i want to live on their farm!!
927125
How do I start this review. I really don't know how to start it. This was a very on the edge book. I think I have never read a book where there were more curve balls coming at you in How to tame beasts and other wild things. Im not saying in any way that it was not good it was just holy smokes.

Balthazar Cox, what a name!! I love the description of him, he is repulsive. Oh no as I read he is not. But she also says he is that sexy, well you got that right. I know guys say MILF but I have to say that Mr. Cox is a DILF. Yes I actually said that and to be honest Im a little taken back by it. Oh well just being honest here. Matilda Pearl is a free spirit that has really been misunderstood her entire life. I love that she has a pet donkey. That is something that I would do.

I Love how they meet at the feed store. He is kinda attracted to her and then just plain dumbfounded by her all at the same time. They don't really get off on the same foot right away and to be honest they are always doing that. Through out the book they want to piss you off. But that is what real couples do, get on each others every damn nerve. They don't start out as a couple that comes later. Oh did I tell you she is the sister of his wife that cheated and left him, oh and also died. No I didn't say that oh sorry, so his ex-wife is how Im just going to say that. She cheated on him and died. I don't see how she could cheat on that man. But he got twin ginger twins out of the deal and now Matilda. Matilda was sent by her father to help him out until her finds a wife. There is so much on the line. Not only for him but for her as well.

Your going to like this book. Not going to lie when you think that the story is going to level out and say awe this is going to turn out right boom twist. There are lots and lots of twists, you won't want to stop cause you need to find out how it turned out. To be honest I kinda want to live on this farm of theirs. I wonder if my husband would left me have all the animals like Matilda. #lifegoals.
306775
I bought this game for my cousin, so he can get a job. His dad is a composer and makes quite a bit of money, and I don't want my cousin to suffer by being something low paying, like a teacher. So, knowing that the average farm family makes lots of money, I bought him this for an education. Now, he can play this and learn the ends and outs of farming. The other thing that will help is going to be, or course, government price supports and crop insurance. So with this game and government programs, I expect my cousin to exceed and do well and soon he'll be making more food than he can sell, and getting paid for it all!!!!
1231787
Loved this story.  I love all the detail of life on a Scottish sheep farm.  I really fell in love with both of these characters.
3039369
If every you were raised on a farm, or spent much time on a farm or rural area, and if you are familiar with the dynamics of a large rural farm family, you will instantly make a connection with this work.  On the surface is it a very simple story, but my, oh my, how true to life it is.

Mother (Mammy) is working hard and she tells the older of her children, Sammy, to watch the smallest, John Joe.  She then goes on with her work.  Well as you would rightfully guess, older brothers are not the best at watching younger brothers and soon Sammy takes the dog, who has been toasting in the sun, and heads out for the neighbor's farm leaving sister Mary to watch John Joe.

While Mary has good intentions, she is quite peeved at her older brother for dumping the little one on her to watch and of course she goes off in search of Sammy leaving John Joe to fend for himself at the neighbors farm where their search for Sammy has taken them.

John Joe is along...sort of.  There before him is a very, very large red hen!  This hen, as many hens seem to have, has an attitude problem and John Joe is pretty sure she plans to eat him!  What will he do?  Who is to take care of him?  Where will he go?  Well John Joe does the only sensible thing to do in such a situation...he runs and he hides in the hay field.

And the search for John Joe is on!

This is an absolute delightful story and the illustrations are rather unique.  Warm colors are used throughout and the pictures are plentiful.  The artist, Paul Howard used old photographs taken on his wife's family farm in the early 1940s in Ireland to create the farm.  The models for the children are taken from those old photographs of his wife's family.  These illustrations are delightful. We have here a blend of the old along with a problem which has in its own way always been contemporary...some things change; some things simply do not.  Kids are kids are kids.

It is a fun to view the various farm animals, buildings, homes, barnyards, fences and landscapes in this work.  The illustrations and text are perfectly blended.

To be honest, there is very little to criticize when it comes to this particular work.  While no children's book is perfect...this one comes pretty close to the mark.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
4438040
I love this Ranch... LOL I shouldn't, but I do! I cannot wait to read the next to this!
615602
In this second book from Steve and Derek, we get to see a glimpse of the many emotions and the enormous amount of work they had upon first arriving at the farm. From the house itself, to a temperamental teen piggy, to the arriving animals,and even a few unpredictable people, the two men quickly learned to navigate around a farm. While the work was, and is hard, their recipe is simple...they followed their hearts and a cute little smiling pig, who is all about kindness - and took a giant leap of faith. Loved the variety of stories and insight the book provided into this truly inspiring family. I can't wait for book three, which will hopefully include Corno, Alice and Phil! Great read!
3099727
I don't want to just visit "La Pierre Rouge," I want to live there.

I fell in love with this place - everything about it from the terrace, the hill leading to the house, the sea, Alonso, (the cat), the food, the bakery, the market place, all of it.

I finished the book a few hours ago and cannot get the story out of my mind.  It makes me want to get on a plane and go to the South of France.

I could not put this book down, and believe me, I tried to but found myself looking for excuses to pick it up again and read until I finished it.  I hated to see the book end.  I loved traveling to France, Mexico, Italy, Spain, and even Idaho.

I loved all the characters in the book, but, especially Lily and I loved her mother-in-law, Maman Justine - great lady.  I think she and Lily had so much in common, that Justine's son, Paul, married his mother when he married Lily.

I checked this book out of the library and now want to buy a copy for myself to add to my personal library.  There are descriptive phrases, quotes, words, passages that I wish to mark for future reference and, of course, I cannot do that with a library book.

I am going to recommend this book to my friends so we can enjoy a good discussion based on my own questions, and there are many, and the questions in the back of the book.

It will be fun to analyze Lily and Paul, their marriage, discussing what makes them tick, their obvious differences, etc...Yves, the handyman, is also an interesting character and I would love to analyze his relationship with his mother and talk about what happened to him, where did he go, did his mother die, lots to analyze about Yves...

I do hope Annie writes another book.  I want more of Lily, more of France...I'd like to "grow old" with Lily...and be there to see how Justine grows up....Will her grandmother, Justine, come alive again through her granddaughter?
1154410
I am booking a trip to Alaska! Totally kidding! I wish. This was such a good story. Nina did a great job with these characters. We are now best friends, Abbi and I! I loved the dynamic of the families in this story, the real life things that make people run off and try things different than they are used to doing, like running the family farm in Pa.! So I will let you go and read this and try it out. And I am going to get the next on asap! Because I don't want to stop being Abbi's bestie!

Thank you Nina for creating this story and allowing me to read it, and I am going to call out Emily Robertson-Author that highly encouraged me to read this out-loud on Facebook live (I didn't go that far)
59061
Good Morning Farm is an adorable book! I love the illustrations and would love to have a hard copy of it!
2385087
I so enjoyed Mr. Pritchard's story of saving his family's farm.  The man knows how to write, too!  He tells not just of his successes, but the hurdles and hardships of transitioning to a more earth-friendly farm in the present day, and finding a market for his wares.  Also, the characters in his life are drawn with great humanity, making you feel as if you know these people well and would like to have dinner with some of them.  I hope we see more from Forrest!
1782876
I really enjoyed reading this book and by the end I wanted to know more. I have to say -- up front -- that I am grateful to farmers especially organic farmers and I support them 100% in the Santa Cruz, CA. area where I live (and Oregon where I visit). I spent a couple years growing up on a very small farm (nothing even close to the proximity of complexity as Essex Farms) but it gave me a foundation and awe of nature. I love the author's crisp and clean writing and the way the book progressed. I found the author's humbling experiences and honesty VERY refreshing. It's not easy to learn as you go especially when livestock and food is at stake. I enjoyed how the book became more sentimental as the stories progressed with the author sharing some of her innermost feelings about her transition from city to farm life, with all it's ups and downs and uncertainties. I would have loved more detail in some  of these soft experience areas, especially when it came to slaughtering dinner (yes, my local farmers do this for me).  I'm sure there was more of a mental transition from being vegetarian to eating 3 helpings of pork a day later, for example.  Exactly how does one make this leap?  Most of all, I was touched by how the community rallied around the farm; friends, volunteers and members. I found this inspiring. I hope Ms. Kimball writes more and more.

Here are some quotes I really liked:

"There is no better lesson in commitment than the cow. Her udder knows no exceptions or excuses. She must be milked or she'll suffer from her own fullness, and then she'll get sick or dry up. Morning and evening, on holidays, in good weather and in bad, from the day she gives birth to her calf until day ten months later when you dry her off, your cow is the frame in which you must fit your days, the twelve-hour tether beyond which you may no longer travel."

"And this is the place where I'm supposed to tell you what I've learned. Here's the best I can do: a bowl of beans, rest for tired bones. These things are reasonable roots for a life, not just its window dressing. They have comforted our species for all time, and for happiness' sake, they should  not slip beneath our notice. Cook things, eat them with other people. If you can tire your own bones while growing the beans, so much the better for you."

"This is what I love about my husband: given these opposites to work with, the earthiest of roots and the most exotic of fruits, he sees harmony, not discord."
2645533
My background is in Landscape Design, I have ridden quarter horses, mucked barns and stacked hay. I have planted and weeded a small home garden, and I have always yearned for a rural life. Chicken coops, a few dogs, cats, goats, horses and a big red barn are my idea of heaven. This book gives me little bits of that place which lives in my mind, but not my suburban NY 1 acre tract home.

I love the description of place in one of the essays. Unlike finding a spot with a GPS, rural places are known by where the bear was seen last spring, or where the tornado ruined the corn field or the fire took the barn. I love the description of the stubble of the fields looking like an old farmer's crew cut. Most of all I loved the paragraph describing farmers driving heifers from one pasture to another. "Each man carried an old, smooth stick with a wide crook in the end.  The older farmer walked as though he hated cattle---would like for just one morning to sleep in and not have to wonder what spooked the cows through the fence during the night.  he was hunched, sore from what might be Lyme disease or what he calls "sugar"--meaning diabetes--or just lingering stiffness from the ribs he broke when he fell from a hay wagon in June. He looked cold, as if the frost had gotten into him."

This book of essays on the 12 seasons of the year, on various farms in different states, gives a little bit of feel for the rural life, the good, bad, and glorious. It's hard satisfying work, rapidly changing from the effects of weather, politics, economics and global influences. A hard life, one to dream about, support by trips to the local farmer's market, and if you are brave enough, live. In the mean time, read this wonderful book.
810511
Love these series, so funny, adorable and cute!! Love the Bradford men especially the way they claim their wives and then the way they are with food-WOW!! Wouldn't want to get in Their way at a buffet- lol..and who gets banded from restaurants and fast food..now that is funny, this whole family is definitely entertaining, I think I loved this story most of all the fact that Trevor- Mr. GQ himself actually had his ideal girl in his mind but what he didn't realize is what you think you want and what you actually do want and need can be a real eye opener and life lesson as it was in this story..and after the life lil zoe had I'm so glad it turned out for them, loved the epilogue!!
1202537
I love these ranch books. I love the relationships, they're what I want with the guys I'd want. They feel like family. In the best sense of family.
4345401
Thats me in a dream world! Going to a place like that to live sounds like an adventure for sure .But I know it would be a lot of hard work,any that would be my dream if I was about50 years younger.. Great book
3594432
The Culpeppers
Brooke oldest & Brette her sister
Cousins Blythe and twins sisters Blaire & Blaike

Brooke Culpepper is the oldest of her one sister and 3 cousins who are left to manage their home after her father has passed several yrs ago. She has never met her distant cousin, who is their guardian but he has left them to manage the farm and sent him half the profits every month.  After yrs of struggle, Heath, Earl of Ravensdale walks into their life after winning their dairy farm in a wager from their guardian I. London. Heath is overcome with awe at the beautiful Brooke and all the girls. Brooke, desperate to keep her home wagers her virtue to Heath if she loses. This is a well written delightful story that kept me turning the pages and smiling as I read. I could not wait to read the next book in this series. I am hooked!
2098749
Last night I stayed up late finishing this book!  What a delightful town with the kind of population I would love to live with!  What fun people, events, situations, and relationships!!!  I loved the renovation storyline, having been through that myself, and Susan's relationship with her father - and her learning to get out of her comfort zone and trying to do something which was very difficult for her.  I'd like directions so I can go visit this town!!!!  What fun!  Good people abound!  PLEASE KEEP THE BOOKS IN THIS SERIES COMING!  I can't wait to read more!  I feel like I know (and love) these people!