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Blast From The Past: The Truth About The Country Life

I wrote this post at the beginning of 2014. I had several instances where I was trying to express my frustration at some part of our experience, only to be told how lucky I am, and how beautiful our farm is etc. I knew all that, but it didn’t make the frustration less real. I still have a lot of these frustrations, and I still get told I’m living the dream.

I’ve been thinking about the reality of tree changes lately. Mostly I talk about the good things we’ve been doing, and share the fun bits of our life. The truth is though, what I imagined life would be like down here, is very different to how it actually is. When I read back over the early posts of my blog I often have a laugh at how idealistic they were. Lots of talk about time together, romantic notions about being part of a community, and so forth.

Don’t get me wrong, there are so many good things about moving to the country, and I am so grateful for the opportunity. I don’t take what we have for granted. Not one tiny bit. Today however, I want to tell the truth about some of the things I find hard about country life.The first thing you need to know is that the novelty has worn off! During our first year here everything was new and exciting. It was exhausting, but the excitement carried me through. During the second year, I felt more at home (but still not a local), and some of the novelty had worn off, but by the third year, the novelty has definitely gone. This is just my life now. The excitement of growing too many cucumbers the first year, has turned  into ‘what the heck am I going to do with that many cucumbers again??

Living in a small community, particularly as a teacher, I feel that I am in the spotlight a lot. When I go to the supermarket, I run into students and their parents, all who know who I am. My kids are watched at to see how they behave, and the parents often want to ask me questions about what I am cooking with their kid etc. After teaching in the city, where I rarely ran into a student, I find the blur between my personal life and professional life hard, and I definitely feel some pressure.Also because my husband grew up here, and his parents live here, a lot of people know who I am, and start talking to me as though I know them, though in reality I haven’t got a clue who they are. I’m slowly putting together names and faces etc. Just last week while I was getting petrol some one asked me how my parents in laws were getting on, and how my work was going, and I still haven’t a clue who they were.

Something I have had to get used to is the amount of planning that it takes to get things we need or want. The town where I teach is tiny, so anything more than basic groceries means a trip somewhere. Even the bigger towns don’t always have what I’m looking for. I find it so frustrating when I’m in the middle of a project and don’t have something I need. Although you can buy things like fabric on line, it’s hard to tell what they really look like so I often have to cross my fingers and hope that it is OK. I never really comprehended how inconvenient life is when you’re not close to shops and services. Double that when you think that I teach Food and Textiles – the time I spend finding the bits and pieces I need for my classes is incredible!

One thing I people say to me all the time is how lucky we are to have all that space. Yes I know we are lucky, but boy does it take a lot of time to maintain. CB spends hours everyday keeping the garden and the farm going. Whether it is five acres or five hundred acres (or five thousand) the land still need to be kept in good order. This means digging thistles, keeping the grass down (with animals, or mowing), checking the fence and dams. All this takes time, and the more land, the more work and time it takes. Because we live right in the middle of it, there is always more work. In the summer months CB generally heads back out after dinner to get some work done while I wrangle, threaten, and cajole the kids into bed. Before we moved here, I imagined our life would be similar to our 9-5 work day lifestyle in the city. I had no idea about the amount of time that a farm takes.

 

 

Drought and the vagaries of the weather add to the pressure of life here. We’ve had not enough rain for two years now, and for many farmers the pressure is on. Even though we are lucky that I have a job that isn’t dependent on rain, the whole community is starting to feel the strain. Businesses in town are commenting that there are fewer people spending money. It’s hard to get used to not being in control.This isn’t meant to be a ‘downer’ post. There are so many good things about living in the country. I love our produce. I love the environment. I know we are fortunate. But I find it so frustrating when I get told that I’m living peoples dream. It’s like I’m not allowed to acknowledge the hard parts, or the bits I struggle with, because I have to be ‘living the dream’. The problem with all dreams, is that they are not based in reality.

Do you dream of moving to the country? Have you considered the downside of tree changing? I would love to know what you think!

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Comments

  1. PatriciaA says

    December 1, 2015 at 11:53 am

    Know what you mean about bumping into your students and their families at the shops. I was a classroom Teacher’s Aid for only 6 months (for a set project with the kids) and I found my family bumping into my students and their families for ages. It was a bit of a shock at first, but soon became something normal as we didn’t move away once I finished at the school.
    Your comment on those people at the petrol pumps reminds me of a trip down the main street of a small country town in Vic. I was doing three part-time jobs and helping out at the community centre and involved in a service club – I didn’t know who was who or from where when someone stopped to say “hello”. Like you, I smiled and said hello back or whatever was appropriate on the day. All the time being totally confused.
    Give it time and one day you may find out who they were. 🙂
    I have your cucumber problem with lettuce and basil. At least one can always dehydrate basil, not sure about cucumbers though.

    Reply
  2. Di says

    March 2, 2015 at 12:09 am

    Hi Jo
    Thanks for this post. So many bloggers seem to have the perfect life and perfect lifestyle to go along with it. Being grounded in the reality of country life, feeling it and sharing it with me, your reader, is completely acceptable to me. LIfe can be messy, not always as we imagined. reading your post I understand the 'tree change' idea is as I thought, a fabulous idea but not really one I should pursue. I live on the middle ground, not quite in the city, not completely in the hippie culture but dancing around on the outskirts between the two. Village-y life but not on a farm. I think you are brave and wonderful for pursuing your dream and taking on the challenges that brings. Time to start to wear your sunglasses and walk fast through the supermarket? Thanks for sharing your experience.
    Can your readers help with sourcing supplies?
    Regards Di.

    Reply
  3. Graeme Stuart says

    March 1, 2015 at 6:14 pm

    Hi Jo
    I think it's helpful to read some of the challenges as well as the benefits. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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Team work makes the dream work. We were asked rec Team work makes the dream work. 
We were asked recently whether we “make” our kids work on the farm. The answer is “of course not”. Having said that, all three love to help out whenever they can. They all work hard because they want to; because they take pride in working hard and contributing in a meaningful way to our family life; because they love living on our farm and don’t remember life before we moved here. Whether it be planting trees or doing sheep work or feeding animals, they all want to be involved. As a parent, nothing is better than watching them grow in skill and confidence as they work along side you. We’re so glad that we get to spend time with our three, working together.
We’ve had an unexpected addition to the family ☘️🐑. She is a lot easier to look after than the other family members but she does try to escape her yard and head butt people. Poddy lambs are super cute but they tend to think they are a human. Clover the lamb is sure that Meg is her mum. Can’t think why… 🤔🤣
The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: toge The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: together, cooking damper around the remains of the bonfire.
It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…
A picture perfect Autumn afternoon to end the scho A picture perfect Autumn afternoon to end the school holidays. We’ve been busy spending time with friends and family, harvesting the last of the summer produce, as well as a short escape to explore the big smoke. After the craziness of last term it was the break we all needed. It’s back to school for me tomorrow, and the kids are back on Wednesday. Shearing starts soon and so it’s all systems go over the next few weeks.
Covid has made some late changes to our weekend pl Covid has made some late changes to our weekend plans so we are embracing the unexpected and doing not much at home. Plenty of time for hanging out on the dam and enjoy the perfect weather.

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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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