Today I had a friend over, a new friend actually! She is one of my egg customers. Usually, I bring her eggs to her where she works, but this week she asked if she couldn’t come get them from me here and “…save me the trouble.”
My first reaction was to say no. This is principally because I’m just not a good housekeeper. Now my friend Jayme is an absolutely immaculate housekeeper. She stresses about it and admits it freely! Me? Not so much. It is not for lack of wanting a clean house, but it just seems that no matter how I try I just never get it all done. That is of course unless company is coming! Then I race about cleaning everything till it sparkles and make sure all is tidy and put away. My guests arrive and always say how lovely everything is and I smile, and I’m stressed, wondering what horrid thing I may have forgotten to take care of… I think I would actually die of mortification should someone find out what a slob I can really be. Generally speaking I do not have a good time when friends come over because I stress too much.
Well, that was then, and this is now. Now I live in the sticks, more or less, and I have this constant dust that seems to creep into every nook and cranny no matter how hard I try to keep it out. My poor couch after traveling nearly three thousand miles cross-country has a rather large smudge on one arm that would not come out, not completely anyway. Adding insult to injury it has been rather over loved by my then kitten Clause, who bared the corners by using it as a scratching post when no one was looking… I cannot afford a new couch at the moment, so I am currently looking for something to cover it with, to make do, until it can be replaced.
And so it was that today I dusted and vacuumed the living room, made sure the guest bath (which is vintage early 60’s in decor and looks it) was clean and sanitized for visitors. The rust stains in the sink remain, the two tiles I replaced with the mysterious, ever dirty looking caulking were cleaned and will return over the next few days to their ugly and dirty looking patina, but hey, I made the effort!
And then Marie arrived bearing unexpected gifts!
She brought lovely flowers and a pumpkin spice loaf, and I was surprised that she would go to the trouble to do this, for me. We talked quite awhile over coffee about everything, and then we went out so she could meet the menagerie of the Farmlet. I introduced her to my geese, pointed out my hennies in the field and then showed her the inner world of my beehive (via the safety of the window on the side, because she’s afraid of bees!) and then we went to see the little broody hen and looked into her nest …
And there was a broken egg, and just for a moment I was upset, but then I realized we’d arrived at a birth! The egg was hatching! That was a special gift for me and her. I can’t tell you who was the more excited to see such a thing. Peeking through the little hole we could see the baby chick moving and struggling to free itself, to be out and into the world at large.
Later, after Marie left, I went out with my camera to take pictures and found my new baby had made its arrival. It was still wet under Momma Hen!
Isn’t it darling?
So, over the next few days I’ll watch and wait to see how many more will hatch!
Now just a moment ago I read a comment from Cindy, a long distance friend who commented on my blog today. She shared:
“I think you live in a dreamworld. Thank you for sharing it.”
And I tell you all that I share the little things in my life with you because I must. Somehow, I feel that not sharing would make my life a parallel to this age old philosophical question:
“If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?”
Thus similarly…
If all the wonder and beauty that surrounds me is kept to myself and never shared… does it exist?
It’s the little things in the life I lead, the lessons learned, these daily gifts from God that are affirmations of his love for me, and I must share. And along the way I learn to accept me, to make peace with dust and holey couch corners, and through the process of acceptance of my foibles…
I make new friends.
Life on the Farmlet 
Your house sounds like mine – ‘vintage’ (such a respectable word) everything, with wear and tear and dust to prove it! I want to be your visitor and I wouldn’t even want you to sanitize the guest bath – OK, maybe within reason – but don’t use that scary stuff that burns holes in your hands. 🙂
How perfect that your friend got to witness such a joyful event – the aftermath of which you have photographed so beautifully – she knew when she made the pumpkin loaf that it would be visit she would never forget.
In peace,
Cindy
P.S. …yes it would still exist, but would it deserve to?
Maybe some day you will, and I promise not to burn holes in my hands. You’ll bring your camera too so we can go hunting together…
Lynda, I should feel bad that Jerry shooed the snake off, truth be told I wasn’t even present. He made the executive decision that she wasn’t welcome in the garage. If either one of us has came upon all 5 feet of her, we would have peed our pants! My most fond memories of childhood were visits to my Aunt Joy’s house. She also lived on a farm, had egg customers and things were always in disarray at her house. What I remember was her love of animals and flowers, her loving care of friends and family and her outlook on life…she was a joy to be around. I never think oh, she was a bad housekeeper…her qualities shined like the finest silver!
Your Auntie Joy sounds lovely. I think I would have liked to have known her.
Lynda, I could have written that post – almost. 😀 Your writing is so much more eloquent than mine. I too am not much of a housekeeper. I like my house clean BUT – I live in a tiny old house with a mechanic husband, 2 dogs, and 2 cats, one of which has all her claws and knows how to use them. Besides, there are so many interesting things to do besides clean. As for the furniture – everything fabric (all 2nd hand) is covered in sheets from the Goodwill. I also do not like to have company for all the exact same reasons and the feelings of stress when they come. The last time I had company it was for dinner. I did not realize that the thermometer had gone out on my oven and thus the chicken was not cooked through when I got ready to put it on the table. HORRORS! STRESS X 1000!
Dust? We live right out in the Sonoran Desert. My whole world is dust.
Then you wrote about your new baby chick. Somehow that new, tiny, young life showing up at that precise moment changes everything. It wipes away all the stress. What a beautiful picture of a beautiful new baby. 🙂
Thank you, Lynda, for this most meaningful sharing.
Lindy
Thank you Lindy. Slowly I think I am catching on to the fact that not everyone is a “Martha Stewart” in their home life. Although, I do think that my friend and neighbor is… LOL, she is one of those ladies that I am certain “… jumps out of bed and vacuums.”
(Quote from: George Carlin)
I understand the meaning of the couch! The bottom of all our couches are
falling through and very uncomfortable. Congrats! on the little ones.
Love. This. Post.
Came from Jayme’s.
She intimidates me too.
I seem to live and think exactly like you.
But will strive (n stress) to be more like her.
Especially at pie crusts.
So glad I found your great blog!
hugs,
Leslie
Hi Leslie! Glad you stopped by, and yes, Jayme is a wonder… as in:
I wonder(ed) how she gets it all done.
Well, I saw her ‘list,’ watched her working about the house and have come home and made a weekly chore list for myself. I even started following it yesterday! So, we’ll see… 😉
Just found your blog through Jayme’s blog. Since you live in North AL and it says the “domestic queen of hazel green”, do you really live in Hazel Green? If so, we’re practically neighbors, we live in Harvest. Must have been quite the culture shock moving from Ca to AL…
Have a great weekend,
Anke
Hello Anke! Glad you found me! Yes, we are neighbors! Alabama is very different from California, but it is so different in so many good ways… and for us, all of them are good. We are very grateful to be here.
Hi there,
I found yor blog from Jayme the Coopkeeper and I’m so glad I did. LOVE it! I see that you’re an animal lover like myself, so I’d like to receive e-mail notifications of new posts. Please check out my blog too when you get a chance (address listed above).
BTW: Baby chicks are just the cutest things ever, aren’t they? Fuzzy little angels 🙂
Hello Kent Island Red! I’m so glad you found me! I did check out your blog and I left you a message there.
I’m always happy to make new friends!
🙂