"Tails" From The Farm!!

The story of the Blubaughs journey to farm life...

We used to be a "typical" (what is typical) family. We lived in a brick house in Florida. Michael, the husband and father, would go off to work and I, Marci, the wife and mother, would stay home and homeschool our son Joshua. We were busy with things everybody is busy with. However, something was tugging at our hearts. We wanted something different. We read in the Bible about living a quiet and simple life which prompted a dream in our minds of just what that might be. We pictured a lovely little farm; a neatly painted red barn with white trim; a goat or two in the pasture; some chickens; maybe even a cow. So, we started to pray and gather information. Little did we realize that life was not going to be quiet and simple in the way we had imagined.

First, we acquired chickens, which were shared with the neighbors (we will call them the Greens) who also wanted chickens but had no time to build a coop. We had the time, but were not allowed to keep animals on our rented property. So we built the coop and shared the chickens. Each family would take a week feeding and caring for the chickens and gathering the eggs. It worked out quite well for some time. Then we started to think about other animals.

Now, at this time we lived on a long narrow 1.1 acre piece of property just beyond the edge of town. The neighbors on either side of us had the same long acreage. The back part of the yard was a field that was fenced separately. We prayed very hard about animals and then approached the landlord again. We told him that we really enjoyed living there, but really wanted animals. So, we would be looking for another place to rent. In answer to our prayers, the Lord led the landlord to agree to allow us to have animals. Right after that, the neighbors decided that they no longer wanted to deal with chickens. God's timing is always perfect! So our good friends (we will call them the Jeeters) came and helped us move the chicken coop into our yard. We named this area "The Back Forty". We were really on our way. We had chickens and they were our very own and we were now allowed to get other animals. Life was getting good!

A month later, "Southern Star", joined the family as a fat, butterball pup that looked like a little bear. She belongs to Joshua. The first two weeks in her new home it was cold and rainy. She was not allowed in the house at all. That was the one stipulation of the landlord..... NO ANIMALS IN THE HOUSE!!!!! So, Joshua would sleep out in the cold, damp carport, or on the front porch in order to keep Star company and prevent her from whining and keeping everyone awake. He would walk around with her tucked in his shirt. They were the best of buddies. Things were going great until Star discovered the chickens. Star is an Australian Shepherd.... they herd things. She saw all of these chickens running around as her responsibility. She needed to round them up and make them behave. Needless to say, she was banned from The Back Forty. It was such a temptation though, and she would find new ways under the fence, because those chickens were running around with no idea of where they were supposed to be. She alone knew where they needed to be and it was her goal in life to get them there.

If you would like to continue the journey with us, then click below to go to the next page.

All writing and photography on Amazing Graze Farm is Copyright © 2005-2008 by Marci Blubaugh All rights reserved.