The farm I was raised on in Forest City, Iowa

I am going home this summer...traveling with Heidi, Carter and Ava! I am excited to tell them and show them the farm I was raised on and tell them all the stories...and there are a lot! They will enjoy the stories, I know! Like the time my dad rescued me out of the pasture from a sivvit cat...(something like a skunk)...and like the time he came and rescued me from a VERY mad , mother sow!....Lots of drama on the farm! I am sure we will have lots of FARM ADVENTURES to create of our own!!!

Here is a really good , long distance view of the farm as a whole! I used to help with the milking...feed the chickens, pick the eggs...help bale hay...feed the cows...feed the pigs...and many other farm chores! I didn't think it was so great as a kid, but am so glad to have been raised on a farm and taught good working habits! Thanks Mom and Dad! I always "imagined" my way through my chores as a waitress and a million other things, which helped me get my "chores" done...as they were called!

This is the old pump house on the "Lewis farm"....another lonely structure!

Would you believe this is the house I was raised in??? It looks awful, and sad now! It has been empty for many, many years and is unsafe to even go into...and it certainly did not look like this when I was a child! It needs to be demolished, but my Dad just cannot bring himself to do it! It sure represents a lot of memories!

More beautiful farm land!

This is a picture of my Mom's garden...or I should say ONE of her gardens! Absolutely every year for the last 20 years it seems, she declares she is DONE with all her gardening and canning and freezing...and then spring comes and she succombs once again and plants a garden and is still planting gardens! They are a beautiful site to me! When we lived in Iowa we got to share in the "harvest" of her garden goodies....I really miss that! She has done so much canning in her life I think she could feed the world!! Way to go Mom!

Another lonely wagon, put to rest from it's hard work. I am not sure...but this one looks like the old feeder wagon we used to feed the cows from....I actually loved that job...all the cows gathered around and fought their way to the wagon...I used to pretend I was their waitress and I named them!..I also would not feed the RUDE ones...the ones who butted their way in!!!

This is a picture of some of the equipment, also put to rest from past days of hard work on the farm!






The cows are grazing in the pasture land, that is rented out by another farmer.







Here is a picture of the vast cornfields and beautiful land on the farm!

Here is a picture of the old silo and the old barn on the farm where my parents still live! This picture looks beautiful to me...tho it represents a LOT of work and hard labor in days gone by. They are now lonely, empty buildings...which is sad to me...but yet beautiful!