When you have pets/livestock they can consume a large amount of any free time you may have. A typical day for me (as of May 2012) may go something like this...
Wake up courtesy of one or more of my 4 cats. Domino will reach up from the floor and either nudge you, paw you (with claws out) or, and this was back a few years now, claw the tender underneath part of any bare feet found to be sticking out of the bedclothes (Ouch!).
Lucy will walk over you meowing delicately until you stir and
Meg, before she was pregnant, would leap from the windowsill or cabinet onto our sleeping forms, waking us up with a start and a few chosen expletives.
Jack, bless him tends to keep out of the wake up call and leaves it to the others to do the job.
Having given in to their demands i go downstairs, open the cat flap and feed them. As Meg is our youngest cat and also due to have her first litter of kittens in a week or so, I feed her first and in another room to the other three. This is because she has always been a hungry cat but since being pregnant her hunger knows no bounds and if you feed the others first or together she will be in their bowls grabbing chunks and scoffing them.
Then its time to check the 4 newly hatched chicks, give them fresh water, food etc and check their bottoms (just what you need before breakfast, right?)
After breakfasting ourselves and getting dressed i go outside to open the chicken run and then their house. 4 very sleepy chickens, Bella, Buffy, Penny & Rags slowly emerge and begin the day with some tasty pellets. In the winter months i give them porridge with raisins to warm them up.
Then its next door, which is the other half of the old chicken run which has been divided into two, to say good morning to Harvey my 22 week old, white and silver agouti, short haired, guinea pig. You can hear his 'wheeks' for miles but despite sounding friendly, the moment i open the door to his cage he is off hiding and is as scared of me now as he was when i got him back in March. I give him a bowl of pellets and a handful of hay and check his water. He will eat food from my hand but as soon as i go to touch him he is off. So sad as he is a lovely little fella otherwise. Any advice gratefully welcomed.
A visit to the pond to throw the fish a handful of pellets and i'm done for the time being.
If its a work day, (I only do 2 mornings a week now due to cuts at work) I am back home by lunchtime whereupon I give Meg another half a sachet of kitten food to help her growing babies along with some milk which she adores (in fact i think she is an official addict of the stuff)
Check the chicks again and freshen water, food etc.
Let the chooks out into the garden to free range and watch their delight as they rush out and begin exploring.
Late afternoon I will throw a handful of corn mix or sweetcorn out to the chooks for them to peck at. This keeps them going overnight.
The evening sees me shutting the chooks away for the night and collecting any eggs. Feeding the cats and locking the catflap. Changing water and food in the chick brooder. Making a welcome drink and sitting down with a sigh.
Heaven knows where i will find the time to look after 3 or more kittens after next week too. I think i need a 30 hour day.
Having said that i wouldnt be without any of them though, I have to be mad dont I?
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