I spent the last 3 days at a conference in Florida. Meetings are always exhausting for me, but this especially so, because it was non-stop listening and talking with like-minded horse professionals. There’s no end to horse talk.
This morning I woke up craving quiet. Florida was pretty, and it was warm, but the weather in my own backyard was a perfect, sunny 40 degrees F. I had chores to do, and grateful for them.
I started with Phoebe. She was about as loud as I could handle. I cleaned her indoor house while she lounged in her outside cubby.
Then I cleaned the goats’ stall and raked their pen. Here they are pretending to be polite and helpful. They’re not. I let them out on the lawn while I tidied. They were surprisingly quiet. I think that the warm sun put them into a stupor.
Finally I was able to face the chickens. Veronica talks all the time. She doesn’t care if I respond, but still, all of that chatter! That’s Misty, photo bombing.
After lunch, I’m off to see Tonka. I’m looking forward to quiet time in the saddle. But, it’ll be hard to leave the house. Scooter says he has an idea about what I should be doing.
Do you crave quiet time? How do you get it?
Oh, my, YES I crave quiet! When I’m home alone I don’t turn on the TV or radio, and wish I could turn off the dogs as well. Quite the contrast to when my husband and teenager are home…. 🙁
Yes, I’m not fond of background music (might be my hearing loss, but that’s not the whole of it, I’m sure.) At my barn, people ride to the radio. I find it jarring.
I also need quiet time. I get it walking alone in the woods by the house, or riding alone, actually I count time in the hen house as quiet time, relaxing listening to the hens talk.
Depends on the hens! Veronica doesn’t talk. She complains. Loudly, to herself and everyone around her 🙂
I work with young children. At 62, I left law after 35 years. Teaching preschool children, can be exhausting and loud. Nothing I enjoy more than quiet and calm at home which can be hard to find with 4 dogs.
Dogs can be demanding, too! But you can give them chew toys. Not allowed to do that with toddlers!
Working in the quiet horse stable when only gentle horses (and hens) are around is very quiet and relaxing and recharging for me.
I love, love, love early mornings in the barn after hay feeding.
For me, it’s gardening. Or reading. (But I do think Scooter has life allll figured out.)
Scooter would nap in the sun while watching you garden. Now that would be the perfect stress relief!
As my children and grandchildren all live within 2 miles of us, we all get together often. This means 14 of us and it gets noisy especially the grandkids. My release when it gets to noisy is to find any excuse to go and see my girls down the garden they make great stress relievers. 🙂 We are currently having unusually cold weather with temps at -11c and -2c during day and approx. a foot of snow. Very mild compared with what you get but worse we have had in ten years and as usual councils not prepared and everywhere is grinding to a halt. The Girls are nice and dry but are not happy that they can’t get out round the garden.
I’ve done the same thing. Scooted out of parties to check on the hens.
After I read your reply about Veronica, I went to hen cam and sure enough, there she was complaining away. I actually have a “Veronica” also, her name is Little Red Hen. Noisy, noisy, noisy, so I guess I can’t call time in the coop as quiet time, just relaxing, even with the constant squawking.
There’s always one in a flock. For years I had a hen named Marge. It was not peaceful sitting in my coop with her. She was a Rhode Island Red. A basic brown hen. None of the other Rhode Island Reds I’ve had talked like her.