Side Quests and Triaging The Day, The Honyock Way

We are almost 8 months into our homestead.

We expected this life to be laborious. That wasn’t the surprise. We were excited for it. Excited to build the animal enclosures and the garden. Excited to feed and water the animals we always wanted; even clean their pens and ponds, weed the garden, …

We chose this lifestyle with eyes wide open, knowing it would be a lot of work. Real work. Every day. And we assumed that if we stayed disciplined, it would fall into a rhythm. A routine we could rely on.

What we didn’t expect…

was that it hasn’t followed a routine at all (YET). Most days, the plan doesn’t make it past stepping outside. That’s when the side quests start. And they don’t wait. And more often than not—it’s the animals rewriting the plan.

Like heading down the driveway to run errands only to find the goats at the front gate. Not where I left them. Not even near it. Out. 2 acres from where I locked them in their pen. Standing there looking at me like it’s normal.

So now the question isn’t what’s next on the list. It’s how did this happen, and how fast can I fix it?

The day shifts, and zip ties hold things together—for now.

Or the garden. Two months of growth. Corn, beans, sunflowers, pumpkin vines, tomatillos, and nasturtiums coming up strong—until the pigs test the gate one more time and find themselves finally successful. Not to nibble, but to tear through everything. Row by row. Rototilling with purpose.

So instead of an indoor chore day, it turns into rebuilding the garden from beds to sowing seeds. Again.

That’s been the real shift: not the amount of work—but the constant need to triage the work.

Every day comes down to decisions:

Can this wait?

What can’t?

What happens if I leave it as it is?

Because something always gives. The plan, the timeline, or you. And just when something feels fixed, it shows you where it’s still weak.

We definitely find this life fulfilling; working hard for ourselves and our home. We are incredibly grateful to be where we are. Though it’s easy to feel behind when the list keeps changing. Easy to get worn down. Frustrated. Overwhelmed.

We do know this part isn’t forever, but for now.

This is a real picture of starting a homestead from scratch, building as we go, learning as we go. It’s just taking longer than we expected to find our rhythm—where this kind of triaging becomes the exception instead of the rule.

Our aesthetic is authentic. It was not curated, prefabricated and move in ready. For now, this is what it looks like. It’s not all routine the way we expected. These days at least, it’s built on responding to what’s in front of us.

A Few Things We’ve Learned

1. Keep quick fixes on hand.

Zip ties and bungee cords buy you time.

2. Go straight to the best solution.

“This will probably work” usually means you’ll be fixing it again at the most in-opportune time, and costing more in the end.

3. Make rest a rule, not a reward.

The list will still be there. Groundhog Day gets old and burns you out quickly.

The real lesson is:

We stop expecting the day to go as planned. “Done” starts to mean we’ve handled what mattered most—not that everything on the list got finished. Some things will fall into a routine. But some things—especially the animals—will keep testing until they find a weakness. And they will take full advantage of it.

It makes you pay attention—or it makes you pay for not paying attention. It’s definitely not boring. It’s a challenge we are here for.