The Good Old Days

A few weeks ago, my girls discovered a few boxes of mementos that have been in storage for a long time in my mom's attic that contained some old 4-H and FFA fair ribbons, pictures, and my old dairy princess tiara and banners. The girls were thrilled like they'd found some old treasures and couldn't believe that this was their mom's stuff. They wore the tiara all over the place, of course! It is interesting that they found these items when they did as there have been many recent discussions with my 3 year old (Lily) about growing up on a farm. She's really big into farm animals right now and when I tell her that I grew up on a farm, her response is, "No fair, I want to grow up on a farm!" My oldest daughter has also said this same thing for years. I find it funny because when I was that kid on the farm, I didn't know what I had. All I knew was that I had five times as many chores as any other kid and we didn't get many vacations because dairy cows always need milking!

One of the things that I love about hunting for vintage finds is the connection to my childhood and the cool farm junk that used to be all over the farm. My whole family loves going to all the awesome antique shows in the Spokane area because many of them are located on someone's little farm. My daughters spent most of their time at the Vintage Barn Show catching grasshoppers in the tall grass and feeding them to Rolane's chickens!

After sifting through the boxes and going through old pictures, I realize that my childhood was pretty fantastic. I mean, how often does the average girl have a chance to be a dairy princess? The little dairy farm in Chewelah, WA had to be sold shortly after I graduated from high school as my Dad had passed away. On some days, I look at my beautiful growing girls and really wish there had been a way to keep the farm. If there is anything in the world I could give to my kids, it would be to provide them with the farm life I had. Anybody have an affordable little plot of land to raise some animals on? Maybe someday...