Did you get up with the chickens?  I did.  I was actually awake before the rooster this morning.  Sometimes that is the way that it goes.  He was standing in the mud with his wives…waiting to be fed.  That is Farmhouse Life.  It’s all about caring for others…people, animals, and vegetables.  Just ask Adam and Eve. 😉

Farm life isn’t new to me.  I grew up very close to my grandparent’s little farm.  By the time that I came along they mostly had cows, a dog, and a barn cat.  When my dad was little they had hogs too.  He also had an old mare that he would ride.  My step-dad’s parents have always farmed too. (It seems like most people did in that generation.) They even kept an old horse for me to ride.  Ol’ Beauty.  What a gal.  She was so barn-soured that when you turned her back toward the house and let her go…we could have won the Kentucky Derby.  Goodness gracious.  I wound up in trouble over that a few times.  Beauty was kind of old and poorly shod for me to let her act so young.

It’s so fun to watch our kids on our little farm.  Their dad decided early on that he would buy the feed but they could have the money out of the eggs.  Their job is to wash them before refrigeration.  Want to know a fun fact?  In Europe…they don’t refrigerate.  That is because when a chicken lays an egg…there is a protective coating on them.  It protects the egg from bacteria unless you wash it off.  So…if you do wash them…get them into the fridge soon.  Our kids get to split the money…because each day it/s a different person’s turn to wash eggs.  You better believe that after scrubbing all that stuff off…they want their cut.  I think that it’s pretty awesome…the lesson that their dad is teaching them with the eggs.  It’s not that they are making a killing…but they are learning very valuable tools for their own lives.

Our farm is small and young.  It is also just one aspect of our lives, but we enjoy the richness that it provides.  I understand that not everyone wants to add farming to their list of things to do…but we love the little bit of it in our neck of the woods.  I feel close to God…when I am in the middle of His creation.  I feel like a helpmate when I am canning veggies that my husband planted or helping him with the care of an animal.  I feel like I am teaching our children, when we are hot and sweaty, bent over green bean plants…split up into two teams, seeing who can finish their rows first.  It’s hard work…but it nourishes my soul.

Love from the Farmhouse,