aging – The Smith Farmhouse

The Best of 2018

This past year on the farm was filled with so many highs. Of course there were a few lows as well but I don’t really think you can fully appreciate all the best things in life without the contrast of those low points. I suppose it’s the storm before the rainbow that allows us to fully appreciate it’s wonder. 2018 was truly wonderful and full of wonder!

We started the year deep in mud as is usual for us in the Pacific Northwest, it may not always be fun dealing with the muck but it does provide some great photos.

February gave us a little break with some snow!

I am pretty sure Farmdog napped most of the month of March!

but we did enjoy a few sunny days…. its not all rain and snow here.

April was all about the ducklings… and watching them grow!

and Farmdog was still finding lots of time for those naps.

In May we planted a garden, collected eggs, raised meat chickens and milked goats.

We actually milk goats year round …. but the days are getting longer now, so I have more day time and that allows me more time to take pictures.

In June we hatched a tiny Call Duck and some Serama Chicks

and our garden was doing great, we even added a pumpkin patch.

but most exciting for me was finishing my first book!

In July Buttercup delivered triplets…

We started having our farm to table dinners…

and Farmdog was still getting those naps in.

and Orange Cat has this napping habit as well…

In August Gilly delivered twin doelings

It was our most difficult birth we have had on the farm. Our first doeling was breach but was a strong girl. Her sister had a cleft palette and was unable to survive. It was a hard experience but we learned a lot. We decided to keep Gilly’s surviving doeling “Millie” in our herd..

We also added two new barn kittens “Jake and Abby” to the farm.

In September the pumpkins were really growing

and so were the kittens and their relationship with Farmdog

and I had my very first book signing. booksigning

In October we welcomed our very first grandchild “Harper Mae”

I turned the big 5-0…and it’s ok… really Fifty is just a number.

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We harvested A LOT… and made CHEESE and gathered so many eggs I still don’t know what to do with them all!

November was filled with family visiting from out of state. Meanwhile the kittens and Millie were getting bigger, and our little Harper Mae as well.

With the cooler weather comes the bread baking… which causes the waistline to grow bigger as well. But, I have to say it’s definitely worth it.

November was a time to slow down a bit , enjoy family and be Thankful. For the first time I think in forever I decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving… and then it was DECEMBER:

It’s been a great year and we are incredibly grateful and looking forward to the amazing opportunities we will encounter in 2019. I’m pretty sure Farmdog will still be taking those naps…

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Birthdays, Ducks, and Rabbits.

The Smith Farmhouse Experiment

I turned 49 ten days ago, and it is weird. I really don’t feel much different on the inside as when I was younger. Obviously, I know more know then at say, 10 years old, and I have a greater ability to reason and make better decisions but I am still the same “me” I have always been. I don’t “feel” old, growing up I thought 50 was old, and as I quickly approach this milestone I don’t have that same opinion. I have been thinking quite a bit about how much I have changed and then again, just how much I am still the same.

I don’t have the best memory but I know I have always loved animals. I can still remember getting to bring home the class rabbit from my kindergarten for the summer, it made a lasting impression on me; animals were a responsibility and a thing to be cared for. I have carried this lesson with me as I cared for baby birds fallen from a nest or bottle-fed abandoned kittens. Somehow I think I was innately designed for farm life, and it is a very sweet thing to be able to finally step into this endeavor after so many years dreaming about it.

Even though my birthdays in the past weren’t always the best memories for me, they are now the best excuse to add new animals to the farm. Last year my daughter gave me farm dog and this year, Mr. Carson the holland lop rabbit. We were on our way to get birthday facials and pedicures, (you know after a summer on the farm this is as much necessary as it is extravagant) and we stopped into the local tractor store for some duck food. This was also a necessity since my husband had gifted me with three new Call Ducks the day before and of course we are never quite prepared for new arrivals.

I had been rabbit sitting the week before for my daughter and was explaining to her how much I was missing having Mr. Pancakes, (who is seriously the cutest mini lop) at our house, when lo and behold in the middle of the store were two young people selling their rabbits.

I bet you already guessed that one of those rabbits went home with me huh? It was perfect, my daughter had just said how she couldn’t find the right gift, and voila! Thankfully we had enough time to take him to her house and put him in an empty hutch and still make it to our appointment on time. His name is Mr. Carson, inspired by his tuxedo look and my love for Downton Abbey. Maybe someday he will get his own Mrs. Hughes, I can’t say for sure but I am pretty confidant he will.

So as much as things change as I get older, they also stay the same. I still experience the excitement of adding a new pet, maybe even more so than when I was younger. It is still a blissful thing for me to find an egg in the nesting box or to feel the soft little nose of a baby goat as it nibbles the grain from my hand. Aging is a funny thing, you can let it take hold of you and use it to disqualify you from many of the best things in life or it can set you free to embrace its experiences with a new understanding and exuberance. I don’t believe that youth is wasted on the young, I think perhaps maturity may corrupt the mature person from seeing life as they should: through a child-like perspective.