There's poop on my porch.
One of my chickens ate eight eggs yesterday.
My new katahdin sheep escaped their pen and ran through the electric fence into another pasture.
My new puppy just ran under our car and shattered his femur.
Rosie, one of our ewes, is due this week with her first lambs. I'm terrified.
The to-do list is no less than 191,392 projects long.
…and yet, I sit here, evermore thankful that I get to experience this life – a life that is completely connected to the earth in the most beautiful, albeit frustrating, ways.
This past week, the littlest Elliott and I traveled together to California for an essential oil Leadership Retreat. Planes, trains, and automobiles allowed us to arrive at our destination in Southern California without too much discomfort, despite a belly full of bad food, dehydration, and sleepy eyes.
We were lucky enough to stay at a house with some dear friends. The house was a comfortable and fun stay (heck, there was even a banana tree outside my bedroom window!), complete with swimming pool, game room, California turf lawn, and luxurious foliage throughout the yard.
I began to envy California natives and their ability to harvest produce year round. Figs hung from bright green trees. Peppercorns dangled from branches. And did I mention the bananas?
Despite these beautiful additions to the California countryside, when I arrived back home to the farm Friday night, I took a deep breath of mountain air and realized this – this life right here – is where I belong.
Two little puppies chased our car up the road (that is, a few days before Loch decided to not only chase the car but actually run underneath it…). The sheep ran up to the fence line to say hello. Sally bellowed from down in her stable. Even the chickens seemed to greet me upon arrival, eagerly swarming to my feet (I've, unfortunately, got them in quite the bad habit by throwing out oats from a bin when I venture outside to gather eggs).
Even though I was only gone for a few days, the farm seemed to come alive while I was away. The chives and hops grew rapidly in the garden and the currant bush fully fleshed out in leaves. Aspen trees bloomed. Lambs ear exploded in the flower bed! It made this farmin' heart happy.
I sat on the couch, watched the sunset, and sipped a Cubano coffee.
Even despite the feed bag blowin' around the yard, the dog poop next to the front door that needed to be scooped up, the trumphet vine that Sally decided to eat, the broken fence, the crooked gate, the van and tractor that currently aren't running, and the ever present, looming feeling of being behind ALL THE TIME, this is still where I want to be.
Maybe it's the smell of sage bushes that dot the hillsides.
Maybe it's the blossoming apricot trees that are already vivid with pink and white.
Maybe it's the snaking trail of the Columbia River that runs through our valley.
Even more likely, it's the work that's involved with growing and loving our food, slaving to prepare that for my family, and sharing this lifestyle my bearded husband and a quiver full of little hearts and minds.
I think it's great some people can sit poolside, enjoy their Astroturf, and hang inside in their game room.
I just ain't one of those people.
I want dirt under my nails, chickens that jump in my truck door every time it's open, and a clutch of filthy children at the end of the day.
Home on the farm, baby. That's where this ‘ol gal belongs.
There’s chicken poop on my porch as we speak.
See! I’m not alone in the world 🙂
Me too 🙂
I too have the dreaded ‘chicken poop porch’! DH gets riled up about it but I consider it an honor that the chickens are smart enough to come check us out. They are so friendly and funny; they make my day taking turns going to the coop to lay and the. Coming back for a nice dust bath. Who needs a perfectly groomed yard? I live in the desert southwest so we haven’t got grass to tear up in the 1st place…
i feel the exact same way. There is always more to be done than I will ever have time to do. Plants and animals don’t always grow like they should (and sometimes die), our friends and many family members don’t really understand why we choose to live this way but we really love it. I feel more connected to the Earth and closer to God on our farm than I do anyplace else.
<3 LOVE this!
I have poop in the garage…when the chickens know I’m home, they gather in the garage and wait for me to come out with handouts. Thus, the poop.
I love this post. Like the Margaret Atwood quote goes, “In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”
Hope your pup is okay.
The title had me cracking up because the aptly named post came out on the very day that my potty-training son decided to poop on my front porch! All I could do was praise him because he pulled his pants down and pooped all on his own! Anyway, I love this post because it’s exactly how I’m starting to feel about my little farm. In love but always behind on my to do list.
HAAAA I LOVE THIS POST!!!!!!! Just as I was wondering … looking at the odd magazine cover with some tanned person hanging out in lounger with a cocktail in their hand … if I was missing something in my life. Something that is orderly and superclean and concrete (literally) … Having swapped London, United Kingdom (yes, over there) with the rural mountains of the Adirondacks and sometimes missing some cool urban high heels when I’m stepping into my mud boots – YOUR ARTICLE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE PERFECT!!!! Because every word you write I have to answer with a big hearty nod!!! Fresh mountain air, clucking chickens and dog poop!!! The REAL life!! Nothing can beat that!!! YES! So, thank you yet again for your amazing blog!!! I LOVE IT!!! ….
Oh and please give Toby Turd an extra hug form us? I love this little guy!!! 😉
I’m sure it’s a beautiful life. I would feel a little frustrated, constantly
being behind schedule, with over a 100,000 projects yet to be done,
but, it’s home! And, there is NO PLACE LIKE HOME!
I love this post. Although I am not on a homestead, I live like I do.Between the kids, dog, and endless other jobs that I do, I had to laugh about the poop. I took my daughter out to the country for some cow manure for the garden. Had to put in on an old sheet in the car in buckets, and bring it back home. Her face was just priceless. We unloaded it in the garden, and will be planting soon. My family and friends just shake their heads at me. I love the dirt, etc. I grew up in the country, learned to plant a garden with a tractor, life is a bit different know, but my heart is still back home.
You sound like me. I don’t even want to go into town. I’m happy I’m our little paradise
Shaye, welcome home. Amen. Farm life is a good life. -Sally, Simply Living Country at Garden Valley Homestead
Beautiful! I live in rural Idaho in a small subdivision; I could not handle a farm myself, but I have planted 6 fruit trees, 6 berry bushes, 4 lilac bushes, an Aspen and Maple tree, made a rock garden and plan to start 2 vertical gardens next year on my property. I am making every inch here “farmable” and I enjoy my small home and my adopted black lab. Your post was beautiful and that feeling of contentment in life is priceless. Thank You for sharing your stories.
I am new to your blog and new to farming so this is comforting. Thank you!
There is goat poop on my front porch! And sometimes chicken poop.
I too feel the same way. I have 14 baby goats right now and have to feed 4 of them. Then there is the milking of the goats and feeding the goats their gran and making sure they have hay. Then I let the chickens out to forge and feed and water the baby chicks and baby ducks. By the time I get through with all that it’s almost 11 am. Now for a little lunch and laundry. Then outside to check on the garden. I need to start planting some things and do some weeding. When is there time to clean the house and sweep up the hay that has been brought in stuck to our clothes and the goat poop in our feet? Ugh!!! But I still love it!
I came home to a not as green as California homestead and knew I was going to be thinking about that long growing season for awhile, too. But then I took a walk the next morning and realized that my heart belongs here. Yes, the wind blows like crazy and the tumbleweeds are some of our best crops.
But even with all the poop in last year’s pig yard that was always supposed to be our chicken yard and is now getting cleaned up again to get them back in there, I was at peace.
The nanking cherry bushes are loaded with buds and the lilacs are not too far behind. The goose is probably going to end up being Easter dinner if he sneaks up behind me one more time and pinches my calf. We have too many roosters due to our hens being excellent nest hiding mama machines.
But we have chicks in the stock tank and it will soon be time to get the muddy little piggies. We are enjoying that wonderful time where it’s warm and there aren’t too many flies.
So, yes, California was beautiful but this is paradise…
Thanks for sharing, Shay and helping me feel that I am not alone in the crazy world of homesteading.
Glory to God for ALL things : )
We got in the van to go town and my dramatic oldest child, screams, there is a chicken in the car! So, I opened the door,laughed and she hopped out. Just another day in the life….
I needed to read this today! This sums up my feelings exactly at this moment. My list of to-do’s is forever and a day long. After a jam packed weekend (I work full time and we’re starting up a new farm) I am physically and mentally exhausted, but at the end of the day it is all so very worth it! All we can do is breathe and enjoy the many blessings that come from this lifestyle.
Your headline caught my attention.
There is always poop on my porch. Unless of course the dog has already eaten it.
One morning as I was walking a friend off my porch my auto pilot kicked in. I leaned over, picked up a dry chicken poop clump and tossed the precious fertilizer into the adjacent bed of greens
As I stopped to rinse my fingers in a bucket of rainwater I turned to see the look on her face.
Just another day.