1.30.2013

north carolina home


I've been aching for North Carolina ever since we left the summer before last. We had a good life here. It was warm. You could grow well into Winter. We had browned skin and red clay caked to our feet. We would spend mornings chasing pigs.  And spend summer afternoons sweating through the garden's rows. We would spend evenings in cold bathtubs, drinking beers in the mild of a Carolina sundown. We didn't have to insulate a special coop for wintering chickens. There was never enough weight of snowfall to worry about the character of an old barn.  

Nostalgia is such a beast.  Walking through the streets of Raleigh these past days and lapping up the humidity and the (rather uncommon) high winter temperatures I keep turning to Nick with a shouldn't we?....couldn't we?....won't we? look that is certain to drive him to crazy. And we haven't even been to the farm yet. We had our good reasons for leaving.  Proximity to family. An abundance of water. Support for smaller farms. Universal health care. Thank you, fourfold, to the good quiet state of Vermont.

I am so happy with the shangri-la we have found up North. It is a difficult land to farm but an honest one. Vermont will be my forever home, but part of my farming heart will forever lie in the lolling hills of North Carolina. 

This is where we fell in love with the land. This is where we began our lives as farmers. 

All photos are mine and Nick's from days of yore, except for the last which was taken by the good people of Saxapahaw farmer's market. I just don't know "who" precisely. 





22 comments:

  1. ooooooh, kate. loved this post. xo

    ReplyDelete
  2. I get that ache in my heart when I see a picture of VA's Blue Ridge Mountains. It's a good ache, though, isn't it? Choices have to be made, and if they were all easy, that wouldn't be much of an adventure. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love those photos of farm life...an evidence that farm life could be fun too:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such gorgeous photos - they almost make me nostalgic for a land I've not even visited....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Both NC and Vermont sound like incredible places to live and farm, and for such very different reason. As an expat who's lived in various countries, I understand the nostalgia that tugs and pulls.

    I hope the rest of your winter up north will be kind to you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love those photos! We live in NC now (Wilmington, by the ocean - so lovely), and part of me never wants to leave. It's easy place to fall in love with. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. your Nostalgia is contagious, darling. thanks for sharing the bug. :) xxoo
    PS I think i get to see you Friday !!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am from rural Kentucky and now live in Chicago. I know the feeling well, especially around spring time when they've all thawed out and started to bloom down there below the Mason Dixon and we're still wearing down coats.

    xo and perseverance,
    Hadley

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, stunning photos. That one in the outdoor tub is just amazing. I've been yearning for milder temperatures too, but then I remember all of the wonderful things about New England, the seasons, the history. Spring will be here soon enough!

    xox Lilly

    ReplyDelete
  10. such beautiful photos. thanks for sharing!

    -charity
    lumivintage.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. oh goshhhh now i NEED to take a bath outdoors!!!

    enjoy winter, in the summer you'll miss it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hermosas fotos!! con tu permiso tomaré algunas prestadas para mi blog las mismas llevaran el respectivo enlace...Me encanta la vida sencilla que llevan...en algún punto debe ser dura, quizás, pero estar tomando un baño en el bosque lo vale :)

    Buena semana!!

    alitadegorrion.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. @blueistheteacher I Know!! A dear friend was just reminding me how I told her one hot July afternoon how much I was looking forward to the quietude of winter. I will never learn.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hello! from western NC! Asheville to be exact.
    We just had some snow this morning and it is FREEZING! Love your blog, best wishes,
    Jessica

    ReplyDelete
  15. ...and the dog and you guys of course!

    ReplyDelete
  16. absolutely beautiful pictures. i'd want to go back to that too!

    http://mcdowellserendipity.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  17. Gorgeous photos! I'm really loving your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ah Raleigh...my home and my love. Glad you guys had fun down here. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. ahh! these photos (as all of your photos are) are so gorgeous! the dog on the couch outside and your bathtub! aww i'd love to do that and be there. okay, i will stop commenting as they are all the same about how wonderful your photos are and how envious i am! :) btw, good luck with the guitar! i have been playing for a few years and probably haven't gotten t-h-a-t much better since i started, but it's still fun.

    ReplyDelete
  20. LOVE your photos...recently pinned one on pinterest! Love your blog entry more as we also used to live in NC but moved north for family...we recenlty took our kids to NC for the 1st time this summer (my oldest was 9 mos when we moved back north to MN--he is 9 years now)...we all loved it and my husband and I gave each other the same looks you are referring to! We have never farmed but have gardened and would love to have a hobby farm with some animals in NC. We want to go back! We have a little family there which is good. Your story resonates with us and I love it! Good luck to you!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...