Charlotte’s been asking for a camera as of lately. I have tried to be more conscious about letting her borrow my phone on occasion to practice her photo taking skills. Just the other day she documented us getting caught in the rain. Not bad for a six your olds work, ay. We just so happened to make our way up to the barn when the rain decided to come pouring down on us.
Sometimes it cracks me up because so many people I converse with often glamourize my life and the farm. It’s honestly flattering but if only you really knew I say to myself. Tiny moments like this... getting caught in the rain, are exactly the reality of what make up this farm.
The mess that it really is. Don’t get me wrong because I absolutely love it all in a sick kind of way. But, it's hard work and on the opposite end of glamorous.
We’ve been without our atv for almost six months because a part needs fixing. It’s one of those things that hasn’t been working out in our favor, should never be taking this long and is simply out of our control. In its absence, I’ve woken up to how truly valuable this one hunk of machinery is to us.
Zack and Aaron can ride the tractor up the hill to feed the animals but for me and three little ducklings by my side, it’s not an option. The walk every single day in those summer months, sometimes two or three times a day, was honestly enjoyable. The weather is shifting now and our Autumnal season plate is full enough just inside the home before we are called to our outside tasks. The trek up the hill each day to milk my goats and tend to the animals can become the challenge of the day some days and a friction point for all of us.
I end up laughing again becuase the messy really is what brings on all the beauty. This is the hard I choose over and over again. Because we all have the dialogue running though our minds of what is the tough stuff in our lives. If it's inevitable then I'd like to be the one to choose which hard I am going to have to face. The daily tough stuff that goes on here on the farm my family endures together. I feel like it gives us some grit, builds our character.
So it’s as gloppy as that mud on each of our boots that leaves it’s trail into my kitchen. Yeah, well I guess it’s all of what makes this farm all too wonderful. Getting caught in the rain is becoming one of our always unintentional yet favorite happenings. Goes well served up with a warm bowl of chicken bone broth soup to soothe the soul afterward.
To clarify, I'm not even speaking to the getting caught in the rain aspect as my complaints. It's the day in and day out tending to the animals even when you’re not in the mood. It’s the weight of the responsibility for the health and well-being of our animals that depend on us. It's the carrying babies and buckets til either arm potentially rips off kind of tough. Call me crazy but I love it. And you get it because you tell me it all is so beautiful here and well, it is. Just listen to me complain from time to time but believe me when I say it is all worthwhile.