I feel bad for the crows, too. But barns are amazing and blocking the view of it would have been criminal. Those pine boards must smell awesome! Can’t wait to see if you get that cutting board made. 😀

We once had a golden lab named Teddy who hated a particular set of birds-I think it was blackbirds. They would eat the dog food out of bowl. He never got over their thievery and barked and chased them every time they came around!

Such great adventures you have Rebekah! I’m so jealous (a good kind) of your beautiful property, barns, stream, and yes, even crows. How exciting to discover something new and then find creative ways to deal with it. Priceless memories for you all. Our dog hates squirrels — I found her one day almost climbing a tree to get them — they drive her crazy and we seem to have a lot o them. We have only got a few snowflakes here in the Pacific Northwest — lots of rain though. Turns the roof, bricks, lattice and grass a not so lovely shade of florescent green! But I am determined to bloom where I am planted and be thankful. Have a wonderful day and I am looking forward to your next adventure!

I agree with those trees needing to be removed. Barn is lovely! Crows will survive. Best to have moved them before nesting time. maybe they will move to your neighbors and give you all a little peace and quiet.

Oh my gosh the wood is so beautiful. I to am a country girl and love all your posts, thanks for sharing. Looking forward to more.

Those are going to be some beautiful floors. For the remnants I had alot of cedar remnants like that and I nailed them to 2×4’s and made a little corner fencing with a wild flower bed and bird bath. It was really cute. just an idea.

Oh Rebekah "of sunny brook farm’ – you are a hoot!! Such great adventures you take us through. Na can’t really feel for the caw’s, everyone gets relocated now and again, trust me they will find a new home quickly. Thanks again for the peek into your exciting life. God Bless

It’s amazing how much actually goes on in the country (like trout-tossing)! Savor every moment!

Nancy from LiveaSavoryLife

I can’t say much because I’m too busy laughing (about the foot cream) and nodding my head (about your slippery slope).

Oh, and the burrs. Weeds grow best for me, too. But one popped up even with snow on the ground? Is nothing sacred?

Loved this post…loved it. You are living the life I dream of….and I know it is beyond me, but I am so happy for you. This post made a LOT of sense, AND it was a fun one. Like I said. Love it.

Love it, love it, love it, your pure honesty and your whit, had to chuckle over
the mix up of foot and face creams too!
Good morning from the Ozarks!
Spring is around the corner here, we have that season of renewal and hope again for warmer, sunny days and growth in both our gardens and our spirits.
People ask us all the time why we would cook on an old cookstove when it is
work in many ways, why we garden when we can just walk to our town’s store,
why I make my own antibiotic salve when I can buy some from the drug store,
or bake sourdough bread that takes all day to rise, but there are just some things we do because we want to and chose to.
You will love your 50’s, each day you will become stronger and stronger
and it brings out the very best in all of us!
(I have a whole cupboard full of plastic bags that I have collected too!)
Blessings to you this morning from the Ozarks……..Diana

Rebekah dear, I live in San Francisco and I’m Jewish, so I have guilt about plastic bags and other offenses coming from all sides. I solved the plastic bag ban problem (yes, they are banned in the city and I’m charged 5 cents per paper sack) by having a small zippered cooler stuffed with at least 8 tote bags and two large mesh bags). The cooler has a strap that goes over my shoulder, an outside pocket for my grocery list, and it goes with me to the grocery store. The milk, eggs, cheese and other cold items are in the cooler; the rest of the groceries are divided among the tote bags so each is full but not too heavy to lift. You can get a plastic bag for 10 cents and it will be recyclable, relieving the guilt as well as your wallet. My friend uses a litter called S’wheat made out of–yes–wheat. It’s scoopable and decomposes unlike clay which lives forever in a landfill. In our apartment building, everyone has a small lidded container for our compostables. We empty it once a week into a plastic bag from our produce and place it in the compost bin which is emptied once a week. There are two other bins, one for recyclables and one for landfill. We’re as eco friendly as we can be but none of us feels guilty about it.

My suggestion: take a moment to find all your tote bags. Fold them and stuff them into one bag and leave them in your vehicle for shopping day. They’ll never be forgotten and you can wash, fold and return them to your vehicle before your next trip.

As for your chickens, I eat eggs from free-range cage-free chickens and we have farmers markets with wonderful folks who raise them organically and as humanely as possible. I’m a lacto-ovo vegetarian and will absolutely not make anyone feel guilty for their choices. Keep the good intentions in your heart and do what’s right for you. Best of luck!

Rebekah, you are a hoot!!!!!!! GUILT is an ugly thing that just takes up alot of our time & effort. FORGET IT!!!! My girls (chickens)are for egg laying & nothing else. Kill them, I DON’T THINK SOOOOOOO!!! I have great respect for those that can, but I don’t happen to be one of them. My girls will die of old age and natural causes. You have finally gotten to your dream farm, and you need to leave guilt out of it especially on this subject. Garbage bags, I’m right with you. Sometimes I remember other times not. When I bring them home they get used for kitty litter and many other things around our country home. I figure we recycle 99% of our household waste so I have no reason to feel guilty about a few grocery bags that I bring home. As for the foot cream. IT HAPPENS!! Glasses are a wonderful thing, and without them strange things sometimes happen. I totally enjoy reading your blog, and I’ve kept up with your farm dream, knowing that it would sometime happen. Enjoy every minute of it. We’ve been in our country home for 25 plus years, and there’s something new everyday. Enjoy your farm WITHOUT THE GUILT. Jan OB

Oh dog’gon that GUILT it has caused more havoc than the All State havoc man, so let’s get rid of it right NOW!!! Yes we all need to listen to our inner self and do all we can to SAVE (the environment, world) but we must live without feeling guilty. I too use those dern bags more than I want too but if it isn’t a grocery bag then it will be a purchased bag and why waste the money on purchasing. I do also recycle the bags – more than I use, so that helps me not feel so guilty about the used bags. Now about those ‘pretty little flowers’ – what a love hate relationship I have with them too also we have Sand burrs – smaller but just as prolific, I use vinegar,salt, HOT WATER on them – yes they aren’t gone forever but mostly for a season. And now about the misusing of the creams – ahhhh the eye sight – I remove all such items into reusable containers, different colors for different product – but what the heck about the mix up – maybe you have come up with a great new idea. I wish you a very happy day – actually – and I’m sorry to say so but I did laugh through your entire experience – BEEN THERE DONE THAT!!! God Bless

Rebekah, loved your story! And, Amen! I could not kill my chickens, cows, pigs, or any other animal. Prefer to buy meat on those little foam trays at the grocery store, and if it comes to me having to kill my food, I will just learn to love beans! Once, my friend, forced me to take a quilting class with her. Those women bragged about their sewing machines, bragged about all those quilts they made, bragged about not watching television, (NOT watching TV?…I LOVE TV!). Sewing is just not my thing. One woman stood at my shoulder and ridiculed the way I cut, the way I pieced, and the way I stitched. She bragged about her Bernina, and laughed when I said I had a Brother, from Walmart, the cheapest one, of which I have owned for years, and I have still not figured out where to put the oil. My friend made a beautiful queen sized quilt, and a baby quilt. I walked out of there with one completed square. I intend to put it in a frame, and hang it on my stairway wall, that I papered in a beautiful rose patterned wallpaper, (ahh, something that I actually can do.) Bet that Bernina lady doesn’t have a clue how to do that. No guilt! Keep writing, love your blog. And by the way, I loved those purple flowers too. I once entered an arrangement in the county fair and won second place. I did not have a clue they made cockleburrs! Cindy Ingram. Fitzhugh, OK.

I feel exactly the same way that you do about chickens, septic tanks and plastic bags, we eat chicken, and when i get the plastic bags I use them to put trash in that "recycle worthy".
Regarding the Burts Bee’s products – – maybe you could suggest they think about changing there packaging – -different color backgrounds would fix the issue. At least it was not "toothpaste" that you mistook footcream for or visa versa… 🙂

Oh Rebekah, you are too funny. I like chicken too and I ain’t gonna kill my own either, and yes I said ain’t just because I wanted too. lol. Also, just be thankful you were washing your face and not brushing your teeth with the foot cream. lol. Girl, you better put some glasses in the bath next to your toiletries. Be Blessed and keep blogging.

Wow pushing 70! That’s right pushing 70! I know about the burs!!! Horses tails are the hardest.

How about taking a neon marking pen and draw a line around the entire tube to differentiate it from the other similar looking one? Or I take a marking pen and write one letter on the top. In your case, I would write a letter "F" on the top of the foot cream to remind me what it is. Also, hang the guilt. That’s what’s so great about 50!

Rebekah, now I feel guilty for not switching to tote bags for my food! I do reuse my bags, so I guess that I shouldn’t feel horrible, but you do make a great point. Love the pretty flower story….you are such a hoot! Have fun choosing your feathered friends. Just remember that you can’t have more than one rooster, or you will have a real fight on your hands. I learned that the hard way when I raised some chicks from our eggs. It seemed like my hens liked to have roosters [cockerels] for babies rather than hens [pullets]. Of course you don’t have to have a rooster, but they do a great job of keeping the flock in line and safe. Thanks for the great chuckles!

I’m laughing too hard right now! Too funny, girl! I so get the reading glasses part! And I save Kroger grocery bags specifically for cat liter…I have FOUR indoor kitties! I gave up guilt a long time ago! Freed my soul, that’s what I did! I love meat, but I don’t want any part of the killing, either! Nope, not me! I once brushed my teeth with Prep H. Don’t ask, but it had to do with my lack of glasses! My teeth didn’t swell for weeks! Anyway…TMI.

Have a wonderful time giving up guilt! Run free…

Cindy

Oh, hahahahahahahaha and HA! about the foot cream. You’re right, they need to change the packaging. That’s just funny. Ditto the Vagisil, that’s even better!

Thanks for all this. My thing with killing the chickens or bunnies I raise for food would be that I would give them a good, decent life, and a quick humane death. I mostly don’t eat any meat from the grocery store, because the conditions the animals live in are unspeakable. But OTOH, there is a farm near Corvallis (Ore.) that sells organic, humanely raised etc chickens. It’s an hour away, and I"ll have to buy in bulk and freeze, and I might. But, reading Farm City, Novella Carpenter makes some very good points about all this. I don’t feel guilty about any of it, I just want to reduce suffering in this world.
I do know where my meat comes from, because it came from farms nearby and they treat their animals properly. Right now I’m trying to find a dairy that does the same. Geesh, who’d a thot that you couldn’t find free-range dairy cows.

I used wood pellets for my litter boxes. It is usually pine, it dissolves into sawdust, and it is impregnated with urine, which is a lot of nitrogen. Right to the garden. I looked for the most dust-free I could find, and ended up buying bedding for animals, but I’ve also used pellet stove pellets.

Man, that’s something about the cockleburrs. None of that on the Oregon Coast, thank heaven.

I love your posts, Rebekah. I’m still trying to figure out wordpress for my baby blog.

Inspiring story there! Thank you for sharing your life with us! After reading, I always walk away with something special on my heart to ponder.