So You Wannabe a Farmer...lesson 2

                                                         (photo from yardenvy.com)      

Ok so lesson one of being a farmer was to get yourself some bib overalls.  The are comfy, they are forgiving, you look industrious wearing them and every farmer worth his salt has a pair.  Now, onto the more relaxing side of country living.

Whether you live in the country or just wish you did, you need yourself a nice place to sit outdoors.  When I was a child, my grandmother did not live in the country, but she lived in the home she and my grand daddy built on the "homeplace" which used to be country.  She had a big yard with all the things grandmothers are supposed to have; an apple tree with a swing, misc vintage metal yard chairs sitting under a big maple shade tree, a crab apple tree, strawberry patch and a large front porch...all this on maybe a half acre...but when I went there (all the time) I felt like I was on a farm.  She had bushes, flowers, trees and most important, a place to sit to enjoy the nature she surrounded herself with.

  All she had to do was go out onto the front porch and someone would stop by to join her.  Her outdoor sitting space was an extension of her indoor living space. 

Whether you live on half an acre, in a subdivision, or even a 4th floor walkup, you have somewhere you can set a swing, bench, or chair for outdoor sitting.  Why sit outdoors you ask?  Because if you want to live in the country you need to get used to being outside. It's pleasant, calming and relaxing.  You can read, eat, shell peas, think, sleep, knit, sew, sip lemonade, and dream, whatever, all sitting in your outdoor "country space".  Outfit it anyway you please...not at all for that simple pared down look or with a comfy pillow in your chair and a potted container garden (another lesson) beside your seat. 

Maybe Plan A was to live in the country, but as sarah ban breathnach tells us, "success in life is not how well we excute Plan A but how smoothly we cope with Plan B."  So for now at least, make yourself content with your outdoor sitting spot.  Nature is soothing...swatting flies is good exercise.