The story of my memories of my aunt Sophia's Farm

And pictures from my own farm.

In this post, I wanted to talk about my fond memories of aunt Sophia and her farm. I’d like to mention though that she wasn’t the only person that inspired me to be a homesteader. Practically everyone I was around had some sort of animal. We only had one grocery store in our area, within a 20 mile radius and raising and sharing food was just what you did. You might shoot at your enemies, but you gave food to your neighbor. Being a homesteader is in my blood.

Do you know the difference between fate and destiny?

To me, fate is what will become without any say. Destiny is what you choose to be. Being a homesteader is both for me. I have dreams of one day seeing a world where we give food to our neighbors, and have no enemies to shoot. There are many other things I dream of being, but being a homesteader is easiest to access. Did you know that many women have more freedom to earn an income through homesteading? It warms me to the core that my state has laws about “Cottage Food” which is shelf stable food. Anyone in my state is allowed to sell cakes, pies, jars, and other shelf stable food to any customer. I just think that is beautiful. I wasn’t aware of that until last night when I was trying to find out if I could start selling food to people. It means food you can make in your kitchen that wont go bad.

Which brings me back to Sophia. She is the only person I remember selling her food and it gave me a viable way to provide more for my family without having a “job.” And I’ll be forever grateful to her for that.

My time at Sophia’s farm are some of my fondest memories in general.

One of my favorite memories was the fact that Sophia provided my school with the prize animals for our Easter egg hunt in the second grade.

Did you know that farm fresh eggs make the most stunning Easter Eggs? I would absolutely love to figure out a way to sell these to people for Easter, but Facebook is being mean about selling eggs. Maybe I should make a post about how they are stopping many women from earning a living…

When I discovered this fact, I ran outside to show my family, and caught the most glorious effect the sun made on it. I’ll never go back to dying regular store eggs if I can help it. If you have access to someone selling eggs in your local area, maybe consider buying from them to dye if you celebrate Easter.

I believe schools are forbidden to promise animals to children now, but back in the day, it was basically the wild west. Schools could and did promise animals to children without any remorse. And as a child, it was epic. As a homesteader, I wish they still could. I mean who wouldn’t want free animals on your farm? But I understand the need to make rules about that for people that don’t want chickens pooping in their kitchen.

I just knew I was going to win that egg from the start, so Sophia was also the cause of some of my very first greatest achievements. My homesteading career started off that day when I won that rabbit. I had no idea that she was the one who supplied the animals, but I knew that if I got my hands on that egg, I could be just like her and I wanted my own rabbits. I looked up and saw the egg on the pole and screamed “Up there! The egg is up there!” The pure joy I can still feel to this day told me that it was destiny for me to find that egg. I took my prize egg home and excitedly told my grandparents about it. They agreed to let me have a rabbit, and my grandpa built me a hutch for it. They made me promise to take care of it every day, and I did. I never missed a day. They took me straight to her house to pick out of the entire lot. Which was mostly amazing if you don’t count those guard geese trying to murder me.

I had a choice between a chick and a rabbit. Honestly, the chicken would have been the better choice for eggs, but of course she couldn’t promise it would be a hen. And I really really wanted a rabbit. The fact that I got to go to her house to get a rabbit was just icing on the cake. I was full of pride as I discovered a new love for animal husbandry. I must have had that first rabbit for 4 years. They have sort of a short life span. I was incredibly sad when it died, but Sophia asked me if I wanted another one, and she replaced them for me for free. My grandpa built me a new rabbit hutch for the second one that was much better than before. I raised rabbits my entire school career after that. Of course I ended up raising rabbits in adult life too.

One of my first baby bunnies after deciding to raise them again as an adult. I miss having bunnies.

Sophia’s house was never quiet and when it was just her, my cousin and I, it was some of the most fun times I had ever had as a child. It was peaceful in a way that I couldn’t experience at her parents house. There was always animals around making a lot of noise, but I find that kind of noise to be relaxing. The baaahhhh of a sheep, the ehh ehh ehh ehh of a goat.

Me holding a goat for the first time during adulthood. I have a special place in my heart for goats.

The neigh of a lovely horse (I’ve ridden plenty in my life. One day I’d like to offer a retirement home for horses.) Or hissing and honking of geese that are really pissed off at you for existing and you just don’t know what you did to deserve this kind of anger. The terrifying squealing of a pig or my favorite the “Sooie, here pig, sooie!” Of sophia’s loud voice, similar to the pig she was calling. She had perfected that sound. I was overjoyed every time I heard it.

One of my favorite egg pictures from my own homestead.

Lucy and I would gather eggs and learn to cook them with bacon grease. Sophia taught us a wonderful technique of splashing the grease onto the egg, instead of flipping it in the pan, to get that nice over medium yolk. I was finally able to eat eggs again and this is still my favorite way to eat them. We learned a lot about chickens, and how hens are natures perfect mothers.

This is Sunny D. She was one of my favorites.

Sophia also eventually gave me a rooster when I was 16 that she needed to get rid of. She said she didn’t want to cull him but she didn’t need a rooster. I think she just wanted to give me another animal, since she has no problem culling animals, even now. I had named him Pedro and since he didn’t have a flock, he really took to me. Pedro saved a part of me I didn’t know I was losing. At 16, depression really kicked in, and I often wondered if maybe I’d be better off dead. Pedro really gave me something extra to live for. He would often sit on my lap and let me pet him for hours while I just thought about life, and watched the cars go by my little bowl. Dreaming of this life, I have today.

He would strut around the yard and chase the dogs and try to find me food. I was heartbroken when he died.

This is my band called “The Rockin’ Cocks and the Henettes.”

I’ve really come to terms with Sophia’s role in my life as a positive influence. She really guided me to a way of living that has given me meaning and purpose. Has fed me during hard times, and taught our children things that I believe they will need in the future. Our homesteading life has offered us an enriching experience that I’d never want to stray from. I have to thank Sophia for that.

The world is so chaotic now. I’ve gained a new respect after writing these memories down, for what she’s done for me. new here and like what you’ve read, please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss upcoming posts. If you would like to support me in another way besides a paid subscription, I do have a ko-fi page. I would be happy to grant access to a year of my paid subscription service to anyone who buys something from my shop for $50 or more. If you find that intriguing but can’t find something in my shop you like, be sure to check the gallery (because I listed things there when I was trying to figure things out but haven’t had time to make listings yet).