Ok it's a cold day outside and I am feeling a little "bloggy" today. Hopefully after this one it will have warmed up enough to get out to the farm and get to work. I noticed after reading previous blogs that I don't mention much about mine and Jeff's history or why it is we think we can make a go of the farm. So far we just sound like 2 nutty people that like to play in the dirt.
Jeff grew up in West End, NC across the street from his maternal grand parents. His grandfather was a huge influence in his life. He was a farmer, an insurance agent, and a general jack of all trades. Jeff looked up to his grandfather who provided for his family of 5 children with the sweat of his brow. Papa Lee bought the family farm, built the house with his own 2 hands, and worked the land. He was always ready with a story for anyone who would listen. If you can't tell, I absolutely adored this man and hated his passing last year. Jeff learned a lot about farming, family, and being a man from his grandfather.As with most people these days, marriage doesn't mean forever like it did when our grandparents got married. Jeff and his first wife didn't have many of the same interests and divorced. During their divorce he decided to go back to school while owning and operating his own landscaping/irrigation business. He began to study veterinary medicine but once he got to NCSU he switched to plant pathology-going back to the farming that was instilled in him from Papa. This month he will receive his Master's Degree in Plant Pathology. He knows the meaning of hard work and that it takes time to get the results that you want.
I grew up in Carthage just a few short miles from Jeff. I grew up 2 houses over from my paternal grandparents. So my grandparents (both sets) were a huge part of my life also. My maternal grandfather that I mentioned in a precvious blog was a farmer. My paternal grandpa was a mechanic and owned his own shop. Most of my family owns their own businesses and has family members working for them. The same is true with Jeff's family. I also married too young and the marriage failed. From it, I was given 2 perfect children-boys. They are what I am most proud of in the world. I worked one and two jobs to raise them and they have grown into 2 great men. I also went back to school like Jeff but for a paralegal degree. Most of my working experience has been in the hospitality industry. I have gained a huge amount of knowledge of what people desire in food and entertainment. I am hoping this will come in handy with the agri-tourism side of our farm.
Jeff and I married in the summer of this year after a very long courtship. We now live on a piece of property that was once part of his grandfather's farm. We are hoping to own the whole property one of these days. Jeff's mom lives in papa's house now since he and memaw passed last year. Robin will be moving out here with the girls at some point in the coming year. I can't wait until the girls get big enough to ride their bikes back here to our house whenever they want. We are farming the same land that papa farmed when he and memaw first married. When I am out in the tomato patch or trimming the red tip bushes, I imagine memaw being out there doing the same thing and I get this warm feeling all over.
Our driveway winds around to the length of a 1/3 of a mile. I love living in the woods(that's whay my friends call it). We can't hear traffic unless there is an exhaust problem. The only time we can see the neighbors is in the winter when all the leaves have fallen from the trees. And then all we can see is the glow of the house lights at night. We have terrific neighbors and are truly blessed in this area. To our right we have the Ritter's, Mike and Jane. Their dogs are our dogs and vice versa. Our beagle, George, even has his own treat jar at their house. During the gardening seasoning we are swapping veggies back and forth. Our neighbors across the road are the McKinnons (Hope and Anthony). They are also fantastic neighbors. Anthony is in the heating and air business and is a huge help to me in the summer when the a/c goes out. We keep them stocked up on summer veggies too. Our other neighbor is of course Jeff's mom and we are in and out of each other's homes daily. To our left there are no neighbors nearby and I don't know who lives behind us. The glow from those house lights are really small because they live further away than the others. I am hoping someday to get to know them.
In our second marriages we have found everything that we have been looking for. I know that sounds cliche but it is true. I wake up everyday happy and thankful for the life that we have together. My family absolutely adores Jeff. On my wedding day, my dad even told him if it didn't work out he would add a room onto his house for him. We have the same hopes and dreams and although Jeff doesn't have children of his own we both have the same sense of family and connection. My sons love him and vice versa. We both want to leave something for the next generation. Hopefully we can give our grandchildren what our grandparents gave to us.
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