50 Years Of Livin' and Learnin'

I don’t know. 50 years old?
That’s crazy talk. But when I do the math the number comes out to be 50. So I guess it's true. 2013-1963=50. I’m still 49 years old today, but by the next time I post here the big five-o will have come and gone.

And you know what?

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Stuck Like Glue

This spring, I'm stuck like glue to my Farm.

And I'm okay with that.

Don't ask me to go on an overnight hiking trip. Don't invite me to make a presentation at a conference. Don't even ask me out to lunch right now.

Because I'm stuck like glue to this Farm. There is so much going on, I can't slip away even for a little while.

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You Can't Never Tell

You just can't never tell.

That's a southern saying I've heard my whole life. I hadn't used it very much until I moved out to the country. Now I rather like it. It just fits some things. Like...

Spring has really sprung around here.

I find myself basking in the warm sunlight, thinking of where to plant a garden, NOT MISSING the SNOW!

What?! Me? NOT missing the snow?! That's crazy talk.

But true. I'm not. It was wonderful while it lasted. But I'm okay with the arrival of warm spring weather. Even my daughter and Blue, the dog, were out in the front meadow spinning and dancing with joy on our first warm, sunny day. (Can you see the flower headband around her head? My flower, hippy farm child.)

See? You just can't never tell. We loved our first winter here at the farm. But looks like we're going to love our spring too!

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I'm Not Eating Crow

Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds, Baked in a pie.
 
 
I have mad crows on my farm and I have mad fish.
(I, however, refrain from mad-dom as much as possible. Some days are easier than others.)
My little Disney dog, Strudel-Doodle, is a loving, kind dog. She is easy to get along with and loves everyone. Except. For. The. Crows.

Strudel-Doodle hates crows. I don’t know how this prejudice against crows developed, but it is strong and it is sure. She came to me with it. Hawks? no problem. Robins? whatever. Canada Geese? bring them on. But crows? Oh my lands. She goes mad, the crazy kind. She becomes mad, the angry kind. She chases them out of the airspace over her yard. Something about crows.

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Guilt, Burrs, and Foot Cream

Why did I wash my face this morning with foot cream? To fight wrinkles? To cure acne? To have silky smooth skin? Let's talk about that in a minute. First let's hit the guilt issue. Afterall, I'd feel guilty if we didn't hit the guilt issue first. The question is this: why in the world do we let other people make us feel guilty about anything and everything? We accept guilt trips so quickly, so easily.

Be smart, do your best, but don't let someone else make you feel GUILTY about your choices.

 Confession: sometimes I forget my cloth grocery bags and sometimes I buy more groceries than I have cloth bags for.

So I come home with plastic grocery bags. And I feel SOOOOOOO guilty.........

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Farm Soul

Ever since we bought this old farm, I've wondered about its "Heart and Soul."

I've looked and I've listened.

I've wanted to find it so we can be true to it. The farm was in the same family for 150 years before we had the honor of becoming the new stewards and care-givers. The house provided shelter and warmth for many generations of children; the land provided food and income. We want to do it right. We want to honor its heart and its soul. I think we've done that with the house; now it's time to figure it out with the land.

Oh, this?

This is my crazy angel baby.

There is no reason whatsoever for his photo here.

I just took this pic and when I uploaded it and saw all that soft fuzzy neck fur, I thought you might want to kiss him. Yes, go ahead. It's as soft as it looks. kiss, kiss, kiss.

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The Snow Lady

Out of the bosom of the Air,
Out of the cloud-
folds of her garments shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
Over the harvest-
fields forsaken,
Silent, and soft, and slow
Descends the snow.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

and then I smile.

Yes! I build a fire. I make soup and bread and cookies and hot chocolate and I smile. Because I AM the snow lady.

If you've hung out with me for any period of time, you know how much I LOVE winter weather and snow. And, usually, after I make that particular proclamation someone will casually ask me, "Now how many winters have you spent with snow?" And I stammer and say, "Many... but they have all been inside my head."

You see, outside of my head, in reality, that number is zero.

UNTIL...

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Old Boards

When we decided to take the middle bedroom upstairs and make it a master bath, it sounded easy enough. It was anything but easy. It was the hardest, yet most rewarding, part of this farmhouse renovation.

Once again, it was the old boards that stole my heart.

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They Cut A Hole

They cut a hole in my house.

 

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New Year's New Steps

Happy 2013! What do you want to do in this New Year? Anything you want to conquer or learn? Oh boy, I need to make a list for real. 2013 is going to be full of farm lessons for me, I'm sure. Ay-Ay-Ay, you know it. And I'll celebrate my 50th year on this earth, so I think I'll make a list for that too.

But not now. Some other time. Now? Now I'm tired. I'm tired and it's New Year's Eve; I just got back from a quick trip to my home in Georgia, so I'm writing this blog post when I should be popping a cork or blowing a horn. Nah, I'll still have time for that! It's only 9 o'clock. Three more hours of 2012.

There's no place like home for the holidays. We all sing that song at Christmas time. Well, I'm here to tell you that it is TRULY TRUE.

This Christmas was the first one EVER that my husband and I spent without our parents and siblings. I couldn't take it any more.

So, my daughter and I and Oreo, the dog, jumped in the car and left this:

 

 While my husband tended these boys for me:

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Rebekah Teal
is a "MaryJane Farmgirl" who lives in a large metropolitan area. She is a lawyer who has worked in both criminal defense and prosecution. She has been a judge, a business woman and a stay-at-home mom. In addition to her law degree, she has a Masters of Theological Studies.

"Mustering up the courage to do the things you dream about," she says, "is the essence of being a MaryJane Farmgirl."  Learning to live more organically and closer to nature is Rebekah's current pursuit.  She finds strength and encouragement through MaryJane's writings, life, and products. And MaryJane's Farmgirl Connection provides her a wealth of knowledge from true-blue farmgirls.

Column contents copyright © 2007– Rebekah Teal. All rights reserved.

Being a farmgirl is not
about where you live,
but how you live.