Monday, November 30, 2015

Down On The Farm

Sweet friends of ours moved out of their neighborhoods and onto a 15 acre farm back during the summer.  Who could blame them?!  Their new place is about 25 minutes from us, and we finally  made it out to visit twice over Thanksgiving break.  They arrived on the farm with their own pet pig and a handful of chickens and dogs, but they inherited 3 beautiful horses, 8 more pigs, more chickens, and have managed to rescue a pony, donkey, mule, and goat in the last 5 months.  Phew!  Their place is wonderful, and we are so grateful for their hospitality!

During our first visit, Sandy the horse fell in love with me, and I with her.  She kept wrapping her neck around my shoulders, and I was a gonner.  Sweet heavens above, someone come hold me.  My Dixie pony died over 8.5 years ago, and I just haven't had a right match to replace her in my heart.  Sandy did me in though.  When a horse blows on your ears and follows you around, that's it.  Stick a fork in me and call me done.  I'll spoil her forever if that's what she wants to give me.  We'll ignore the fact that my son is suddenly terrified of animals bigger than dogs.  He'll get over himself.  Eventually.  He has too, in his own way, in his own time.  We're horse people, by George! He'll be a horse kid too once he realizes how insanely fun they are. #horsegirlproblems

We also met Gabe, the rescued dog, I mean goat.  Goat, he's a goat!  But he thinks he's a dog, so there's always a little grey fluff ball following the people around on the farm.  Poor goat.  I kinda have a sweet spot for him too, but don't tell anyone.  Aggie Belle was NOT happy when we came home smelling like goat.  As in, snubbed us and refused to acknowledge our presence for hours.  Ha.

Man Cub was fascinated with the chickens.  He knows most of his barnyard animals, so I heard a lot of 'chickchick' and 'peep' coming from him.  They're the smallest animals, and he seems to go for things smaller than he is at the moment.

We met Jack the pet pig too.  I don't know why I didn't snap his picture, but he's precious and thinks he's a dog as well.  The entire drive home, we heard 'oink oink' and various snorting noises from the back seat.  Good work, Jack.  Man Cub learned well!


We went back later in the week, bearing gifts of apples and carrots to feed spoil the equine girls.  See that bottom left picture up there?  That's my idea of Heaven, with an elephant and giraffe thrown in for good measure.  Just sayin'.  God has it all lined up for me.  We talk about this often, and I can't wait.  Thrill me, Lord!

Brownie, the biggest pony I've ever met, moved in on the farm over the week, and we were able to ride him.  Have mercy, I was reminded why I rarely ride bareback and haven't done it in 11 years.  That's a workout!  Man Cub rode with me, and Isaac walked beside us.  Brownie is so used to being led that he wasn't sure what to do without someone next to him.  I'm sure he'll figure it out soon in his new home.  He has the BEST new family, and they're going to soak up this silky soft, thick furred boy.

The baby drove the tractor not once but twice!  A tractor monster has been created!  I'm not sure his daddy minded helping him one bit.  Those two!  Melt me.

Man Cub seemed more comfortable the more time we spent there, and he wandered the barn until he found eggs from the chickens!  He was gifted with 7 eggs to take home.  Yum, yum!  What a special treat.

My sweet mom keeps saying that if anyone needs to live on a farm, it's her girl.  She's right, and she raised me. But it's a huge change and not cheap, so for now we pray and wait for guidance.  And thank God all the time that precious friends love on us and indulge us while we wait!

1 comment:

Rachel said...

Aww, sounds like a great time out, and it sounds like that's a place that really tugs on your heart. My family lived on a small, 7 acre farm till I was 9. We had chickens and then my Dad rented out our pasture land to the farmer next door to pasture his dairy cows. My uncle lived a mile away and had horses on his land. I have good memories of that slow life, and the property is still in the family so I've always been able to go back and visit, which is really nice, even though we've been led to live in huge bustling cities on the opposite side of the world. :)

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