I have to muck the barn this weekend. I’m dreading it honestly. Manual labor is not one of my specialties but I know it needs to be done.
There’s a lot of work involved with having a farm or small homestead. Getting the fencing up was no joke. Here’s a picture of what we had to work with before.
Our pasture looks completely different now. Thanks to an excavator buddy & my husband’s hard work we were able to get the blackberry bushes and brush down so we could put up a fence.
I have never lived on a farm before or had a barn. My animal experience has mostly been limited to having a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel & a little hamster (may she rest in peace).
Pigs & goats are hard work. There’s also the scary barn critters that terrify me since I’m a bit of a wimp. I know eventually I’ll find some rodents like rats and we’ve already had our first bat experience (pictured below).
My point is that nothing worth having comes easy. My mom likes to joke when I get another animal or even want another baby. Her favorite comment: “It’s like you picked up a rock and wanted to smash it with your head.” What words of inspiration. Thanks mom.
But I know she has good intentions. She is only looking for my best interests because I get overwhelmed quite easily. Going from one baby to having another one 15 months later is a good example. I ended up having to go to an outpatient hospital stay because of my severe postpartum depression.
You never want to put too much on your plate. It’s hard enough just going through the motions of life without feeling completely swamped. But the heart wants what it wants. And I wanted a farm.
I mentioned in previous posts that I had a lot of naysayers that didn’t believe that we could pull it off. I even wrote for advice in my community Facebook page and I got a lot of miserly responses. It didn’t discourage me but having people who I thought were friends not believe in me did.
Not everyone’s going to have your back. There’s always going to be haters who don’t want you to succeed. But one of my favorite quotes is “tough times go away not tough people.” Hard work isn’t fun. Waking up at 5:30 am downright sucks for lack of a better word. But I do it everyday.
Don’t listen to the cynics. Do what your heart wants you to do. If that means moving across the country and starting over, do it. Our time on this planet is finite. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. So find that strength inside of you because you never know how strong you are until being strong is your only option.
farmerish 