At The End Of The Day, Your Feet Should Be Dirty

I'm may be crazy. And I probably have NO idea how much work I'd be creating for myself....in fact, I'm sure I don't....

But one of these days, I will have me a cow, some chickens, a couple goats, maybe a horse and definitely a muddy pig. Oh, and throw some honey bees in there for good measure as well.

I want a farm. a real farm with real farm animals...a sweet, smelly stench in the air...dirty kids! (oh, we already have that part!)

Since moving into the "barnhouse", the kids have repeatedly asked for animals and to have a farm. So the idea has always been there. We've always dreamed of this being our little farm...we have the garden and a dog! ha! But we want a "real farm" as they put it.
 
This past weekend, we went on a spontaneous trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Sometimes I think I was made for that place. I could totally sink my bare feet into the freezing streams and dance through the grassy knolls. I could rock my babies to sleep on a big wide front porch in a rickety old rocker with a quilt over our laps. I could see us growing old there. But the roads are so long! The curves, so curvy!! And I get super motion-sick. So trips are probably the extent of my life in the mountains. But I do love it. It feels like home to me. In fact, a little shop in Blowing Rock was where I first heard Michael Buble over the stereo system and instantly fell in love. "Home" was our song.  It's a barefoot in the rain, arms tight around each other, swaying to the beat kind of song.



But our home is where we are now. And I'm ready for my farm...to grow our peaceful haven by a few chickees and calves!

What really set my heart and mind in motion was after leaving Linville Caverns, we backtracked to a little store we saw alongside the road that was selling cheese. Cheese, as in, the best food on the planet...fresh, homemade, straight from the cow in the pasture, cheese. The Caverns give you a ticket stub, that, if you present to the store clerk at , they'll give you a dollar off your purchase! Bingo! We love a deal!

The rain pouring didn't stop us from having a blast. We ran for the door and as soon as we landed on the porch, Jasper hollered "Momma! It smells so YUCKY!"....I said, "Baby, that's the sweet smell of poopy cows!" we giggled, opened the door and I walked straight into home.

Farmer man was sitting on a cooler spooning his icecream with his leathery-tanned skin and white t-shirt and muddy boots as granny sat on the bench quilting by hand. She marveled at Alanna's teething necklace wondering where those were when her children were little! The cheese samples called our names...

...Key Lime spread with graham crackers (the grown-up's favorite)
......Buttercup cheese with spicy pepperoni (Lukas' favorite, the buttercup, not the pepperoni!)
..........Roasted tomato and basil spread with crispy crackers (who doesn't love a dip?!)

And a cooler wall full of curds, cheese blocks, homemade pickles, farm-fresh eggs. Holy toledo.

It's exactly what I want. (To be a voluptuous farmer's wife, overdosed on cheese, obviously!!!)

I want my tanned, rugged and musky husband sitting by my side enjoying a bowl a handmade icecream or cheese drizzled with honey as the rain beats on the tin roof of my red cabin store.

I want my kids running around in muddy boots and learning the importance of raising animals and providing food for our family. 

I long to use my hands to feed people; cultivate the earth; to prick myself with quilt pins.

I really do want the simple life. I want a farm that keeps us all busy and together.

I don't want much. But it sure will take a lot to make it happen. Our garden is growing, we are on our way to a more self-sustaining life. I don't want to go backward...but forward isn't where I want to be either. There's nothing wrong with the way people use to live before traffic and cellphones and Facebook and RUSH.

I want that.

You may think I'm crazy or don't have it in me....
but it's my dream and a burning desire of my heart.

While I pound away on a computer from 7-5:30 each day, my heart beats for home.
My Pinterest board knows that farm life is on my constantly begging at me.

So if the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise, hopefully one day soon, I'll invite you over for some fresh cheese curd, a ripe summer tomato & watermelon salad, maybe some warm bread straight out of the oven slathered with freshly churned butter, and we can chat about the crazy chickens, our dreams, homeschooling and raising children.

Sound like a plan?
Never stop dreaming.
Never think you are too old or too invested in a career.
Never give up hope, and always...