A New Life on a New Homestead.
My name is Mona and my husband’s name is Joe. This is us. The Weathers family. Well, this was what our family looked like a few years back. Now we have two grandbabies from our oldest daughter, an extra daughter, and another grandbaby from one of our sons.
Our homesteading journey started in the little town of Tehachapi, California. We lived in a small community a few miles outside of town. We started our journey with the gateway drug, also known as Chickens. Our little farm was born and we named it Fair Weathers Ranch. It only took a few years before we ended up with a lot of animals on the farm -horses (actually the horses came to the homestead before the chickens), dairy goats, turkeys, ducks, chukar, dogs, and cats. We also had vegetable gardens, berries, and fruit trees. We bred and processed our own meat birds, canned and dehydrated produce, and did all the things you do on a little farm. We also had an awesome homesteader community.
Life was good at Fair Weathers Ranch up in the mountains of Southern California. And then, God said, “It’s time to move.” Within a few months, we sold just about everything we owned, including the home Joe and I thought we’d grow old in. God had other plans though. “Move to Georgia!”, He said. So we moved. I can’t say it was easy. Actually, it was really hard to be uprooted and moved so quickly. Three years into living in Georgia God blesses us with our new homestead, Thankful Hill Farm
This is us now. Almost 30 years of marriage and one child left at home. Joe and I have been slowly building a homestead on our beautiful property in northern Georgia.
Our goal when searching for our new property was to have acres of flat land to graze the horses. We couldn’t find anything in our price range. We finally ended up looking at this one last property on the edge of Joe’s commuting to work limit. This one last property had hills and trees and one little spot of semi-flat land. Though the property and house are beautiful it was hard for me to give up the idea that I wouldn’t be able to let my horses grazing on our property. God’s plan for us was different than our plans but He offered us so many blessings I couldn’t have thought it up myself.
The story of how I came up with our farm name actually has to do with my acceptance of God’s plans.
One morning while doing the chores, I was walking up to our steep hill. Since the day we moved to our property I had been thinking of what to name it. Every homestead needs a name in my opinion. As I walked the last few steps up the hill that day, catching my breath that was taken from me by exertion up the hill, my breath left my lungs again as I peered into the woods. “Beautiful”, I thought. Then “thankful” popped into my head next and I knew. I knew that I needed to always remain thankful for this home and property. Always see the positive and recognize the blessing. I am soo THANKFUL for our house on the hill and the 5 acres with woods and a little bit of flat area for the horses.
Our plans are to be more small-scale homesteaders. We have 4 horses on our property, 7 chickens, and a tiny garden that is expanding each year. The years we lived at Fair Weathers Ranch have come to an end. The knowledge I’ve gained and stored in my brain will never be forgotten (hopefully) and I hoped to pay it forward by sharing what I’ve learned with up-and-coming homesteaders.
In all seasons be THANKFUL. 🌷🌞🍁❄️❤️
