Staycation

Winter has officially ended...and that means grass! No more having to load hay and silage to feed cattle everyday. A farmers work is never finished though, so my husband and father-in-law spend the spring days walking fence and spraying weeds to get the fields ready for grazing cattle. Boone and Lenoir seem like they stay in two different seasons with a 10 degree difference in only about 45 minutes drive time. This makes even more work for them as they have hay fields and cattle spread out over Watauga and Caldwell County.

Being fairly new to farm life is something I am still getting used to. I am not afraid of the hard work, but about this time of year most people are graduating, celebrating and traveling with their families. 

The truth is, I've been longing to see the beach. 

My husband, Edward, finished a big carpentry job last Tuesday and told me he was taking the rest of the week off. You can guess the first thing that came to my mind.... spontaneous vacation! The look on Edward's face when I mentioned going to the beach brought me back to reality. Traveling six hours with a baby and dog, leaving on a whim and coming home even more exhausted was not worth it. 

So I came up with another idea.... and called it our very on Staycation.

A staycation that involved work, along with family time and completing much needed tasks around our house and farm.

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This photo of our dog hanging from Jesse's swing set was the start to a not-so-typical staycation. Oakley was long overdo for a nail trimming and we researched some ideas online, which resulted in this homemade dog hammock. It worked well, and we got a good laugh.

Later that morning we took a drive toward Tennessee to the feed store to pick up more seed for the garden. We also went to Lowes to get flowers.  Call me crazy, but to me this is a dream date.

Jesse and I stayed home while Edward went to get a truck load of mulch. After spreading it along the edge of our drive and house, we decided I needed the whole area for flowers. Edward filled in this whole section with mulch. Now were just waiting for the grass to die out so we can put some flowers in (and maybe a bird bath).

Edward worked so hard spreading manure and tilling our garden one last time before planting the rest of our vegetables. By the end of the week, I planted cucumbers, corn, okra, squash and green beans. We got a lot accomplished. 

This may not sound like a vacation... it was a week full of work! To a farmer, this is a vacation. I'm learning that just getting to spend time together as a family, laughing, and building our homestead can make the best memories. 





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