Farm Life

We built our house about 500 feet from the house Andrew's grandparents raised his Mom in.

It's a perfectly quaint little house that lives up the the storybook vision I have of what a Farm House should be.  Red shutters, tin roof.  Original wood floors and fireplaces in the two small bedrooms.  Flower gardens all around and a clothesline where I can honestly see Maw Maw hanging out Darlene's tiny baby clothes.

We lived there for a couple of years.  

At the time, I was a young college girl with dreams of a big fancy home.  Half wanting to live in the city, half dreaming of moving back to Minnesota.  I wanted little to no part in renovating the Farm House that was starting to show it's age.

Through an almost unbelievable string of events, we were able to build a dream home on the family land.  We moved in a short 5 weeks before Josie showed up on our doorsteps.  

Since then, we've been renting out the Farm House.

First to the sweetest family of girls and, for the last 5 years, to Mr. Terry.  Mr. Terry is a single guy and the no heating or central air conditioning, somewhat questionable electrical work, and sinking kitchen floor didn't bother him a bit.

But now Mr. Terry is moving out and I'm feeling nostalgic.  Wondering what that little Farm House could be with some TLC and elbow grease.

That little Farm House is yelling at me across the yard.

It wants chickens in the barn and a big garden out the back window.  It's ready for a fresh coat of paint and open windows.

My Pinterest account has gone from homeschool ideas to farm house renovation ideas and it's getting hard to resist.  We won't be moving into the Farm House, I'm a stickler for my AC come August, but we do have plans for it.

Andrew wants a Man Cave Office, I want a pretty crafting room and maybe even a bonafide school room for when the kids are a little older.  We can't wait to host family holidays there.  We want to make it what it was back when Maw Maw and Paw Paw spent their days working the land and cooking for the family every Sunday.

It needs a lot of work.  Like, a lot a lot.

And Andrew and I aren't what you'd call handy.  This could get interesting.  And it could be an adventure in real farm life.

I've come a long way from that antsy college girl.

I never thought of myself as a girl that would enjoy living in the country, but somewhere over the last ten years, I became one.  I love it here.  I love sending my kids out to play, knowing they are free to roam without having to worry about modern day worries.  I love growing food and walking the driveway, visiting the neighbors cows and horses.

I can't think of a better place to raise our family.

Time for a garden check!

The wild blackberries are coming in great.  There were even a few ripe already.  However, these early achievers met their end on our walk.  The kids like them straight off the vine.  

Me?  I like them blanketing some fresh vanilla ice cream.

Figs:

Pears:

Pomegranates (Anyone know when to pick these babies?  I miss it every year):

Green Beans:

Blueberries:

The zucchini plants are HUGE!  I'm proud to say the squash bugs are not winning.  I have a daily appointment with them before bed.  I turn every. single. leaf. to find the buggers and then drop them in a bucket of soapy water.  It's tedious, but I'm not using chemicals and it's working.  Plus, a nightly garden session is awesome for my soul.

Zucchini:

Bell Peppers (ate our first one this week!):

Tomatoes and Watermelon: