The Latest News From The Farm!

It’s a cold and dreary evening here on my Tennessee hilltop and I’m in the mood to share  a story!  Grab your cup of coffee (I’ve got mine!) and sit down for a story that will warm your heart.

 

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My daughter’s old Farmhouse

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So… I’ve mentioned before that my daughter and her husband and their two little girls lived in an 80 year old darling farmhouse that they purchased back in 2010.  They had taken one room at a time and basically gutted and redid the entire house.  They had a vision to take it back to all the original bead board walls and ceilings, which meant removing wall paper, wall board, and cardboard ceiling tiles. They also added a second bathroom upstairs into the attic area of the house.  All the renovations took them years and a lot of labor.  Following are some of the “after” pictures of their lovely farmhouse.  (Stay with me.  I promise this story is leading somewhere!)

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Living Room

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Kitchen

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Dining Room

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Master Bedroom

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Guest Bedroom

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Upstairs Landing and Attic Bathroom

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Upstairs Bedroom One

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Upstairs Bedroom Two

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This gives you an idea of what a beautiful home they had made of this old farmhouse.  But there was a problem.  The problem is that the house was only on 1 acre of land and my daughter and her husband really wanted to raise their girls on a place where they could have 4-H animals and room for their little country girls to get out and roam.  The time had come to go on the hunt for a large acreage where they could build a home.

I had a few panic attacks when I thought that they might have to move farther afield to find it!  My son-in-law works in the city about an hour away and they even began looking closer to his job for land.  Nothing opened up for them and nothing felt right.

One evening my daughter sent a text to say they were on their way up to the farm and wanted to talk to us about something.  I could tell it was serious and my heart kind of sank. The serious talk was to see if they could buy some land from us and build a home right on the farm!!!  Of course we excitedly said yes, and they and my husband scoped out the best area for them to build.

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See our house peaking through the trees on the hilltop?

It was a bit of a process to subdivide off the acreage and they decided that they wouldn’t put their house on the market until the land deal was completely finished and it was officially theirs.  Finally that day came and they put a FSBO sign in their yard, posted some pictures on Facebook and within 5 days had a contract and closed on the sale a month later.

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My husband and son-in-law are a good team and love working together so they put our tractors to good use and dug the 600 feet of trench and installed the water line to the property.

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After a lot of foot work and some stresses our daughter and her husband have hired a builder and they broke ground last week and are already in the framing stage!

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What is hard for me to express is how happy it makes me.  My daughter and I are one of those lucky ones that have always been very close and now that we have the flower business together it has created an even tighter bond.  I could not imagine life without my daughter nearby!

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Not to mention my precious grand-girls!

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It’s a huge transition time for them – living in the city during the work week, out here with us on the weekends, and feeling quite homeless!  But it’s super exciting days ahead!

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I’m writing this blog post on a Sunday night, a few days before it is due, and as we stood on our porch this evening and waved goodbye to my daughter and her little family as they drove off to go to the city for the week, the tears started rolling because I miss them during the week so much… but my heart was so warm and so happy because soon they will be living right at the bottom of our hill!

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And then it hit me… my Farmgirl friends would love to know about this!  So there you are friends.  A story to warm your heart tonight!  We all need them about this time of the winter don’t we?

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Until our gravel roads cross again… so long.

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Dori

P.S. I probably won’t be sharing too much more of the building process as my daughter will be documenting it on her blog.  If you are interested in following along, here is her blog and you can read about the building journey!  She also has amazing pictures and stories on her blog of the renovation of their old farmhouse.

  1. Deb Bosworth says:

    Hi Dori!
    I’m so glad you blogged about this happy time for your family and your farm. How wonderful that you’ll all be together on your farmland! Those grand girls are so very lucky for this country upbringing and having you and your daughter ( dad’s too) to pass along all of your family values and talents to them. The old farmhouse is adorable. I can see why it sold so quickly! Just wonderful!
    Hugs,
    Deb ( Beach Farmgirl )

  2. Marge Hofknecht says:

    Dori, what a blessing to have your daughter and her family so close by. Thank you for sharing this wonderful good news. I’d love to have my daughter closer so that it isn’t an all day trek just to visit. I realize that distance has to be our reality for now. But when we do get to visit, we wear ourselves out packing it all in during the few days together. I’ll check your daughter’s post to see the progress.

  3. Carol says:

    What a beautiful home they have made in the farmhouse! I am thrilled they will be living near you though.

  4. Pat Gudowski says:

    How so lucky you are to have your daughter & granddaughters so close! I live in Wa. & my daughter & granddaughter live in Iowa & we are lucky if we get to see each other once a year, sometimes, longer. So I have many tears.

  5. bonnie ellis says:

    Dori, I am so excited for all of you. Growing up next to family is so precious. I am so glad for you.

  6. Jodel Guerrero says:

    Thank you for sharing You are Blessed my friend

  7. Cindy says:

    So happy for all of you! An exciting time! So lucky they are so close!Truly a blessing to have the love of children and grandchildren! What a wonderful time in all of your lives! God bless!

  8. Peggy T says:

    Loved this…my children and grands are my love!❤

  9. Nancy Couden says:

    Happy for all of you! God works in mysterious ways.

  10. Sandra wilson says:

    Interesting. I love old houses. I once worked 10 years on an old log house. So happy you can look forward to this dear family being closeby.

  11. Diane Van Horn says:

    What a great story with a very happy ending! So happy for you. Her little farmhouse was so beautiful. I can’t wait to see the new house they are building. I am very happy for you and your daughter and grand children.

  12. Karen B. says:

    Not only heartwarming but very exciting for all of you! Thanks for sharing, Dori.

  13. Julie Pruett says:

    What a sweet story…thank you, your daughter’s former farm house was beautiful… Loved the pictures…

  14. Jeretta says:

    I think this is a deep hart warming story. You are very fortunate to be able to have your daughter so close by you. I have three daughters, and they all are in different states then me. I miss them the terribly! Thank you for sharing.

  15. maureen bruner says:

    Oh, you lucky lady! To have your family that close is truly a blessing! How wonderful for all of you.

  16. Bonnie B says:

    Oh Dori, I’m so happy for you! One of my daughters live close – not as close as yours will be – and I love having her around. The other daughter lives in Texas. We talk often but miss having her physically here.
    Lucky you!!!!

  17. Krista says:

    Dori, that is such a wonderful story. I am so happy for you! I can only imagine the feeling. My husband and I have talked a lot about buying some land from his uncle on the farm to build our home. We really want to raise our boys on a farm and teach them to work hard and care for animals. We hope this will be a dream we can accomplish soon. I am interested in seeing how this process goes, so I will check out your daughters blog! So happy for your family.

  18. Judy allen says:

    Your story was so heartwarming. Having Family nearby is so important and yet rare. You are blessed indeed!

  19. Vivian Monroe says:

    So so happy for you. I miss my only grandchild so much, I only get to see him about twice a year and they grow so fast. My husband has 5 more years until he retires before we can see him more often. I have chosen though to be content where the Lord has us and wait upon Him to give us our time together. 🙂

  20. Joan says:

    Oh my goodness! This is so exciting!! for y’all. Thanks for sharing. God bless.

  21. lyn moon says:

    I am so excited for you to have your family close. I have one daughter that lives 8 miles away and I wish she lived closer. My other daughter lives an hour and a half away. To have them all and my grandchildren on our property would be a dream come true. You are so blessed and I can tell you know it. I’ve followed your daughters blog for years. I was so sad when they sold their farmhouse until I heard they were building on your property. What a great adventure for you all. Hope all goes smoothly with the build.

  22. Mary Chapman says:

    What a wonderful story. So glad for you and your family. My daughter lives 5 hours away and I miss her so much. Thanks for sharing.

  23. Robin Reichardt says:

    Your story brought tears to my eyes for sure!! My daughter and her kids are just 2 hours away in Tulsa, but wish they wanted to be here on a farm and enjoy the good life! Maybe some day—

  24. Alexandra Wilson says:

    Dori!
    I loved this post. I have recently been daydreaming about our own slice of heaven, and this gives me hope. Your daughter’s farmhouse was so adorable, what an undertaking with stunning results. Oh! I hear a baby crying…just wanted to check in and share how much this post moved me 🙂

    Best,
    Alex

  25. Marilyn says:

    How nice to have them near you. You will not miss your beautiful granddaughters growing up.
    Marilyn

  26. Denise Ross says:

    Hi Dori,
    I loved this post so much. What a blessing to have your daughter so close to you and that you’re both looking forward to living this way.
    I really loved all the photos, an absolutely gorgeous home and I can’t wait to see how the new home comes along too. Blessings from Australia

  27. Joanne Luthman says:

    Love your story! And am so happy for you–having your family close by!!
    Isn’t country living just the best??!!

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