Most people know me as a city girl, and are rather shocked to discover I spent most of my childhood in Missouri! While I didn’t grow up on a farm, I’ve been spending a large portion of my visits home at my sister’s farm these days. This past summer my younger sister married her high school sweetheart, and then moved onto his family farm. This Christmas I had a chance to visit her in her new home, and meet a few of her pets. It was quite a change of pace and scenery for a city girl!
Taking it all in…(I am proud to say my sister — farmer’s wife– has also been caught on the farm in heels a few times too!)
First up…tractor ride! No question! They tell me this is an International, the red headed step child of tractors. It matches my hair, so it will do!
Who needs a playground and monkey bars when you have silos? Or grain bins? Not sure what they’re called, but I definitely got my exercise in on the farm!
Just horsing around on the farm. I guess this is actually a deer skull. They didn’t think this city girl would touch it, I showed them.
This is one of my favorite places on the farm. I first saw it in my sister’s engagement photos, first walked it at her wedding, and look forward to doing a little more exploring on future trips.
This is a lake in the small town of Labadie, MO. Nature at it’s finest.
This was my first encounter with Michelle the cow. She’s a rare red headed heifer.
I traded in my high heeled boots for these muck boots to take a turn feeding the cows. It’s only natural that when you buy a ginger cow and have a ginger girlfriend, that you name the cow after your girlfriend. So meet Cow Michelle. Apparently Red Heifers are even more rare than ginger humans! And they hold biblical significance. Who knew? But more than 2 strands of hair that aren’t red and they lose their title.
Luckily we had fabulous weather on Christmas Day and I had this opportunity to see many interesting parts of the farm. Tractor rides, climbing grain bins, animal skulls, exploring nature, and feeding cows. It was a jam packed day, but I hear the pigs are still awaiting my visit next time I’m in Missouri. Next time you find yourself in the countryside, don’t hesitate to visit a local farm. You’ll learn so much about the farm to table process.
Next time you get the chance to try something new (and maybe even challenging…I made wading trough “muck” look fun), say YES!! What have you said yes to recently?