And now to begin to wrap things up...

I see that I didn't do a wrap-up post last year. I'm not surprised; I was pretty damn sick all year. Here's what I hoped to do in 2011:


Follow the plan with spreadsheet and tame the beast that is a house with too much stuff in it.
Verdict: FAIL. It was May 2011 before I really got over September 2010's illness.

Get moving parts working properly, and keep them that way. PT and home exercise are essential to this goal.
 Verdict: Partial Success. My back has been behaving moderately better, and it's been almost a year since my last cortisone injection.

Manage weight. Yup, need to do that.
Verdict: FAIL. Huge fail. Working on it again/still.

Continue to breed for show, meat, and breed preservation. Select for excellent growth on pasture.
Verdict: Moderate success. I did breed, and added some new breeds to the farm. I did NOT pasture any rabbits last spring; the weather was too dodgy.

Show the rabbits - it's good for the breeds, and it's good for sales of brood stock.
Verdict: FAIL. We showed at Cummington only.

As mentioned above, put up fencing, get dairy goats and beef cow.
Verdict: SUCCESS! The fencing went up between May and October 2011, and we brought in four Nigerian Dwarf goats in October. I lost one in January 2012 to bloat (it was horrible to witness and I felt like a really bad farmer) and successfully bred one, who gave me triplet daughters. Had to give up the dream of a beef cow, though, due to conservation restrictions.

Contact the local Adult Ed folks and set up to teach some classes - I'm thinking knitting, mending, cooking, menu-planning, gardening, sustainable living, food preservation (canning, both methods; freezing), life skills for children. Suggestions are welcome!
Verdict: Partial Success. I did offer classes. Only one ended up happening, 'how to turn strawberries into jam.'

Pursue licensure to sell rabbit to the public. Nobody is quite sure whose purview this is - I've talked to town hall, state ag folks, and federal ag folks. Everyone thinks it's a great idea; nobody knows who's on first. *sigh* Well, it's not the first time I will have blazed a trail, right?
Verdict: Still in progress. Humbling, isn't it?

Get back on my bike/drive less. This is good for health, thrift, and the planet.
Verdict: Mostly fail. I didn't get on my bike at ALL in 2011, though I did ride some in September and October 2012.