
> experience, regardless of the fact that it was a chore....he loved it,
> and wanted to show off his responsibilites..I thought that was pretty
> cool. Every year they have baby goats, and all spring they walk the
> goats for an hour in the woods behind their house...I went out with
> Emily one day, as she was showing me how it's done, because I was to
> care for them while their family went to Mexico for a ffew
> weeks.....the joy of a little girl , and three little goats..truly not
> everyone has these kinds of experiences(others I'm sure)....but she
> picked flowers, sang songs, talked and played with them, and showed me
> what they were eating, and not eating and why...the children were
> actually very good teachers, and so deliteful.....I thought it a very
> healthy, and imaginitive world for children to grow up in...I 'm sure
> their are day when the rabbit cages just don't seem so appealing, but
> everything there seemed to be changing at a pace in harmony with the
> season, so just as one thing became alittle old....new things came up
> to do.....and everyone rotated the responsibilites, and chores, so no
> -one was alwya doing the same thing....it was cool....everyone was
> responsible for picking, and cleaning up after themselves...dishes
> etc. SO no-one was left to clean up after some-one else,
> really(people that is) . It was the neatest thing to see. Now if
> only I could get the "JOy of work" into my house, I've almost reached
> it in the garden.........It was a learning experience. Still
> pondering alot of what I learned there. Michelle*
>