Farm Life
My introduction to farm life was anything but normal. I did not grow up on a farm at all. I was basically a city girl. I loved the mall and being able to enjoy the city life. In 7th grade, my parents moved to the country. We lived on 10 acres and got to experience the joy of ducks, chickens and Geese. I hated the geese with a passion. In order for me to get to the bus stop at end of driveway, I had to carry a stick because the geese were mean and would charge me. Several times, a goose managed to get a hold of my leg leaving such a lovely bruise.
I grew up, started college and even got a part time job. Eventually I got married and moved away to Phoenix and started a family. Life didn't turn out the way I expected with that and I was a single mom. I had a chance to move back home to the wet side of Washington so I did. I got a full time job and became a Nurses Aid working in a nursing home.
Another marriage and a move to the dry side of the state and 2 kiddos later and I still was living in the city. I loved it. I knew where things were and how to get around. I took kids to the park almost daily to play. But along the way, things changed. Divorce and moving away. A friend helped me and kids out and eventually friend became more. We moved to where he could be closer to his work. This involved a move to the country. Only 1 1/2 acres. But then The auctions happened. We went to one and came home with Chickens and ducks. It was a blast. I had fresh eggs. I learned how to use an incubator and even hatched out 26 chicks and 4 turkeys.
Things changed again, Hubby had always called Idaho his home and the chance came for us to be able to move there. We did without any hesitation. Now we live on 40 acres and raise all sorts of animals. We have geese that are not mean at all. I can even pet them.. We have ducks that take care of the bugs. We raise chickens for eggs and then some for meat. We have Goats and now even have Sheep. We have raised pigs for the freezer doing the processing ourselves.
It is a ton of work. There are always fences to fix and things to build. I am working on trying to figure out a garden and what will grow best here. We are bottle feeding 4 baby goats. Hubby is a softy and raised his hand at the auction. Kids are involved in 4H and doing great. We homeschool and kids seem to thrive with the ability to work at their own pace and have more time for fun. This is definitely farm life. Even though it wasn't what I expected or the way I expected life to turn out, I would not change a thing.... except maybe find a way for those fences to fix themselves.....