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I sit on my front porch and I am surrounded by land that belongs to me. I live on a farm. It’s an awesome, and still surprising, realization. I’m raising dairy goats for milk, chickens for eggs, cats for…. Never mind the cats. I love the way our farm’s boundaries are defined in the old deed book at the county courthouse.
“Beginning at the road in the Schoolhouse lot, thence with the road of the ford of the run above the mill, thence back in the field about six rods to or near a small black walnut, thence to or just above the white walnut at the spring in the drain, thence just above and with the meanderings of the fence now around the upper side of the lot to a small sugar tree by the old fence going up to the cliff, thence with the creek to the branch below the ford….” And so on and so forth, including references to a pile of rocks, a stump hole and a dead hickory tree. Need I point out that of course most of these landmarks no longer exist? There is an iron pin referred to in the deed book that remains, as well as some survey flags in a few spots that were placed some years ago. We relied on the prior owners’ directions as to boundaries and the neighbors have been agreeable to the designations. Just being in possession of forty acres feels staggering to me–it is far more acreage than we will actually utilize, but the privacy it affords is one of its most important aspects.
I can walk and walk and get tired and still be on my own land. In suburban life, the perspective is more focused on the house and the yard. There is something so significant about land. Not its value in money, but its sheer substance. There is a weight to it, some kind of primal quality that is ethereal and tangible all at once. It has a life of its own, the land does. It teems with trees and springs, a creek and a river, wildflowers and vines, birds and chipmunks, raccoons and deer. It has lots of secrets I don’t know yet, and many I won’t ever know. It welcomes me and protects me, and it often exhausts me and sometimes scares me. It mostly tolerates me, though it will kill my car if it takes a notion. It expects me to know more than I do.
But it is also very patient with me. Land is longsuffering. It knows it isn’t going anywhere. It was here before I arrived and it will be here when I’m gone.
Honestly, it’s kinda uppity that way, don’t you think?
One that is sunny and happy! 
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:flying:
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heh we are weird but at least we can be weird in the privacy of our own land!
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btw: LOVE your goats!
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Tresh in Oklahoma.
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you are lucky – love the porch the best and your little managerie of critters – even in winter you can sit out and enjoy the snow with hot tea and afghan
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I’d love to have 40 acres to connect with though!
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oh and that’s great news about Fish Creek!
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I am so glad those blogs were shut down! If you can’t get your own material, dont’ do one, is my thought – but don’t steal from others! As 52 would say “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”>Right? LOL :mrgreen:
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Just getting started on the animals. My first ones are 3 alpacas..Hope to add dwarf goats & chickens…I am retiring in 3 years, so I have my work cut out for me. But this is what it is all about….
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I’m reminded also of Pearl S. Buck’s, “The Good Earth”. The land is patient and not always kind. It has it’s own agenda which doesn’t always follow ours.
Re: The plagiarism situation. Anyone who is maintaining three or more blogs is certainly in it for it’s revenue generating possibilities. You know yourself that writing and providing content for ONE blog is daunting, much less three or more. It’s seems that “cut and paste” is the solution. Not a very good one though. If this person actually does maintain a brick and mortar business, she stands to lose her reputation and business.
- Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife (the other Suzanne)
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Your place is truly beautiful.
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And The Cats eat The Bugs. Sure, then they throw up The Bugs on The Carpet, but still, they’re useful in their own way.
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Congratulations on at least two of those sites closing down.
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My youngest dd is a senior in our homeschool this year (our last year…graduating our BABY baby! We LOVE homeschooling!) and we are going to really try to become active nature journalists. I’m very excited…especially since fall is right around the corner.
BTW…I’m glad I could help get fishcreek lady off of homesteadblogger.com!! It’s too of a site to ruin w/someone like that.
Blessings from Ohio…
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I live in suburbia, but as Shirley wrote in her comment, quoting from Gone With the Wind, “There’s no getting away from it if you’re Irish.” I’m Irish, and my vegetable garden overfloweth, even in suburbia.
My dream is to one day own a small hobby farm. While 40 acres would be amazing, I’d be happy with 2 to 5. Chickens. I dream of having chickens one day. Goats. Maybe a little Jersey cow. A little orchard with apples and pears and maybe a nectarine tree.
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I’m so glad to see the the plagarist is down, I hope that she has learned her lesson.
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And speaking as a title company employee, that “legal description” both intrigues and scares the mess out of me. ;-)