The Dream That Wasn't

 

 

In the short amount of time since I told you about my dream to live on a farm, the whole idea has been aborted. I have deleted all of my saved files on farming. I have deleted my Pinboard titled "Farm". I cancelled my subscription to Mother Earth News. Just kidding about that one.  I love that magazine. But it's okay, it really is. I am fine with it. I am quite adaptable and I don't get discouraged or disappointed easily.

 

As a woman and a mother I have been spending countless hours thinking about what moving to a farm would look like for myself, for Athena, for our family. Lots of great thoughts. Lots of hard work, of which I am not afraid. And then I started thinking about the nitty gritty of it all, socially speaking.

 

Athena is the only child of ours still left at home. She'll be nine years old in a few weeks. There will not be any more children. Gosh, I am 47 years old! And although she loves her pets and would love to have a goat and a horse, she will also need some "human friends" as she puts it so well. Maybe she doesn't care now, but she will care at 12 years old and at 16 years old as well. Since she does not want to go to public school EVER, the opportunity for those friendships to develop will not be available to her. And since I am not one to drive an hour there and back for ballet or brownies or soccer games the extra curricular stuff wouldn't happen either.

 

And then I started to think about aging. Would I want to live in the middle of nowhere by myself if something should happen to Paul? Would I want to be a half hour away from first responders? Could I look after a place in my golden years? Maybe. I am strong. Would I want to? I don't know. Part of me would, part of me wouldn't.

 

 

 

 



So I began to formulate a slightly different plan. The city we are to move to, North Battleford, Saskatchewan, has about 14,000 people living in it. Too small for many but too big for this small town girl. Across the bridge is the town of Battleford. Paul says that it has a real small town feel, like we would like. It is mere minutes from his work and all the amenities one would need. Kind of a win-win situation. So I looked on MLS and found this. It is the last house on the street. It has a large treed area and a river view. Only one neighbor. Very secluded. A hot tub overlooking the footbridge and the river for Paul. (I hate hot tubs but I am somewhat of a germophobe.) It has all hardwood floors because I hate other peoples carpet. (see germophobe comment). It has a garden area and a greenhouse. It appears to be a great compromise. Paul is going to see it on Tuesday night. I am hoping it works out but as we know, pictures can be deceiving. The $100,000 price difference from the last property is nothing to sneeze at either!

 

I contacted the town and they told me there is a bylaw prohibiting backyard chickens but there is a growing movement in North Battleford and Battleford who are trying to get that changed, so I may get my chickens after all!