Valentines Day Thoughts

Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Apparently love is supposed to be in the air, and everyone loves a good love story. And by ‘everyone’ I mean ‘I do’. Farmers (generally speaking – and I’m definitely up to you writing to me and proving me wrong) aren’t known for their repetitive romantic gestures.

I love my own love story. City girl meets country boy. It’s text book. We got engaged one Easter when my family were out visiting. The Farmer and I went for a walk out to inspect the empty house dams – completely decimated by the long term drought. As we sat there and discussed how awful things were as a result of the ongoing dry seasons, The Farmer reflected that if I could stand to see this place at its worst, then I would surely love it at its best. We discussed how things could only get better, and he asked me to marry him. There was no message written in the sky, or elaborate flash-mob dance concluding in a romantic proposal. There wasn’t even a bended knee (it probably would have ended in a burr infection in the joint anyway) or even a ring. That came later. But it was special to us, and certainly memorable.

I’ve also written before about some of the romantic gestures The Farmer has shown me over the years. He built me a grid, knowing how much I loathed getting the gate every day. He once remembered me telling someone how much I loved picnics, and bought me my own picnic blanket and basket set and took me on a picnic lunch one weekend. These are only two examples, but I think they summarise The Farmer’s romantic nature nicely. It’s business as usual on a farm.

I once read a book about the ‘Five Love Languages’. (The languages being words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time and physical touch). The Farmer is definitely an ‘acts of kindness’ kind of guy; the grid, the picnic, our garden. I’m probably more of a ‘words of affirmation’ and ‘quality time’ kind of girl. Our different love languages have caused plenty of fireworks over the years.

Even though I’m a hopeless romantic, I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day. It’s truly just another day around here. There’s no big dinner in town, no flowers, no gifts, not even a Hallmark card. It’s completely unnecessary around here. Acts of service, words of affirmation and quality time and do happen at any time of year. Instead of celebrating with gifts, The Farmer will head off at day break and make his way back at sunset, with some time at home for lunch. We will have dinner as a family and celebrate each other. Just like we do most other days.

Do you have a romantic story to share? Head over to my Facebook page to share! “The Farmer’s Wife”. I’m also on Instagram: @jessthefarmerswife and Twitter: @jessfarmerswife

The Many Hats I Wear

I’ve had quite a few people find their way to my website this week just gone. It’s probably a good opportunity to introduce myself in more detail. Mostly I am a mum, wife, teacher who also happens to reside in Western Queensland, but I wear many other hats as well.

Wannabe Writer: Several years ago I started a blog to serve as a kind of journal about my seemingly unique experiences as a city girl making a life in the country. As it turns out, my unique experiences were anything but. There appears to be quite a few of us figuring this whole ‘Farmer’s Wife’ bizzo out. I have been fortunate enough to be able to have many of my musings published, which is not only great for a laugh, but also great for my ego.

P&C Mum: I try to limit my involvement in local community groups to a number just high enough to stress me out moderately, but not enough to send me into a complete state of meltdown. The P&C is one of those groups. I am passionate about my children’s education and find the P&C a welcoming, fairly straight forward commitment. This committee involvement has (at some point or another) also been the Show Society, Kindy Committee and Rodeo. It evolves with our social dynamics.

Soccer Mum: I’m not really a soccer mum. We only have JRL out here, so we spend winter weekends for a few months of the year travelling huge distances to watch our kids have fun kicking a ball around, and I definitely don’t misbehave on the sidelines. When the weather warms up, I swap my hat from JRL mum to swimming mum. The kids pretty much just swap boots and ball for togs and a towel. Same same but different.

Friend and Neighbour: There aren’t too many people out where I live. It pays to get along nicely with the small number of people who surround you. If you run short of bread or milk or barbeque flavoured rice crackers, a good relationship with the people next door is the difference between a 20km round trip, and an 80km round trip. Thankfully I actually really do like my neighbours.

Given all the different hats I wear, you would think that I actually wear a bunch of other (real) hats as well. I don’t wear too many hats. (Or rather, I don’t have a favourite). Incidentally I don’t wear an Akubra. I never have. But I’m definitely considering it, and actually, if I really think about it, it’s the hat I am most looking forward to wearing.

If you have any other questions for me, I’d love to hear from you!