By Way of Introduction...

Beginning at the beginning I should go back to the point in my life when I was about 9.  My family visited some friends who lived just outside our town on a small farm.  Or it may have been a large farm.  At 9, all I knew was that they lived in the country and had horses and big dogs.  I loved the horses.  I hated the big dog smell.  However, the experience was overwhelmingly positive, and from that point onward I believed myself to be “deprived” because I was destined to grow up in the city.  Well, suburbia, to be exact.

Fast forward through half my life.  I married a man who grew up in the country, but never wanted to own a horse because he knew first hand how much work they are.  I can’t say I ever thought I’d live on an acreage, but if I ever did I discarded the thought at that point.  However, through a number of events, most significantly inheriting a beautiful Tennessee Walking Horse from my father-in-law, we came to be living smack dab in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees.  Which is pretty much smack dab where I belong.  I could never have dreamed of a place as beautiful as this, and I am thankful every time I look outside that I have been graced with such beauty all around me.  But the beauty is only the beginning.

I am 45 years old and have just begun the greatest adventure of my life.  For the very first time I am living in the country, and have become the deliriously happy owner of a donkey and 2 chickens, in addition to the horse we inherited a few years ago.  It has been an exciting winter learning about country living, and about raising chickens, and I am embracing every minute of it!  Since I have so much to learn I thought it would be fun to blog about my journey from the city to the country in case anyone else is interested in my “Green Acres”-like experience.

We moved in last November, but had no internet until this past week.  So the few posts I have already written I will post over the next few days.  I hope that they entertain, and perhaps encourage you.  Along with my husband and me, our four children have also become country folk.  The oldest goes to the nearby school.  I still educate the younger three at home, though #2 may head to school for his last two years as well.  The younger two are 9 and 11 – a wonderful age for them to move to the country and learn about farm life!  So we learn together, starting with chickens.  We have ordered 2 more laying hens and 6 day-old chicks.  We are looking forward to their arrival in late March.  Pictures will be posted!  We are hoping to hone our gardening skills, something I have never been particularly known for in the past.  I have started some herb seeds in a small greenhouse box. 

As I said, it is a journey.  A new life.  A life I drink in every morning in gratitude.