Blue Jeans and Cotton Tees

After a recent walk with my husband to survey the damage done by the neighbor’s wandering pigs, I can say with all honesty…

“Good fences make good neighbors.”

I like pigs, don’t get me wrong. But boy can they make a mess fast!

They can root up a yard, a flower bed, or a garden with amazing speed! And when the ground is wet, they don’t even have to root anything – just their little hoofs will rip up the grass.

We were actually able to follow the muddy path they left from the yard, through the ditch, and all the way to the neighbors where they escaped.

<heavy sigh>

Thankfully we only lost a few plantings. They probably needed to be thinned anyway. The grass in the yard will eventually grow back.

And it wasn’t long before those wandering pigs became bacon and ham. Then the little neighbor  girl came knocking at our door with some home made fresh sausage as a peace offering.

So I guess I could also say in all honesty…

“Good sausage also makes good neighbors!”

It’s officially here – the fifth season of the year.

For those of us who live in a rural area, we actually get an extra season. It comes right after winter and lasts until spring.

It’s the mud season.

The combination of melting snow and cold wet rains makes our country living messy for a few weeks.

The chickens have muddy feet and muddy feathers which in turn makes their eggs muddy after they are laid.

The gravel roads are a soggy mess we like to call gumbo. They can be slicker than the ice and snow that preceded them.

Oh, and did I mention the ruts that develop on the high spots? So deep they could blow a tire.

Those folk with livestock sure don’t appreciate this extra season. It wreaks havoc with the feeding schedule as they have to deal with muddy lanes and muddy pastures and muddy equipment.

On the way to church Sunday we saw one farmer starting to slide down hill in the mud. He got the truck in 4- wheel drive just in time to avert an accident.

But as messy as it is, and as much of a nuisance, we’re still thankful for it.

It’s this moisture that will make our pastures green and lush in a few weeks. It will fill our ponds and water our livestock.

It means the soil is good and moist. It will be ready to receive seed in a few weeks and produce a bountiful harvest.

“Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” – Hosea 6:3

We’re celebrating Angel girl’s 10th birthday today. (Her birthday is actually tomorrow, but because of the flooding in Des Moines, we’re celebrating a little early so Grandpa and Grandma can get back home before things get really bad.)

I remember well the events surrounding each of my children’s birth, but Angel Girl’s especially.  I was pregnant when we finally decided to make our long-awaited move to the country. Our house was on the market and my husband was making the long trip to our farm several days a week to get things ready for us. They were long, busy days.

When we finally had an offer on the house, I was concerned that the closing date was very near to my due date. My husband wasn’t worried, of course! So we signed the papers and started packing.

The day before we moved my husband took a big load down to the farm and didn’t return until about 10:30 that night. He was exhausted!

Sure enough, about 1:30 in the morning I woke him up to say it was time to call the midwife. He was so tired he replied, “We can’t call anybody now, we’ll wake them up!”

I told him that was the whole idea and I would be waiting in the car.  He took a quick shower, made the phone calls, and drove me to a friends house, where we had set up to have a home birth just in case.

Our sweet little Angel Girl was born in a hot tub at 6:30 in the morning. My husband enjoyed her for a few minutes, then headed out the door to pick up the U-Haul. He spent the next 36 hours without sleep as he packed us up and got us moved, with lots of help from family and friends.

Meanwhile, I sat like a queen holding my sweet little baby girl while someone else was watching my other three children, packing the last of my belongings and cleaning my old house.

We spent a few days at my husband’s parents to recover before driving down and starting our new life in the country in a run down old farm house with lots of dreams, a five year old, a four year old, a two year old and

a newborn.

Whew! Those we not easy days, but they were good ones. We felt so blessed. We still do.

So Angel Girl’s birthday is more than a celebration of her life with us, it also marks the beginning of our life in the country. It’s a good life and one we treasure.

Happy Birthday Angel Girl, we love you!

And Happy 10th Anniversary of Country Living, we love you, too!

“You should also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your hands, as we commanded you.” I Thess. 4:11

I used to think that living a quiet life meant living in quiet surroundings. I have since found out that that simply isn’t the case.

We live in very peaceful surroundings here in the country; no loud music blaring, no traffic (unless you count the Amish buggies and an occasional tractor). We wake up every morning to the simple sounds of the crowing of roosters, the honking of Canadian Geese, or the chirping of birds outside our windows.

Yet my life is not always quiet and peaceful.

Webster’s dictionary defines “quiet” as “being calm, untroubled, free of turmoil and agitation.”

Having a quiet life has nothing to do with my surroundings, but everything to do with my spirit.

If I want to live a quiet life, I need to be willing to give up a few things.

Things like:

Worry.

Fear.

Anger.

Criticism.

Selfishness.

Pride.

Impossible expectations.

Control.

What is robbing the quiet in your life today? Don’t look around you, look within.

“Aspire to live a quiet life…”