You know you are "Country" when...

[microchick]

We have almost 30 acres of mostly timber with some pasture. Sometimes we wish we had more land, especially timber and sometimes we are glad that we have just the acres that we have. There is a lot of work, mowing, grooming trails, repairing parameter fences, harvesting wood for winter heating, but at night when you lay in bed and can see shooting stars flashing across the incredible night sky, hear the insects in the forsythia bush outside and the owls in the timber without one car going by, it's all worth it.

Our home isn't fancy, just a simple Amish building and a roomy barn, but we love it and call it home. We just wish we could have done this in our prime years, but our careers kept us busy.

Take my advice, all of you looking ahead to owning extreme rural land. Find some way to make it happen and make your dream come true. It won't be an easy life, but it will be one you will never regret.

I just have to add another one to the You Know You are Country, When.......You park your tractor in the barn and leave your car sitting out in the rain because the tractor is more valuable to you than the car!

 

[RAM4171]

Amen to that Microchick.
We are on 35 acres of all timber on a dead end dirt road near the end. We spent the first 11 years of marriage living on 1/8 acre lot in a burb outside Dallas that didn't even allow chickens. Took 10 years of patient work on my city wife to get her out here. We blew through our life savings making it happen and wouldn't change a thing. We went from 1800 sqft on 1/8 acre to 1500 sqft on 35 acres with solitude. My city wife has definitely gone country and finds any excuss not to go to the city.

You know your country when you dispatch five low down dirty, thieving, chicken stealing, no good, mangy, stinkin, disease ridden, onery, low life racoons before 8am on a Saturday and call it a good start. I like to say I don't have a coon problem, but the coons have a Rusty problem. I'm pretty sure that they don't even come inside the dog/chicken yard any more.

I could deal with trash lock down and the other things that go along with country life, but when some of my girls came up missing I declared war. Yall have a great weekend, time to go set the traps.

 

[Alexandra33]

You know you're country when.....

T.Roo, your Lavender Orpington cockerel, sprays feed mixed with water from his beak into your mouth, and after spitting once, it's all good.

-Alexandra33

 

[Aozora]

You know you are country when you spend the day working on the garden and planting winter crops, and you have to put up the chickens because they're being a bit "too" helpful tilling the ground and start tilling up seeds.

You know you are country when you have to spend 20 minutes rounding up chickens to get them back in their coop because they want to stay and "help" in the garden.

You know you are country when you go take care of your animals in the pouring rain and only think, "Well, this will help the rutabaga seeds I just planted."

You know you are country when you put the freshly collected eggs in your pocket so you can keep them safe while you go about the other chores.

You know you are country when you have to climb over the Shop-Vac and various pieces of the most recent project as you're feeding the rabbits and quail, because it started raining and you had to get them in out of the wet fast.

You know you're country when you bring a rabbit doe inside to drip mineral oil in her ears. (Poor baby has ear mites...)

You know you're country when the best place to sit for the tricky project of putting mineral oil in an ornery rabbit's ears is on a chair covered in a fresh pile of laundry, and you're wet and muddy, and you proceed to sit because it has to be done.

You know you're country when you sit down on the laundry, wresting an ornery rabbit, and you hear a "crack-squish" from your pocket as one of the eggs breaks.

You know you're country when you shrug, say "oh well" and continue doing the job and make sure that your rabbit is back in her hutch safely before you check the broken egg in your pocket.

 

[TBirdsTheWord33]

The cabin idea is cool. Three acres is a very nice size for your startup. To get what you were originally looking for you would probably have to buy just a piece of land and put a small dwelling on it. It's common now for people to divide their farms and sell off parcels of land. I've even seen rich people buy land and live for a couple of years in a travel trailer while their homes were being built.

I would love to have a barn with small living quarters on top. I've heard that it's very common in Germany for people to live above their animal barn or stable. People think it would stink, but horse barns never stink unless you feed a lot.of alfalfa, which horses do not need to eat. I only knew one racehorse trainer who added alfalfa to the other hay, but that barn didn't stink. Out west they feed way too much alfalfa, for whatever reason, so the barn smell is strong.

I've also known people who lived in a camper while building a home. It's an excellent option! I would also enjoy living in the upper level of a barn. Great ideas, ConPollos (WithChickens...nice Spanish touch)!

We have almost 30 acres of mostly timber with some pasture. Sometimes we wish we had more land, especially timber and sometimes we are glad that we have just the acres that we have. There is a lot of work, mowing, grooming trails, repairing parameter fences, harvesting wood for winter heating, but at night when you lay in bed and can see shooting stars flashing across the incredible night sky, hear the insects in the forsythia bush outside and the owls in the timber without one car going by, it's all worth it.

Our home isn't fancy, just a simple Amish building and a roomy barn, but we love it and call it home. We just wish we could have done this in our prime years, but our careers kept us busy.

Take my advice, all of you looking ahead to owning extreme rural land. Find some way to make it happen and make your dream come true. It won't be an easy life, but it will be one you will never regret.

I just have to add another one to the You Know You are Country, When.......You park your tractor in the barn and leave your car sitting out in the rain because the tractor is more valuable to you than the car!

We are blessed to live on a very quiet road in one of the most beautiful and sparsely populated counties in Ohio, BUT we have yet to live out our dream. Thank you for sharing your inspiring story. I had DH read your post, and we are once again discussing our dreams for the future and how to achieve them.

Amen to that Microchick.
We are on 35 acres of all timber on a dead end dirt road near the end. We spent the first 11 years of marriage living on 1/8 acre lot in a burb outside Dallas that didn't even allow chickens. Took 10 years of patient work on my city wife to get her out here. We blew through our life savings making it happen and wouldn't change a thing. We went from 1800 sqft on 1/8 acre to 1500 sqft on 35 acres with solitude. My city wife has definitely gone country and finds any excuss not to go to the city.

You know your country when you dispatch five low down dirty, thieving, chicken stealing, no good, mangy, stinkin, disease ridden, onery, low life racoons before 8am on a Saturday and call it a good start. I like to say I don't have a coon problem, but the coons have a Rusty problem. I'm pretty sure that they don't even come inside the dog/chicken yard any more.

I could deal with trash lock down and the other things that go along with country life, but when some of my girls came up missing I declared war. Yall have a great weekend, time to go set the traps.

We also spent our life savings on property, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I grew up in the country, but like you, it took me awhile (3 years to be precise) to convince my suburban-raised husband that country life really IS the way to go. Like her, he is now country inside and out. Oh, and we can relate to your coon problem...traps, bullets and all!

 

[shortgrass]

You know you're country when...

There's too much work, too little time, not enough pay, no time off sick, no vacation, watching clouds this close to harvest, everything rides on faith.... Too much stress....

And when it gets to be almost too much to handle, you can go find a bird and grab it and...hug it...

And then stop and sit and ponder all the blessings you've been given to have this bird, this view, this bounty, this stress that I call "life"... This gift.

No other coping skill out there helps me quite like raking rocks or hugging a chicken; makes time stop for just a second so I can catch a second wind

 

[microchick]

 

[RIR-YELLOWLEGS]

Ha ha ha, shortgrass!!!! I completely agree with you both; hearing rap is enough to make me sick.  This is exactly why I hate going into town, where people don't think a thing of playing music so loud in their cars that it vibrates the ground!

-Alexandra33

GOSH I can agree with you 100% as far as grocery shopping I only do mine once a month and the coons and foxes are alive and well only because they havent gotten into my hubby trap just yet got oppussem living under the house only trapped one of those just yet yet mouse dead in the closet have incent to burn in house after cleanup to get rid of the smell rat snakes and frogs at night when ai walk my little dogs trees frogs singing when its raining pet chickens in the yard and yes they have names! Chicken poop in my hair and on my shorts when i clean the chicken house ,country music playing in the henhouse all the time to keep other critters away and dont forget they have lights on to dance by chasing bugs at night WoW I guess that I will fit into thisthread line as being country hello out there and allow me to join in with 21 RIR chickens 2 dogs and 1 cat from Georgia!

 

[TBirdsTheWord33]

You know you're country when...

There's too much work, too little time, not enough pay, no time off sick, no vacation, watching clouds this close to harvest, everything rides on faith.... Too much stress....

And when it gets to be almost too much to handle, you can go find a bird and grab it and...hug it...

And then stop and sit and ponder all the blessings you've been given to have this bird, this view, this bounty, this stress that I call "life"... This gift.

No other coping skill out there helps me quite like raking rocks or hugging a chicken; makes time stop for just a second so I can catch a second wind

Nobody could have said it better! When you've been tested in the fire, refined as silver, when you know all too well what it's like NOT to have these blessings, it really makes you appreciate what you have. Simply beautiful!!!

 

[Daethen]

When you bring home your new adult flock in the back of the van. Not in carriers, just blocked off the back of the van with an old dog kennel and loaded them in one at a time. We also do not lock the house and leave the keys in the cars. We actually live on the edge of a small town but I am doing my best to make our 2 acres into a "farm".