Sometimes, as I’m finishing up evening chores, watching my llamas and horses graze while the sun sets, I think that Jeremiah and I have managed to find our way into a corner of the world’s most perfect paradise. A place over run with butterflies and hummingbirds, overcome with the sweet smell of hay or newly mowed grass.
Other times?
Well, other times I wander through the yard and make my way through some poison ivy that I didn’t know was there. And I spend the next few hours itching and thinking about all of the places where the property is still overgrown. (That just happened yesterday by the way. I just picked up prednisone from the pharmacy a few hours ago. Hopefully, by this evening, I will stop wanting to scratch my skin off.)
Sometimes, the wildness of the place is what I find most charming, and I am overwhelmed by the beauty of it. Other times, I am simply overwhelmed.
This is the double-edged sword of country living. Keeping the chickens AND having to kill the raccoon. Enjoying the butterflies and hoping that we managed to kill all of the black widows…but knowing that we probably didn’t. The chipmunks that look so cute scampering around the driveway…and all the mice that come free with the house. (We will have to do something about that, and I will feel awful because I like mice–I’ve even had a few pet ones–I just don’t like them running wild in my house.)
The wildflowers AND THE FREAKING POISON IVY!
And I’m not even going to think about the mountain lion that we spotted earlier this year; pretty sure he was just passing through.
And in moments like this, it’s best to not think too hard about the difficulties. Just keep calm and carry on.
Almost Farmgirl 
Reminds me of the Big Lebowski line: Sometimes the bar eats you and sometimes you eat the bar.
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Poor you! Sorry about the rash..That really does take the glow off the Apple! But it is beautiful. And I can relate… always something needs doing around here.
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One day at a time. Some (most) are good & some not so much!
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I love the country too. Enough to put up with the centipedes. Thank goodness as far as I know, no poison ivy.
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Sorry about the horrible rash. I got into it last year too and it took forever to heal. We have a lot of it on this place, and oddly, do you know deer EAT it? Yes, I see Daisy deer and her little fawns nibbling on it at times. So, we leave it be now and do not try to control it anymore. We have scorpions and lots of snakes – even the venomous copperheads. But, I have learned to appreciate it all – everything has a purpose.
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I’ve been told several times to get goats. Apparently they love to eat the ivy too. Unfortunately, I think we’re fairly full up on critters for the time being.
I wish the deer on my property would eat the ivy.
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Have no knowledge of poison ivy…probably because I’m not an outdoorsie person like you; i hope it goes away fast. As for mice, don’t like to destroy any little critters, but have developed the attitude that all things have a place; uninvited critters have many acres to chose for a home. BUT inside my house is not one of them ! Clif really solved the problem for us when he went hunting and sprayed foam in any crack where he thought they could get in. That takes time which I know is not over abundant any day.
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It’s so true, what you write here. The reality of country living is a big ol’ slap in the face sometimes. I remember in the first week after we bought our old house staring up at the ceiling in our bedroom in the middle of the night thinking “What have we done?” The fact I was covered in poison ivy didn’t help much, either. Abundant pros and cons to it, as with anything in life. Overall, the tradeoffs keep us happy here in the country.
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It’s definitely a “take the good with the bad” kind of deal. Overall though, we love it.
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