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A Farm of My Own:  Does anyone else get "the look?"  |
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oldfashioned girl
True Blue Farmgirl
2391 Posts
monica
oatman
az
USA
2391 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 20 2008 : 8:22:10 PM
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Just wait, someday it will be "in fashion" to be a farmgirl! I get that look all of the time when I talk about making cheese, canning,spinning yarn etc,etc. People usually say why do you go to all that trouble when you can just go buy it at the store! It's hard for me to not say to them "Do you know what you are eating?"
I think it is good and necessary to slow down at least once in a while! I do have a cell phone but I would not get cable t.v. I do not need 500 channels to watch! You could not watch 1 hour of every channel in a week even if you watched it 24/7! I like doing what I do and some of my friends think it's really cool so I don't give to much thought to those who think I'm nuts!
Besides all of us here know that look so you are in great company! Don't ever think your the only one!!! Before I forget, welcome from Arizona!!!
Monica
farmgirls rule!
www.justducky48.etsy.com |
Edited by - oldfashioned girl on Sep 20 2008 8:23:15 PM |
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Beverley
True Blue Farmgirl
2707 Posts
Beverley
atlanta
Michigan
USA
2707 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2008 : 10:16:19 AM
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I have read all the threads here and I got quite a chuckle out of them. I just love people to give me the look. I live in a small town and still get the look. but I am happy and that is what matters. I was raised in a big city and have always felt like I needed to be out in the country. I now have 8 + acres and some goats and dogs and want some sheep and I am having a blast. Wish I had done it sooner. But can't worry about that now. Welcome and don't let people bug ya just go on your way and have fun doing it. Beverley
Folks will know how large your soul is by the way you treat a dog....Charles F. Doran
beverley baggett Beverley with an extra E...
http://bevsdoggies.googlepages.com/ |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2008 : 1:09:43 PM
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oh, monica! i am originally from kingman, az! one of the last times i was home to see the parents, i took my hubby to oatman... it's such a fun town!
karen, i love your overalls idea! i think i should go out and buy some myself. my mom was a bit like you... she told me the story of my parents wedding. as soon as the ceremony was over, she quickly changed out of her wedding dress into her comfortable overalls. i have pictures to prove it! there she is, cutting the cake with my dad - he's still in his formal suit, she in her true-blue overalls! totally cute!
heather - when i was in the navy, i was an AG - meteorological technician.
now i really do feel like i fit in here... i was called laura ingalls wilder not long ago by a high school friend. i was e-mailing him about my plans for my self-sufficient future and telling him about my garden... "oh, you're like on little house on the prairie!"
and, yes, people don't understand why we gals want to make our own products. i think it's funny that now even the simple act of cooking and homaking your own food is out of the ordinary. the hubby and i were dining out with my friend and her fiance at pizza hut. i told the hubby we should make them homeade pizza sometime because it's 10 times better than this stuff. he asked "what, you even make the dough? how do you do that?" i just sigh... what can a farmgirl do but sigh? ha ha!
and good luck to you gals living in the city... i commend your farmgirl heart and spirit! |
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oldfashioned girl
True Blue Farmgirl
2391 Posts
monica
oatman
az
USA
2391 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2008 : 1:38:35 PM
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Elizabeth, If you ever are in Kingman you must get a hold of me and maybe we could meet up in Oatman!!! That would be so fun!!! We could wear our aprons together!!! I make my own pizza, dough and all!!!
Monica
farmgirls rule!
www.justducky48.etsy.com |
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LouisvilleMom
True Blue Farmgirl
246 Posts
Kathryn
Louisville
KY
USA
246 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2008 : 5:16:18 PM
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I get the look at barn/estate/yard sales when I am pawing through the junk or trying to salvage stuff for my future new/old house. I have no desire to live in the big city. Even here in Louisville we live barely in the county border and were considered rural until two years ago. NOw I can't wait for acreage with a huge garden. Yes I get the look too.
SAHM mom to four great boys.
http://ksfarnsworth.blogspot.com/ |
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LouisvilleMom
True Blue Farmgirl
246 Posts
Kathryn
Louisville
KY
USA
246 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2008 : 5:18:52 PM
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I also just noticed that you said you were from Rexburg. How long were you there. DH would give just about anything to live there except the income which is why we are still here. His dream in to live in Spokane or Northern Idaho.
SAHM mom to four great boys.
http://ksfarnsworth.blogspot.com/ |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2008 : 6:56:27 PM
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| oh, i lived there when i was very little... in the 80's. but like i said, i go back fairly often to visit family. |
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Contrary Wife
True Blue Farmgirl
2164 Posts
Teresa Sue
Tekoa
WA
USA
2164 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2008 : 7:06:55 PM
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Hi Elizabeth, welcome. I'm from Thermopolis and my DH is from Lovell.
Teresa Sue
Farmgirl Sister #316
"Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly." The Dalai Lama |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2008 : 07:56:40 AM
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i only drove through thermopolis, but i'd love to go there and have a relaxing time. it looks totally fun! can't go wrong with dinosaurs and hot springs!
so what other things get you "the look?" i save alot of things, such as containers, to use for other things. i save the buckets that cat litter comes in - they make perfect buckets for gardening or cleaning. i save sour cream and cottage containers for just about everything. and of course, when i save biodegradables, such as orange or banana peel, to bring home for my compost. people just look at me like "WHY are you saving that?"
"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."
-Guillaume Apollinaire |
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Laura Marie
True Blue Farmgirl
419 Posts
Laura
Rancho Cordova
California
USA
419 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2008 : 4:38:32 PM
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I completly understand. I live in North Hollywood and work as an assistant manager at a very popular coffee shop chain and I come in to work and wish I was at home working in my little garden or sewing something new on my sewing machine or finish working on my crocheting. Most of my co-workers think its cool, but they all started off by giving me the "look". The neighbors tease me, my boyfriend is happy he doesn't have to worry about any front yard activities because I take care of everything. My friends don't know what to think because a lot of them never had anything like what I have. They didn't grow up getting fresh eggs, or fresh fruit from outside. It's weird. I like the city life at times, but I crave the silence from speeding cars and sirens of the emergency vehicles passing by. And I really crave it when I am sitting in traffic on the 101 going through Hollywood I do the best I can and have been in much worst situations, but I am ready to leave the big city and move north, even just an hour and buy a small place. But I'm young so I have a lot to look forward to.
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soapmommy60543
True Blue Farmgirl
2197 Posts
Ann
Oswego
IL
USA
2197 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2008 : 5:15:54 PM
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| I get the LOOK too... We live in what is now suburbia (we used to be a small farm town of about 5k people - our recent census put us at 28,900) on a 1/2 acre lot close to town. We are the lucky ones. Most people in our town are packed in like sardines in big overpriced boxes that take 2 careers to pay for, and the boxes are smashed in 4, 5 or even 6 per acre. People have asked me why I want to be in my own space, where I can have a garden, room for my children to run around, be able to walk to family owned shops and the library. I always say that God made me a farm girl. I live my life as close to a farm wife as I can - I cook, bake and can, crochet, knit, quilt, sew and papercraft. I homeschool my kids and take the time to be an assistant den leader for my son's cub scout den. I am the non-soccer mom in all of my "circles." Think of it this way - while most people your age are out making a living, you and your husband are building a life together. You are giving your children the things they need most - love, support and encouragement, and hopefully eventually the skills to actually be self-sufficient grown ups. It is much better to make your own life than be entrapped by serving the almighty dollar. Like you said in your post on 9/17, people are really impressed when we do all these things ourselves. They have forgotten that they could do it, too, but they choose to spend their resources (time and $$$) differently. Personally, I'd rather be different. Normal is boring. |
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Kris Sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
131 Posts
Kris
Chickamauga
Ga.
USA
131 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2008 : 7:22:35 PM
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I'm always the one at church dinners or even at friends homes that wants everyones scraps to feed to my chickens or pigs. Every little bit helps, I say. I do get strange looks then.
At Bible study a few weeks ago I brought apples and asked for the cores.
I also get all the pie plates and big containers before they hit the trash because they make great feed bowls.
I do what I can to save a little money here and there and if people think that's strange they can buy feed for me then.
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Montrose Girl
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm
1360 Posts
Laurie
Montrose
CO
1360 Posts |
Posted - Sep 23 2008 : 06:54:17 AM
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My family has given me the look for years. One Christmas my neice, probably 20 at the time asked my brother in law what does Aunt Laurie do? Then I worked at a nonprofit for sustainablility. They are more use to my quirks and I have a friend who calls them Laurisms, she expects at least one every time she visits. She's a city girl and I drove her cross country from Montana to Vermont, took her to the local bar with "heads" everywhere, to the furniture race at the ski slope, asked her to hold the door to the piglet yard so I could screw it back together with piglets running between her feet, and dug potatos to cook up that day. When I start talking about food though... oh watch out. I canned applesauce or made peach preserves. The familyhopes to be on the receiving end of that quirk. This year I am making crackers and jam for part of the XMas gifts. such fun.
Best Growing |
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paradiseplantation
True Blue Farmgirl
1277 Posts
julie
social springs community
Louisiana
USA
1277 Posts |
Posted - Sep 23 2008 : 2:08:14 PM
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Trust me, I know that look well. I'm a 49 year old woman, and I still feel like people whom I've known all my life are patting me on the head like a child when I tell them I've moved from the city to 60 acres in the middle of nowhere, and several have actually told me I'd come to my senses soon! AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! If coming to my senses means moving off my place and back to the city, I'd just as soon stay senseless!!!!
from the hearts of paradise... |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
Posted - Sep 23 2008 : 3:52:51 PM
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come to your senses!!! what?! what i don't understand is how is better to be crammed in the city, with hardly any yard to enjoy, living in housing developments where your house is a clone, where you can't see nature unless you drive a long way out of town? do people like to be cramped?
Kris- i love how well you conserve! it seems you are thinking of crafty ways to save things for useful uses instead of throwing them away... i've been saving alot lately. just the other day i was wishing i had a container to carry lotion in my purse. i didn't want to buy one. lo and behold, i used up the rest of the one i had and saved the bottle to put more lotion in. why waste something when you can use it?
Laura - i admire you for living in hollywood and still being a farmgirl, sticking to your guns when you get the look. i hated sitting in traffic... now i actually look foward to my 40 mile drive into town so i can admire the farmland, the sunrises and sunsets, the changing seasons, and listening to my music!
"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."
-Guillaume Apollinaire |
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marcy jo
True Blue Farmgirl
453 Posts
Marcy
Wawaka
Indiana
USA
453 Posts |
Posted - Sep 25 2008 : 3:53:48 PM
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I love getting the look!! My family doesnt do it as much since they get spoiled with jam and pickles. They even put in their orders before I get ready to make it!! My hubby loves me being a farmgirl..I think it turns him on....but from coworkers-most of them are like why work so hard when you can get it already done for you? I like the work of making a garden and sewing and I dont think of it as work some of it is just for survival-that and money doesnt grow on trees!!
Marcy #257
When I stand before God at the end of my life I hope that I would not have a bit of talent left and could say “I used everything You gave me”.(erma bombeck) |
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horse
True Blue Farmgirl
371 Posts
laura
pontotoc
mississippi
USA
371 Posts |
Posted - Sep 25 2008 : 6:54:53 PM
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Remember the song,"I was Country when Country wasn't cool"? I think that applies to all of us. I live in a very small rural town here in MS and I still get the 'look' everyday.(hmmm it might be cause I wear jeans, boots, spurs, and hat everyday) One would think living here in this one-horse town that we all would be alike. My son is in the military. Just wanted to thank you for serving our Country. God Bless You.
Laura
Farmgirl Sister #354
www.2lmzfarms.blogspot.com |
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mommom
True Blue Farmgirl
854 Posts
Susan
Lancaster
Pennsylvania
USA
854 Posts |
Posted - Sep 26 2008 : 08:39:11 AM
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| Last week I went into the grocery store with my apron on. I had been freezing tomatoes and it was quite dirty and I forgot to take it off. An elderly lady came up to me and said "I used to look like you!" I continued on throughout the store with my dirty little apron on and people looking at me. Mostly this is what I heard: You've been a busy girl today! Do you have more work to do when you get home? I just love starting new fashion trends! Susan |
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knitnick
Farmgirl in Training
15 Posts
Joy
Springfield
KY
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - Sep 27 2008 : 7:47:55 PM
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oh yeah, i get the look all the time, even from my parents and other relatives. part of the reason we live 2 1/2 hours from all of them. we have 4.5 acres and just bought this place in early june. we had everyone over for july 4, they mostly thought we are crazy but liked watching our ducks...chickens came a week later and turkeys about 6 weeks later. they take a look at our photos online and just shake their heads. sometimes I think i am not related to them.
anyhow, we plan on raising most of our own meat and as much of our veggies as we can manage. both of us still have full-time jobs and will have for a long time yet, so it's a lot of work but it's worth every minute. occasionally, especially here, we find others interested in or doing the same, and it's almost a guaranteed-friend situation, because at least you have a thing or two in common. the look is the reason I keep coming back here, at least I know you-all are interested in many of the same things! |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Sep 28 2008 : 10:52:04 AM
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Julie, I get those same condescending looks as well.
When I was pregnant with my daughter we decided we would cloth diaper (I always knew I would). So when people would ask what we wanted, I would say cloth diapers. People would laugh and say I give you two weeks! Well my daughter is 2 years old, and we never resorted to disposables, even on 3 week vacations (more then one!). Airplane rides etc. It's NOT hard. I don't know why people act like it's just too hard to wash a diaper!
Now it's potty training and it's harder then the dickens to find cloth training pants. I once in a while will find a pack but they are way too big for my daughter (for 3 year olds, my daughter is 2, but still wears a size 12 months, she's small). When I have asked at stores about the training pants, they look at me cock eyed, like a confused dog, then say.......ooooooh do you mean pull ups? No, I do NOT mean pull ups! *roll eyes*
Now I've been seeing more and more disposable bibs!!! All I can think is NEXT it's going to be hard to find a cloth bib!
When I was growing up Mc D's used to clean their high chairs, and would plastic wrap a new plastic bib into the tray. I never see that any more. BUT, I'm thinking that's the way Bibs are all going to be soon, just like diapers and pull ups it's only going to be disposable bibs too! That's dang scary!
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
Posted - Sep 29 2008 : 09:12:49 AM
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me and the hubby were just chatting about cloth diapers the other day... how it's really the only way to go. i can't believe they would make disposable bibs! with all the fuss about being green, i'm surprised this stuff isn't more popular! i think people just don't want to get their hands dirty....
"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."
-Guillaume Apollinaire |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2008 : 12:59:59 PM
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Well, I remember when disposable diapers were new! My mom still used cloth. Now you can barely find a cloth diaper at the store. (just with in the last year have I seen more then just birds eye gerber stuff! Which is useless as a "diaper"). I also remember when pull-ups first came on the market. It never crossed my mind that people would switch completely over to them, and it would be harder then all get out to find cloth training pants! It really never crossed my mind! I can't believe the people at the stores don't even understand what I am asking for!
I've been seeing at least 3 different brands of disposable bibs at the store the last few years!
With the way the disposable diapers and training pants have went........I will not be surprised at all, if by the time my children have children, we will be having to make our own bibs, just like we are having to find WAHMs who make cloth diapers!
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
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Sheep Mom 2
True Blue Farmgirl
1534 Posts
Sheri
Elk
WA
USA
1534 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2008 : 5:15:35 PM
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| I actually enjoy the look. I have been doing the farmstead thing now for about 28 years and I love being a hermit!! My sheep don't care how I look in the morning and the chickens only criticize if I'm running late...I think most people who don't get it think if you live in the country and do things that are "close to the ground" you somehow aren't educated or up to date with the workings of the modern world. When we were building our house we didn't even have indoor plumbing and my in-laws from New York had to use the outhouse. Now that really generated a LOOK. Hey - you do what you have to do to get where you want to go and if you do it right, the journey is a joyful learning adventure. |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2008 : 5:55:12 PM
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LOL My MIL would rather go in her pants. I can't imagine Sheri! She would be in the first car out of there! lol haha She won't even visit my father cause he has hunting dogs! lol haha She gets scared when she goes to the poconos cause of bugs! lol She's a NYer! lol haha
BTW, I grew up with a outhouse. So I'm not putting that down. I'm just imagining my MIL in the same situation! lol
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
Edited by - MagnoliaWhisper on Sep 30 2008 5:55:54 PM |
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Sheep Mom 2
True Blue Farmgirl
1534 Posts
Sheri
Elk
WA
USA
1534 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2008 : 6:54:38 PM
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| The outhouse thing wasn't so bad - except when the dogs showed up freshly skunked in the morning or when it was 45 below zero. That's when you bring the seat in and hang it by the wood stove. Ha. I was quite relieved to get indoor plumbing and I didn't miss it that's for sure. I do think that when you build a place from the ground up and learn to make do with what you have, when things get weird in the financial circles you tend to take it more in stride. I wouldn't trade the homestead experience for anything. |
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A Farm of My Own: Does anyone else get "the look?" |
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Does anyone else get "the look?"
