I have learned something living out in the country. Country folk, for the most part, are a whole different breed of neighbors. Let me explain myself. When we first moved to our small farm it was mid March and 2 days after we moved in it snowed, I mean it snowed a lot. We had almost 4 inches on the ground and we have a long driveway. I was at home with then 4 littles and hubby was sleeping after working an all night shift. I heard an odd noise and went to the window to see our new neighbor plowing our driveway...we had only met him for a moment when we had looked at the home before buying it, just to ask a few questions about the pasture. He plowed the entire driveway...just to be kind!
Time and again we have experienced it, it is like an unwritten rule of country living, we look out for one and other. Both of our neighbors are fantastic, and most others that I meet who live on some land seem so giving of what they are blessed with. We watch out for one and other, share wisdom, and help when needed. Currently we are feeding and caring for our neighbor's horses, as he had surgery. When we are out of town we can count on him to feed ours. When we need a tool we borrow, and when we have something someone needs, we share. When our crops are in abundance we trade, when I bake, I make extras. It just seems the unwritten rule of country living.
I learned something really cool though this last week. Country kindness extends beyond immediate neighbors. I had posted on a local facebook page that I was looking for farm apples that weren't being used (I hate to see them go to waste). I got a subsequent message from another young lady who said she didn't have apples but had pears in abundance and was willing to share. YAY! I went over with my 4 youngest and we picked away. The other mama was sweet as can be and we swapped some country wisdom as she is also a new farm owner. I took over some peppers we had in abundance to share and came home with what you see below.
Time and again we have experienced it, it is like an unwritten rule of country living, we look out for one and other. Both of our neighbors are fantastic, and most others that I meet who live on some land seem so giving of what they are blessed with. We watch out for one and other, share wisdom, and help when needed. Currently we are feeding and caring for our neighbor's horses, as he had surgery. When we are out of town we can count on him to feed ours. When we need a tool we borrow, and when we have something someone needs, we share. When our crops are in abundance we trade, when I bake, I make extras. It just seems the unwritten rule of country living.
I learned something really cool though this last week. Country kindness extends beyond immediate neighbors. I had posted on a local facebook page that I was looking for farm apples that weren't being used (I hate to see them go to waste). I got a subsequent message from another young lady who said she didn't have apples but had pears in abundance and was willing to share. YAY! I went over with my 4 youngest and we picked away. The other mama was sweet as can be and we swapped some country wisdom as she is also a new farm owner. I took over some peppers we had in abundance to share and came home with what you see below.
What you see here is an over-flowing bushel of pears. Almost 90 pounds of pears!
I chopped them up, cooked them down and made pear sauce by running the cooked pears through a food mill. So far I have processed half a bushel which has yielded 14 quarts of pear sauce, I imagine I will be at almost 30 quarts of pear sauce when the job is done, pretty good for free produce and meeting a sweet new farm mama to boot!
I have always been blessed with good neighbors, friendly and kind. But I must say that my country neighbors (and like minded country mamas) are the best kind!
