Finding my final lifestyle...

After spending years trying on different lifestyles, I have finally found the ideal one here at Pigs Fly Ranch in North Texas. I have been a career woman, a drug store cowboy's wife, an executive's spouse, a social butterfly, a Californian (oh...please...stop), a hostess/party-goer and now a writer/horsewoman/goat owner. This last role is the best.

Here on 4.5 acres of red clay, I enjoy the company of nine pygmy goats, two adorable dogs and a pair of badly behaved cats, plus one husband who is slowly getting used to walking where there is no concrete. I have become a Master Gardener with various raised beds and a beekeeper with two buzzing hives. The Spouse has discovered an interest in native plants, drought-resistant grasses and rain water harvesting. We probably bore some of our friends, but we are more in touch with the environment and with ourselves.

A lot of people dream of escaping the city for the country life, but today’s economy is not making that transition easy. I have carried the country dream with me for decades and only made it a reality in 2007. My advice: hang in there. You can make it happen. And it will be worth the wait.