My Life as a Farmer’s Wife Updated

Over the Christmas period, I had a look over some of my old blog posts. It actually made for interesting reading, for me.

Remembering activities I had forgotten we did and seeing how our lives and the farm has changed.

One post that stuck in my head though was my post: My Life as a Farmer’s Wife.

It seems our routine has changed quite a bit.

The children are early risers so it is now me who is up first. We have a couple of stables on the farm so if Hubster isn’t up, I go and open the gates and, if it is light, let the chickens out.

In the winter when it doesn’t get light until later, Hubster lets the chickens out while I make breakfast or just after.

On a normal work and school day, we have breakfast between 7 and 8am. I make it now in our house instead of Hubster making his own in his mum’s house. I am not sure why that changed but at least it is routine and the children get to see Daddy for longer in a morning.

It is not a quick affair. We have proper porridge-ie made in a pan, not quick oats. The children and I have toast and Hubster has bacon and eggs and, if I’m feeling enthused, mushrooms and tomatoes. Sometimes Boo has a sausage too and we all have eggs at weekend.

I sometimes use the making breakfast time to do any animal chores like feeding and checking. I put the porridge on and let the grill heat up and I know I have around eight-ten minutes to do something.

Then I go upstairs and get myself and the children dressed-that’s right, I often put a coat over my pyjamas to do the jobs.

If it is quiet on the farm (ie not lambing or hay making), or if the weather is bad, Hubster will have G while I take Boo to school. It makes it so much easier and quicker for me.

Otherwise, G comes with us to school drop off.

If G and I have an activity in the morning, off we go and we are always back for lunch at midday where Hubster is waiting. He is a creature of habit and needs structure in his day to plan the work so while some people may laugh that I am indeed chained to the kitchen at certain times, it really does work for us and, especially over the Christmas break, even the children have been telling me to go and make lunch as they too are so used to our routine.

If there are no activities and Boo is at school, we sometimes do animal chores or go to the shops for supplies.

I still make lunch for the farm workers too and the afternoon is usually spent cleaning or blogging while G naps. To be fair though, in this last pregnancy, I have sometimes had a little nap myself, just to get through.

Then it is school pick up time and I sometimes nip into our local village on the way home from school to pick up supplies.

Hubster has a snack at around 3pm which coincides with Boo coming in from school and is another nice opportunity for the children to see their Father.

If the weather is dry after school, we usually don wellies and have a little walk around the farm, feeding the goats, seeing the sheep and chickens or playing in the garden.

It is great in the summer when the kitchen door is open onto the garden and I can keep one eye on the children while tidying, sorting washing or preparing meals.

In winter, when it goes dark early, Hubster is usually in at 5pm and has the children while I cook our evening meal and sort out the kitchen.

We eat around 5.30-6pm and if I have been organised, the dishes all get done before bedtime which for both of them is between 6.30 and 7pm. We are quite strict with bedtime for a number of reasons and it works for us.

When Huster comes in at night, I usually go and do a last check of my animals-the goats get hay and a stroke and I check the chickens are away for the night. I also do any chores that I am unable to do with the children (most of them), write blog posts and, if I get time, sit down for a bit and watch TV.

Another baby in the mix is sure to turn my routine on its head but I have learnt that most chores can be completed with a child strapped to you or parked in front of a strategically placed vehicle or animal pen for amusement and, as long as they can see you, it usually works.

Most times, G will help in his own little way while, if Boo is home, will watch and just moan until it is over.

During lambing, it does change somewhat. Whoever gets up first usually got and checks the sheep to see if any lambs have been born over night and check the pet lambs if we have any. Then it is a cycle throughout the day and evening of checking and helping, checking and helping.

I used to put both children to bed myself but, as the end of my third pregnancy coincided with winter and a quieter time on the farm, Hubster has been helping me out. He really is a good one.

While life seems different from the last time I wrote about our daily life, it is also similar. No day is the same. Whether it’s a drama or an emergency, life is never dull on the farm. We are never stuck for conversation. There is always something to do and, as Boo gets older and G is enjoying being outside more, I really do feel we are incredibly lucky to be able to bring up children here.

Our life may not be like others but we do love it. I would like to say that while I help out as much as I can on the farm, I do still class myself as a farmer’s wife rather than a farmer. There are women out there who farm on their own but here, it is Hubster who is the farmer and I just support him-which can include farm work but not always.

It is just how it works for us.

Maybe I should revisit these posts every year to see how our life changes.