The Rural Route

The rural route... country rounds, the scenic route, back roads, dirt roads, farm to market roads... 

It's tree lined black tops and wisteria climbing the trees. 

It's chickens crossing the road in front of you and the intoxicating smell of honeysuckle in the springtime. 

 It's old churches and cemeteries dotting the communities, along the way.

 It's breathtaking, unforgettable sunsets and the stars are brighter at night.

It's old barns and farmhouses, surrounded by fields of livestock. 

 It's driving 17 mph hour behind a farmer driving a tractor and knowing they are working hard, feeding the country, while probably barely making ends meet. You wave as you finally get a chance to pass as a way of saying thank you for your hard work and saying we've been there too. (Although, I've had cigarettes thrown at me, while driving a tractor down a farm road.)

Sometimes you take the dirt road and sometimes your boots are muddy.

It's a raised flag on the mail box and leaving a note and the mail lady pulls in and you visit while they scan in your boxes. (Oh how we miss our mail lady that retired! Can't wait till her replacement is officially confirmed.)

It's no matter the weather, you must get out and take care of business. No snow days and staying indoors all day. 

Sometime's there's cows out and in some places they actually have the right of way, due to some old free range laws still in effect. 

 It's bluebonnets and windmills in the springtime.

 It's farm to market roads that really do take us from the farm to the markets.

It's being broke down on the way to the market and having these pretty mules watch you change a tire on the farm truck. 

It's ice cream at the DQ after getting your load safely delivered and sharing with your best dog.

It's wildflowers in the summer time and praying hard for rain, because drought can be devastating out here. 

 It's rusty tractors and rustic wedding bouquets. 

It's cute baby calves and selfies. 

When you see daffodils blooming, without a nearby house, you ponder who lived there before and know there has to be an old well nearby. You wonder what the yard looked like, when the house and place was tended to on a regular basis and see how strong the daffodils are, to remain without any care or attention. 

Yes, it takes you longer to get where you're going, but that's more time to listen to the radio and enjoy the scenic route. It's less red lights and horns honking are either to say "howdy" as a neighbor passes by or to call the cows up from the back forty. 

It's time to think and dream. 

It's a raised hand on the steering wheel, as you meet someone.

It's where we learned to drive, way before they "officially" taught us in driver's ed. 

It's front porches (gazebos) and lightning bugs. 

It's what inspires us.

It's where we work.

It's almost all we know (Save two years in a college dorm and the only time in my life where we had pizza delivery. That town was 5 times my home town where I came from and my roommates thought they were in the boonies, and I was like "y'all don't even know what that is!" By hometown, I'm referring to 12 miles away.)

It's home.

It's simply where we belong. 

This new shirt was inspired by my life on the Rural Route and it's for all of you who enjoy those same things. It has a old red truck, star, sunflowers, burlap roses. a rooster, cactus, a Farm Road sign, and a distressed red, white, and blue damask background.

I guess I should also tell you about my new website, that I've recently launched. It's called Rust and Romance and well, it's a boutique for those who appreciate the rural lifestyle and things of the past,  with a little rust mixed in, all while enjoying it with the ones you love. 

Let me point out that our etsy shop, GypsyFarmGirl is STILL open and will remain open. This will be an additional stand alone website that I run and offers more opportunities for you to shop our goods. It includes being able to shop directly on Facebook and we have some of our items on eBay as well. Fingers crossed, we can eventually link it up with our Instagram account, as well. The new website is still a work in progress, as I get it all set up and figured out, so if you experience any glitches, please, please let me know. 

You can find this new Rural Route shirt on the new site right now, along with lots of other vintage style graphic tees. We've got most of our ready to ship items added to the new page, although the custom made to order items haven't been added yet. 

You Might Live in a Farm House if...

We came home from the farm today and Jeff said "You might live in a farmhouse if..."

There's tools from doctoring cows in the kitchen (I'll spare ya the exact details or phrase he used.) 

To which I added - There's muddy boots laying around 

Or cattle cubes are the only Black Friday Christmas shopping you do and random pieces find their way to jacket pockets and eventually make it to the bar in the kitchen! 

Yep, true story - the donkeys like to eat  cubes out of my hand, so I had a few in my pocket for them and one made its way home and on the bar! 

And sweet little baby calves make you happy!

We've been patiently waiting for a few cows to have babies this year. Recently I reminded them that my birthday was coming and they should give my a baby for my birthday! Well, this little shuga love came this week and he's such a cutie! Wouldn't you agree?!?

My YouTube Debut and 2015 Year in Review!

I finally posted my first YouTube video today! Ahhh, it was a year in the making, literally!

Last winter, I attempted to set up a YouTube account and post my monthly video (that I share on Instagram and Facebook) but I had some issues and my video wouldn't load and I neglected it for a while, ok, 11 months give or take a few days. Enter today, and I really wanted to share my year end video on my blog. I won't bore you with the run around I had at one point today, but its now working!

Finally, here is my first YouTube video, featuring a collage of pictures from 2015 and music by Miranda Lambert, created with the Flipagram app. 

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this year and allowed me to be a part of your weddings and events! With over 10,000 pictures on my phone and camera card from this year alone,  I condensed it down to 235! It's been an exciting 2015 and I can't wait to see what all 2016 has to offer and where the road leads us.  I can definitely see more videos coming!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

2015 Best Nine on Instagram

Everyone on Instagram was doing it, so I had to join in the #2015BestNine! No, I wouldn't jump off a bridge if all my friends did, but this was not life threatening, so I had too! 

2015bestnine.com takes your top 9 most liked pictures on Instagram and forms a collage of them. It seems like all my Instagram peeps like dream catchers, turquoise, Miss Gussie the Glamper, sweet baby calves and rustic gardening as much as I do! 

Thanks for all the love this year! If you're not already following on Instagram, what's the hold up?!? It's my favorite place to hang out! Find me @gypsyfarmgirl or the link above. 

I'm having fun looking back at 2015 and dreaming about the new year to come! What wild and crazy dreams do you have for 2016?

Why I Drive Trucks

In three words, the reason I'll always be a pick up truck driver: FEED AND FURNITURE. 

You never know when your going to come across a truck load of furniture or some good junk! 

The last three weekends, I've hauled in a load of furniture from estate and garage sales! 

Of course there's always feed or fuel for equipment in the back of the truck, along with cows to check. The desk (above) was sitting on a couple of feed sacks!  

And this would be the reason my truck is filthy dirty - dusty back roads, pastures, and even my driveway. Every time I think about stopping at the car wash, there's always something in the back of the truck. 

This piece made it right in the house, with just a simple cleaning and found a home in the bathroom. 

So are you a pick up or car person? I've never owned a car and can't see myself driving one anytime soon. 

Texas Floods

As many of you know, it's been flooding and storming in Texas and Oklahoma recently. Fortunately, we are ok, just water logged here at our place! Our ponds are overflowing. This is pictures from one of the ponds last week and we are expecting 4-6 inches more rain this week. I haven't checked the gauge this morning, but last night we were under flash flood warnings and the storms rumbled for hours. We are expecting another round of storms again this evening. Several of the back roads I travel will be under water and I'll have to take an alternative route (although that has been a regular occurrence for a couple months.) 

It seems like it all started in February with snow and since then, it seems like it has rained continually. We had a one week stretch of blue clear skies and an occasional day here and there that is partly sunny, but it's usually followed by more storms. I would love to see some weather statistics and find out how many days we have had rain. I'm getting my excercise while checking cows - it's been too wet to drive in the pasture, so I'm walking a lot! I tried driving just to the barn one day last week and got my truck stuck. Fortunately, I was able to get my old feed truck out and made it home that day and went back later and got the other truck out. 

We don't live near a river or lake, so we are not dealing with the extreme flooding that many are facing. I can't remember ever seeing the Red River full. The times I've crossed it, it was always so sad and you could see the bottom, so it's hard to imagine how full it is and how many roads and bridges are expected to be closed this week because of it, along with the evacuation of livestock and people from the area. But it's not just the Red, it's so many areas that have been devastated by storms and flooding and our hearts go out to all who are suffering now. 

There is one bright spot in it all, Texas is no longer in drought conditions! While I personally would love to see some sunshine, I don't want to complain about all the rain. We are often times in drought conditions, begging and praying for rain. Some years, we are already counting how many 100 degree days we have had by now. To the ones in California, we understand and wish we could send some rain your way. It's usually us Texans saying, please send rain, it's so dry here. 

The tragic loss of life and property to so many is definetly sad to see and read about and our prayers are extended to all those affected by the storms. 

National FFA Week

I discovered through social media that this week is National FFA Week. My years in FFA were 4 of the best years of my life and have made a lasting impression on me. I will say that my years in both FFA and 4-H taught me more than any other class or subject in school ever could have and I'm not just talking about learning about cows, sows, and plows. It's so much more than that!

I had two of the very best at teachers in the entire state of Texas - Mrs. Witt and Mr. Thomas! 

FFA Banquet with the best two ag teachers! 

From the National FFA Website
National FFA Week is an opportunity for FFA members, alumni and sponsors to advocate for agricultural education and FFA. It's a time to share with local, state and national audiences what FFA is and the impact it has on members every day.

I was invloved in ag classes all four years of high school, became involved in showing cattle, parliamentary procedure and skills teams, horse, livestock and floraculture judging teams, was an officer for 3 years, and the list goes on. Horse judging allowed me to get a college scholarship and go on to compete in  horse judging contest in college and travel across the country. 

I traveled across the state with Mrs. Witt to state conventions, livestock shows, and competitions. She usually made me ride up front, because I was the one of the group that would never go to sleep in a vehicle, so I could help her stay awake. So many awesome memories traveling to Houston, Ft Worth, Lubbock, Amarillo, Stephenville, College Station, Nacogdoches, Commerce, Texarkana, and many places in between, as well as a trip to the National FFA Convention to receive my National FFA Degree. 

Senior year, with my heifer Rosie. I believe this was at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. 

I remember one of our first assignments in freshman ag was to introduce ourselves to a person in school authority and shake their hands. And by shake, it was a firm hand shake, even if you're a girl! I was a nervous girl shaking the assistant principals hand at lunch that day, but we were learning about public relations and business skills in that moment. 

We learned about responsibility, determination, team work, a strong work ethic, organization, public speaking, and how to conduct a meeting. We also were taught to properly fill out job applications, resumes, and job interview skills. While I've never had to fill out an application for the jobs I have worked, I did compete in the job fair my senior year in high school. I was always a tshirt and jeans kind of girl, but that day I wore my Sunday best dress and everyone was shocked, but I had been taught to dress for the interview and be professional. I'm amazed at some of the job applications I have been handed, the kids I've interview and the slouchy attire I've see as someone walks in off the street and ask for a job. I know without a doubt, they did not go through the Gilmer FFA program or they would have been way more prepared. If you really want a job, clean up, dress up, fix your hair, introduce yourself with a firm hand shake, and tell your prospective boss how you can help them. Fill out your job application and resume neatly and completely. You can also make things like "feeding cows" have a much more impressive description as you are "responsible for the nutritional well being and safety of the bovine species."

Freshman year - my first show steer (born and raised on our family ranch)

One year as I was filling out my class schedule for the next year, my counselor told me "I was too smart to be in ag," that I needed to be in an honors math class instead. That made me so mad and I had to kindly tell her that I would be staying in ag. I was showing and selling steers at the county fair through FFA, the sale money would in turn be placed in my college savings account as well as qualify me for several scholarships. That was real life math to me. I would be gaining life skills, record keeping, and community service that would make me much more prepared for after high school. She didn't really like it, but I stayed in ag! 

Mr. Thomas even give me some dating advise one time. Simply "if you wouldn't marry him, don't date him." I think that wisdom helped me end a few relationships and how wise it is. 

I also took my first floral design class in high school and went on to win the state floriculture award in the summer of 1999. I had a cast on my arm at state convention, but that's a whole other story. Looking back at some of the wreaths I made then, oh my, but that's  when I started making rope wreaths. They've come a long way! I remember the crazy mock wedding we had in class. We recycled silk flowers for the wedding and I believe I was the preacher who over saw the ceremony!

State FFA Convention, 1999, receiving State Floraculture Award

FFA will always have a special place in my heart. Truth be told, I hated school, yet I was a smart kid (I was one out of the top 10%). It was my involvement in ag and FFA that made me want to get up and go to school. That's were my friends were and two great instructors, who were and are still friends to me. At times, the school district thought about discontinuing some of the vocational courses and I personally think it would have been detrimental to so many people. I'm so thankful for the experiences I had in FFA and the wonderful people who helped make them happen. Without a doubt, Mrs. Witt and Mr. Thomas are the two teachers that influenced my life the most. 

I know I'll forever remember my years in FFA and hope that I can give back a portion of what I was given. 

The Sunset

Friday night's sunset will be one I won't soon forget and others will be compared to. 

I was headed home on the back roads and the sky came to life. It had been pretty bland earlier, so I never expected such a show. I love being on the quite black top and being able to come to a screeching halt, jump out of the truck and capture the moment. The steers were curious as to what I was doing and lined up nicely on the horizon for me. 

 I'm sure no one else notices it as they drive by, but I love the old wooden post and rusty barbed wire of this fence. To me, it's so photogenic, especially when there's an awesome sunset behind it. 

The fabulous show has surely made up for all the gloomy winter days. 

I finally got back in my truck and headed on down the black top. This was my last picture before I got on the highway. I'm so glad I get to drive west in the afternoons and can enjoy the painting in the sky. By the way, no edits or filters were applied, just my watermark.