In the almost eleven years that Morgan and I have been together we have lived in a lot of places. From my tiny shack in Dillon Beach to Bodega Bay, to Marshall, to Bodega, to Santa Rosa, to Guerneville and then to Valley Ford, we have covered a pretty good chunk of land. For me, Valley Ford has always felt like home. I think alot of it has to do with the fact that this is where I had my restaurant and this is where I lived when I first moved to CA. To me, Valley Ford is home.. I know the people here- either in person or by word of mouth. I know the back roads like the back of my hand and for me, the spirit of these lands is what really draws me in. Rolling hills filled with grazing sheep, beef cows and dairys - whats not to love?
The house that we now live in, used to be inhabited by a good friend of mine named Janet. I remember coming over here for the first time a few years ago to help her get ready for a barn party. I was sitting on the porch shucking corn and I thought to myself " This would be an awesome spot to raise a family." Keep in mind this was many years before Morgan and I contemplated having kids. Years go by, Morgan and I buy a one bedroom house in Guerneville and are living "Happily Ever After". And then there was Avrie. I never wanted kids. I dont know why, but I just didnt want to go that route. But.....eventually you start to imagine the pitter patter of little feet and can't imagine your life without that sound. After a full year of trying to get to the point of possibly hearing that sound - we finally got pregnant and well, that was that. The older Avrie got, the less comfortable our little one bedroom house got. I put the word out that we were looking to move into a bigger place and before we knew it, word came that Janet's old place - the place I thought would be great to raise a family in - was for rent. It didnt take much convincing on my behalf to convince Morgan we needed to get out of Guernville and get into Janet's old place in Valley ford.
So, we packed up and moved. From Guerneville to Valley Ford - we were country again! Yay! We went from a tiny one bedroom place on a 1/4 acre to a three bedroom place on about 600 acres ( I think...) To make it even better this 600 acres is a working beef cow ranch. We get all the joys of looking out the windows to see cows but dont have to deal with any of the headache. Avrie LOVES playing in the hay barn, but we arent responsible for putting the hay in, we just get to enjoy it. Across the way is a sheep ranch - oh what - yes we can stare at as many sheep as we want. Across the road from us are some dairy cows. Throw that all together with the random deer, turkeys, bobcats, quail etc that we encounter - its pretty easy to see why this is such an awesome spot.
We live in an extremely old house - old carpet, old appliances, old fireplace - thats what makes me love it. If the girls spill a little juice on the carpet, big deal - clean it up and move on. Carpets older than dirt anyways who cares. There has been so much "life" in this place over the years that it just, well, makes it liveable. I love that we have enough land that we can have goats, sheep, cats and a dog. Pretty much anything the girls want we can do. If I need to go chasing sheep in nothing but my bathrobe, nobody will notice and if they do they will probably just be thinking to themselves " Been there, done that." Whatever happens I LOVE this place, I LOVE what it stand for and I LOVE what lives inside it.. I wouldnt have it any other way cause this really is my home, for better or for worse.
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