Isn't that adorable, the way he/she imagines my life to be one of unending, buckwheat honey coated joy and bliss? I suppose they were referring to the fact that we have no time cards to punch, no policy manuals to memorize, no trainees to train. no bosses to patootie kiss.
Instead our day starts very early and only ends when the fat lady snores. At no time do I glance up at the clock and say to myself, "only 5 more minutes to go, better grab my lunch bag." Rather, I glance at the clock and mumble, "How did it get to be 6 pm already ? I still have 10 invoices to finish, and ten emails to answer and 10 calves to water (well OK, Keith usually does the evening chores) but...you get the point.
And in case you did not get it, the point is, we chose this lifestyle just like the aforementioned relative chose his/hers. I've walked in those shoes before where the day ended when my boss said "goodnight" and I do miss that sometimes but I will not be goofy enough to tell you (out loud) how easy I think your job is.
Would be so cool if you limited your comments about the luxury of self-employed farming until you got out of my earshot. Oh, and on the way down the driveway, could you stop at that big metal barrel and throw some feed at our Red Wattle Boar Mad Max.?
I lost track of time.
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| Just one more thing that cannot be grown in a eight hour day. |
The person who is self employed has a brute for a boss.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on a farm. I remember one year at some family event (on my Mom's side- who were not farmers) someone asking Dad what he did all winter when he couldn't farm. I do wish I could remember his exact answer but it was something on the order of "I work 8 hour days fixing all the things that broke while I was working 18 hour days the rest of the year". I think that relative quickly moved on...
ReplyDeleteJudy
Love this! I have heard similiar, but the one that bugs me most is about being mommy. I have 5 children from infancy to age 7. 2 have disabilities, and I am a Type 1 diabetic myself. Too many other moms have told me recently, "Oh, you have it so easy right now. Just wait until you have teens! It's exhausting!" Ugh!
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA! At first I thought that was a picture of a new bar of soap!
ReplyDeleteFrom one farmwife to another~ I know what you mean~ except I usually do the evening chores, too:))
Well, woman, whilst not on a full fledged farm yet, I have no actual office to go to either--because like you, I'm a non-boss-patootie kisser, myself!
ReplyDeleteI suppose there may be some Prairie Farmers who sow, spray, go away for several months, then return to harvest, but they must be very few. And how tedious that must be. Mixed farming may be hard work, but it's soul enhancing.
ReplyDeleteIf nothing else, it was good for a blog post!
ReplyDeletealways find myself astonished at the fact that it gets to 4pm and I cannot believe I have only got half my chores done
ReplyDeleteI would love to farm, but I hate mornings and have to force myself up at 6 to get the boys off to school. Practically, I know I would enjoy the lifestyle, but my farming friends have told me you can't convince animals to eat at a decent hour in the morning. I am a stay at home mom to four and when I can sleep, my youngest likes 3am the way I like chocolate, I fall into bed. Thank you for farming, wish I could but only the dreamer parts of me - your work is hard.
ReplyDeletePeople used to call to chat "because you're home, now!" Grrr. No, we don't watch TV and eat bon-bons. Dinner looks great.
ReplyDeleteDon't I know you??!! I grew up on a hog farm in Illinois, and I would guess we are about the same age. Delores from thefeatherednest mentioned you (she is awesome). So I want to follow you, and see what goes on in your life as winter closes in. Susan Kane
ReplyDeleteWhen I ran a boarding stable, people asked told me "it must be nice". Sure, it was nice working 12-14 hour days. Sure, it was nice foaling out mares a 4am. Sure, it was nice dragging horses through 6 foot snowdrifts for turnout. But hey, I loved it. I'd take it over this stupid desk job any day!
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow rancher, I'm loving your posts! And I so sympathize! Following you now!
ReplyDeleteOMG! Boy do I hate that. If you dont work "outside" the farm you dont work. I get it all the time too. I would like to see any of these people who like to comment on what they think I do, actually spend one day doing it. Could they give up watching 100 channels on the TV at 11 pm to get the last of the hay baled and in before the rain comes? Could they go without the take out for dinner and start a fire in the wood stove, go gather the ingredients from the dirt, and assemble a meal when starving after 12 hours of manual farm chores? Oh I could go on, but I will stop now. It just gets me every time. You go girl!
ReplyDeleteOh, and it's so nice to get a good salary with potential over-time pay or compensation instead of just having extra sore muscles and it's so nice having an "official" lunch time and "official" break time frames that are protected by law instead of realizing it's 3:00pm and you've been up since 5:00am, forgetting to eat lunch, and it's so nice to actually have a vacation, weekend, holiday AWAY from the job instead of it waiting outside your front door every single day and that 5:00pm is pretty solid, but when that sow with the medical emergency at midnight demands your attention and sends you into a psychological state of trauma, then we can see who has the more "cushy" job. I think it's clear who has the more "cushy" job or a LOT MORE people would be farming. Period.
ReplyDeleteLana