I was 24, and a mother of three when I officially learned one of life’s great lessons. Do not to put raw eggs into your coat pocket. I was new at this “farm girl” thing, but I quickly realized that it was a bad idea as soon as I dropped the fifth egg in and heard that dreaded cracking sound. My husband's yellow rain coat, and two less eggs for the carton. That day I also learned not to leave the lid off the goat feed, especially when rain clouds are on the horizon, and then I learned that I need to shut the barn yard gate just a little faster. There I was trying to pull a stubborn goat out of a garbage can full of wet feed with eggs in my pocket.
I didn't grow up in the country, I had never even spent more than 3 minutes with a goat or chicken, until we were riding home together in the minivan to our little house by the corn field. I looked back at my three pregnant goats, then smiled at my sweet husband -He would have never imagined the adventures in our path when he married me. I knew that my little girl dreams were really coming true, I was going to be a farm girl, at last!
Living on a farm was always a far off dream, until I had an excuse to make those dreams come true. Do you remember "Y2K"? The modern world was supposed to blow-up andall technology was going to melt at midnight when the clocks rolled over to the year 2000? Josh and I were newlyweds living on the beach in Florida when Aunt Joan came to visit. "Y2K is coming!" she said and we needed to learn how to survive without technology because life as we knew it was coming to an end. Sounded like fun to me, and I did a little research on pioneer living and pondered putting a chicken coop up on the balcony of our beach house. Then came Hurricane Floyd and we decided that chicken coop on the balcony wouldn't be such a good idea... besides that there were neighbors and zoning laws.
But then my friend Shaunna, gave me a pile of Country Living Magazines depicting country life in the Midwest. I had visions of a white cottage in the country, homegrown tomatoes, clucking hens, fruit trees and fresh herbs in my window boxes. I dreamed of seasons and porch swings and the state fair. I wanted to raise a big family out where the corn pops up in rows… where the green grass grows.
Well, Hurricane Floyd had two big brothers, we even had to evacuate. We evacuated all the way to Indianapolis for a few days. During our visit we took a few drives out in the country. Indiana felt like home. One month later we were closing on our little white house in Fortville, Indiana, and moved in just one week before Christmas. My farmgirl dreams were starting to come true on the three beautiful acres in Indiana.
Well, Y2K came and went, before we started plowing, and the world didn’t end. Winter passed and spring came with the scent of cherry blossoms and all the colors of April. We watched the tulips bloom from our porch swing. We planted a big garden, we added a few chickens, a few goats, a few sheep and a couple of daughters to our busy little family. I loved being a farm girl! I loved being mommy! I loved chasing goats in the rain and all the sweetness of sun ripened strawberries and wild tomatoes. I loved Hurricane Floyd for driving us out of Florida, Aunt Joan for telling us that Y2K was coming, even though it never did.
Living on a farm was always a far off dream, until I had an excuse to make those dreams come true. Do you remember "Y2K"? The modern world was supposed to blow-up andall technology was going to melt at midnight when the clocks rolled over to the year 2000? Josh and I were newlyweds living on the beach in Florida when Aunt Joan came to visit. "Y2K is coming!" she said and we needed to learn how to survive without technology because life as we knew it was coming to an end. Sounded like fun to me, and I did a little research on pioneer living and pondered putting a chicken coop up on the balcony of our beach house. Then came Hurricane Floyd and we decided that chicken coop on the balcony wouldn't be such a good idea... besides that there were neighbors and zoning laws.
But then my friend Shaunna, gave me a pile of Country Living Magazines depicting country life in the Midwest. I had visions of a white cottage in the country, homegrown tomatoes, clucking hens, fruit trees and fresh herbs in my window boxes. I dreamed of seasons and porch swings and the state fair. I wanted to raise a big family out where the corn pops up in rows… where the green grass grows.
Well, Hurricane Floyd had two big brothers, we even had to evacuate. We evacuated all the way to Indianapolis for a few days. During our visit we took a few drives out in the country. Indiana felt like home. One month later we were closing on our little white house in Fortville, Indiana, and moved in just one week before Christmas. My farmgirl dreams were starting to come true on the three beautiful acres in Indiana.
Well, Y2K came and went, before we started plowing, and the world didn’t end. Winter passed and spring came with the scent of cherry blossoms and all the colors of April. We watched the tulips bloom from our porch swing. We planted a big garden, we added a few chickens, a few goats, a few sheep and a couple of daughters to our busy little family. I loved being a farm girl! I loved being mommy! I loved chasing goats in the rain and all the sweetness of sun ripened strawberries and wild tomatoes. I loved Hurricane Floyd for driving us out of Florida, Aunt Joan for telling us that Y2K was coming, even though it never did.
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