Author Archives: Rebekah Teal

“A good neighbor is a found treasure.” Chinese Proverb

I found ME some TREASURE up here in the mountains where I live now. In fact, I’m a little teary eyed writing this post. Do you know how to BE a good neighbor? Have you ever lived in a place full of good neighbors? Do you know how to accept the kindness of neighbors (because accepting and doing are two different things entirely)? I don’t think being a good neighbor comes naturally in this old world any more. I think it’s something we have to learn, to practice. We have to master the Art of Being a Neighbor, of being neighborly, of being only one, yet part of a whole.

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It has been 7 weeks now I’ve had those baby chickens. Well, they aren’t babies any more. They were babies for about a week and then they grew and grew and grew. Wow. They really do grow up fast. I don’t guess I’ve ever witnessed anything like it before.

I have learned many things from those chicks by welcoming them into my farm, my home, and my heart. Today I’m going to share Seven Lessons I’ve learned in Seven Weeks from my Sixteen Chickens.

Now when you read this post, you might think I’m boycotting using apostrophes. Nope, I’m not. This crazy blog program deleted them all. So Im going with it. And maybe I should boycott them? Just for the summer?  Lazy days of summer and all. Okay, Im in.
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I remember when we went to see a farm (a farm we didn’t buy, not this one), the real estate agent took us there and told us that there were “big molecules” on the farm.

My husband and I looked at each other with a look that we’ve used for more than 20 years. You know the one, right? As soon as she was out of ear shot, we cracked up about that comment.

That was before we knew anything at all about “big molecules.”

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UPDATE: NANCY ADCOCK WINS THE ALMANAC. WOOHOO!

“Your Mama wears combat boots to church.”

Rebekah, as a 6^th grader

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And you know what?

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This spring, I’m stuck like glue to my Farm.

And I’m okay with that.

Don’t ask me to go on an overnight hiking trip. Don’t invite me to make a presentation at a conference. Don’t even ask me out to lunch right now.

Because I’m stuck like glue to this Farm. There is so much going on, I can’t slip away even for a little while.

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You just can’t never tell.

That’s a southern saying I’ve heard my whole life. I hadn’t used it very much until I moved out to the country. Now I rather like it. It just fits some things. Like…

Spring has really sprung around here.

I find myself basking in the warm sunlight, thinking of where to plant a garden, NOT MISSING the SNOW!

What?! Me? NOT missing the snow?! That’s crazy talk.

But true. I’m not. It was wonderful while it lasted. But I’m okay with the arrival of warm spring weather. Even my daughter and Blue, the dog, were out in the front meadow spinning and dancing with joy on our first warm, sunny day. (Can you see the flower headband around her head? My flower, hippy farm child.)

See? You just can’t never tell. We loved our first winter here at the farm. But looks like we’re going to love our spring too!

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Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye,

Four and twenty blackbirds, Baked in a pie.

I have mad crows on my farm and I have mad fish.

(I, however, refrain from mad-dom as much as possible. Some days are easier than others.)

My little Disney dog, Strudel-Doodle, is a loving, kind dog. She is easy to get along with and loves everyone. Except. For. The. Crows.

Strudel-Doodle hates crows. I don’t know how this prejudice against crows developed, but it is strong and it is sure. She came to me with it. Hawks? no problem. Robins? whatever. Canada Geese? bring them on. But crows? Oh my lands. She goes mad, the crazy kind. She becomes mad, the angry kind. She chases them out of the airspace over her yard. Something about crows.

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Why did I wash my face this morning with foot cream? To fight wrinkles? To cure acne? To have silky smooth skin? Let’s talk about that in a minute. First let’s hit the guilt issue. Afterall, I’d feel guilty if we didn’t hit the guilt issue first. The question is this: why in the world do we let other people make us feel guilty about anything and everything? We accept guilt trips so quickly, so easily.

Be smart, do your best, but don’t let someone else make you feel GUILTY about your choices.

 Confession: sometimes I forget my cloth grocery bags and sometimes I buy more groceries than I have cloth bags for.

So I come home with plastic grocery bags. And I feel SOOOOOOO guilty………

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Ever since we bought this old farm, I’ve wondered about its “Heart and Soul.”

I’ve looked and I’ve listened.

I’ve wanted to find it so we can be true to it. The farm was in the same family for 150 years before we had the honor of becoming the new stewards and care-givers. The house provided shelter and warmth for many generations of children; the land provided food and income. We want to do it right. We want to honor its heart and its soul. I think we’ve done that with the house; now it’s time to figure it out with the land.

Oh, this?

This is my crazy angel baby.

There is no reason whatsoever for his photo here.

I just took this pic and when I uploaded it and saw all that soft fuzzy neck fur, I thought you might want to kiss him. Yes, go ahead. It’s as soft as it looks. kiss, kiss, kiss.

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