Tuesday, June 01, 2010
The Sweet Life
Having grown up in Montreal and Toronto, I never imagined that one day I would be living on a farm an married to a beef farmer. Though I absolutely love our life on the Island, there are days when I sometimes find it difficult. For one thing, being a farmer's wife is not easy.Farmers' wives (not all farmers' wives) have to take care of everything related to the home, take care of the children pretty much on our own, help on the farm, AND earn an income working off the farm to help support the farm. It's often a struggle to do ALL of these things because all of the above are "full time jobs"! A few of the other moms I know who are married to farmers have said the same thing. We often find ourselves stretched thin from having to do so much. This said, our husbands do A LOT of work to keep the farms going.
Hubby is the hardest worker I know. He is so busy all the time. Being a farmer is not easy. Tilling, planting/seeding, feeding, first cut, second cut, baling, fixing fence, repairing machinery...the work never ends. Not to mention having to take several off-farm jobs to support the farm too. What is most frustrating is that after all that hard work, the farmer sees next to nothing for his labour. When I see some of the prices in the grocery store for products I know cost more than they're selling them for, I get so upset. I mean, how can a bag of frozen veggies sell for $1.99 when it costs so much more to grow the veggies and harvest them? It costs a lot of money on fuel to work a farm. Better yet, when grocery stores can sell beef for ridiculously low prices...Bah! I won't get into it any further.
Anyway, that's my rant for the day. It's a hard life, but it's the life I chose when I married a farmer. Hubby firmly believes that one day, farming will be profitable again. I admire that he loves doing what he does. Living close to the land, understanding the connection humans have with the land, the animals, and appreciating that relationship are all things that Hubby loves about farming. Farming is in his blood.
I appreciate being able to raise our daughter in a wholesome environment. She really is an outdoor kid!
I also appreciate being able to live on such a beautiful island.
I appreciate our family and our friends.
I feel blessed to have a beautiful, healthy, happy baby girl.
Despite the trials and challenges (read: my not so privileged life I once knew!), this really is the sweet life and I really am blessed.
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About the Blog Author
City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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7 comments:
And a very busy little girl too!
Merinz:
Hello, my favourite person from NZ! :) Yes, she *is* a very busy little one!!! I had the day off today and Little One and I went off-island for the day. We ran errands, did some shopping, had lunch...and she was running EVERYWHERE!!!! Oh, my! Is she ever FAST! LOL!
Its amazing how Mum tires before they do. And they have such little legs too!
I love your farm pics. Little One is growing up in a great environment.
I won't be stopping by for a while - we are off to distant shores for an extended holiday and to catch up with our globe trotting children. Unfortunately its not to Canadian shores.
hi c- such cute pix of the baby!!!!
can't wait to see you guys very very soon!!!!
thanks also for answering bert's q's and emails about our trip. now i'm on vacation! i'll be calling you myself soon!
Canine:
Sooooooooooo excited!!! In exactly 7 days, you'll be on the Island!! Wooo hoooo!!!
XOX
It's amazing to me that farmers even keep it up, since it is SUCH hard work, and then to have to work elsewhere just to make a living. It's kinda ridiculous.
Of course, most people would want farmers to make more money, but they don't want their grocery bill to go up at the same time. We always want to have our cake and eat it to, as my Grandma would say. Seems like I read somewhere that we pay quite a bit less (in percentage of income) for our food than we did 60 or 70 years ago, and that's part of our problem. Too much hyper consumerism, too little focus on knowing where your food comes from and wanting to support that whole system. Of course, if we stop consuming so much, our economy falls apart, as we can see from our current situation. As soon as we start (as a nation, or as a couple of nations) acting in the best interest of our own family, not spending beyond our means, saving for the future, the economy goes in the crapper and people lose jobs. Then if we lose our jobs, there's no money to save OR spend.
Sigh. Don't ask me, I just complain. I don't know the best answer.
J:
You're absolutely right...about everything you said. *sigh* I really don't know a good answer either.
I asked Hubby the other day WHY anyone would even WANT to be a farmer. The pay sucks, they're overworked, they get no holidays...and I can go on and on. His answer was that farming is in his blood. He loves living close to the land. He feels it's the right thing for him to do (although he went to college). He feels that people need farmers so that they can be supplied with food. He thinks this is a healthy, wholesome, enriching life for our Little One.
*sigh* I guess he's right. The good days are really good. I have to admit that :) It really is a good life.