Raising pygmy goats and chickens and other wishes

“Goals that are not written down are just wishes.”

I saw that statement on fellow blogger’s Facebook page earlier this week and shared the link on my own page. This morning it yelled at me: “What are your goals? Write them down.”

It’s like that question people ask you when they are getting to know you: “Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten years?”

My outlook is pretty chronological: Get married, get my master’s, have two kids, live happily ever after.

However there’s so much more in the middle of all that and also before and after. Here are some dreams that I hope by writing them down they will transfer over from the wishes pile to the goals pile.

1. I want to raise pygmy goats and chickens. Not a lot of either, but enough to have a few cute little pygmy goats as pets in the backyard to wander with me and the dogs on morning walks around the property (that I also want to have one day.) I want just enough chickens to give me a daily supply of two-to-three fresh eggs. I am not crazy about the claws on chickens and I know they dig up everything so having them run about loose is out of the question – plus I’ve been told they fertilize everywhere! Oh, and if I learn how to make goat cheese, that would even be better!
2. I want a garden that’s not too high maintenance or too big that if I go out of town for a few days the plants die or the crop rots, but I do want to have a kitchen garden with herbs and flowers and a few vegetables. I want another garden in raised beds a few feet from that in which I can plant tomatoes, zucchini and green beans. They will have vertical supports and trellises.
3. I want a hammock for two on the side porch – of a house that has a wrap-around porch. This hammock needs to be sufficiently out of view from anyone walking up to my home. It’s going to my retreat on cool summer mornings and crisp autumn days.
4. I want a king-sized four-poster rice bed and a big bathtub that fills to the brim with hot water.
5. I want to live somewhere where all seasons are fully expressed. I want to own a winter coat and actually need to use it because it snowed overnight.
6. I want to have a potter’s/canning/artists shed in the garden. A place big enough for a small kitchen with plenty of counter space to can tomatoes, repot garden varietals and scrapbook. It needs to be a year-round space to come and sit for a while, read a magazine, have a cup of coffee and visit with my dogs. I might even keep a parakeet out there. We’ll see.
7. If I don’t have a potter’s shed, I will need a year-round sunroom off the kitchen for all of the above. I’d like a sunroom even if I do get a potter’s shed, though.
8. I want a riding lawn mower that I am competent and comfortable to use and keep the grass by the house trimmed up whenever I need a few moments of alone, thinking time. I get the best ideas while mowing the yard. I think it’s something about concentrating on staying within a pattern that opens up my creative brain.

There are lots more wants but I think these are where I can stop for today. What are your dreams that you’d like to become your goals? Write them down, and if you are fellow blogger, please send me a link. I can’t wait to read them.

While I’m waiting and while I’m working towards those goals, I need to remember this verse that my fiance showed me this morning:

“Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

May you have peace while you wait.