When I started this blog, I had good intentions of updating it regularly with the trials and tribulations of farm life and gritty topics about the hardships facing the farming world.
Clearly, this hasn't happened.
The excuse is that quite frankly, I just haven’t had time. The phrase “there aren’t enough hours in the day” springs to mind.
When we came to live on the farm full time in 2018, we decided to give up a substantial area of land. We did this for a number of reasons but one of which was the fact that Tom was spending more and more time stuck in a tractor cab and not particularly enjoying it. And then when Harry was born shortly after the move, it really cemented the fact that there was more to life than endless acres. We decided to focus on a smaller area which would give us the chance to explore other diversification projects, farm more sustainably and most importantly, allow us to spend more time as a family.
Yet somehow, we found ourselves busier than ever! That “work life balance” that everyone speaks of was proving elusive.
In the last five years, we have moved house, had two children, opened a holiday let, butchery and livery, expanded our cattle herd and started our own flock of sheep - alongside all that comes with managing a large mixed farm. So much for living more and working less. We were working so hard to establish ourselves and it really did feel like too much sometimes. On a personal level, one of the hardest things for me was balancing the desire to work and feel "useful" with spending quality time with my children. Hence why blog posts fast became the least of my worries.
However, I do feel we are finally starting to get a bit of balance back in our lives.
Easier is maybe not the right word, but parenting is certainly more manageable now the children are sleeping more and crying less. They revel in being able to help move sheep and ride on the tractor with Daddy. The farm and our projects in general feel more established now which makes the day to day routines more straightforward.
We do genuinely love our work now which obviously helps. We really are lucky, not only with how diverse our farming business can be and is, but also the support we have behind us from friends and family - even if they do roll their eyes sometimes.
So with all this in mind, I will try to write more but I make no promises that work or life won't get in the way!
Yorumlar