Не то чтобы мне хотелось жить на ферме всегда, но иногда мне очень нужен такой спокойный день.

This is a very common Russian pattern used to soften what the speaker is saying.

Не то чтобы X, но Y means something like:

• It’s not exactly that X, but Y
• Not that X, but Y
• It’s not really that X; it’s just that Y

So here:

Не то чтобы мне хотелось жить на ферме всегда, но иногда мне очень нужен такой спокойный день.

means the speaker is not strongly claiming I want to live on a farm forever, but is adding a more limited point: sometimes I really need a calm day like that.

It sounds more natural and nuanced than a blunt statement.

Russian often uses мне хотелось to express a desire in a softer, less direct, more tentative way.

Compare:

• Я хочу жить на ферме. = I want to live on a farm.
  Very direct.
• Мне хочется жить на ферме. = I feel like living on a farm / I want to live on a farm.
  Slightly softer, more about a feeling.
• Мне хотелось жить на ферме. = I would want / I felt like wanting / I wanted depending on context.
  In this sentence, it helps create a nuanced, hypothetical tone.

With Не то чтобы, Russian often prefers this softer structure. So мне хотелось fits the idea of it’s not really that I particularly want...

Because this is an impersonal construction.

In мне хотелось, there is no grammatical subject like я. The idea is something like:

• To me, it was desired
• more naturally: I felt like... / I wanted...

In Russian, impersonal forms often appear in neuter singular past tense, which is why we get хотелось, not хотел or хотела.

So:

• Я хотел = I wanted
• Мне хотелось = I felt like / I wanted, in a softer impersonal way

Жить is imperfective because it describes a state or ongoing way of life, not a completed action.

The speaker is talking about the general idea of living on a farm, not about moving there once and finishing an action.

After verbs of desire like хотелось, Russian often uses an infinitive to describe what someone wants to do:

• мне хотелось жить = I wanted to live
• мне хотелось отдохнуть = I wanted to rest

Here, жить is exactly the right choice because living is a continuous condition.

Russian normally says жить на ферме for to live on a farm.

This is just the standard preposition used with ферма in this meaning. It works like English on a farm.

So:

• на ферме = on a farm / at a farm
• в ферме would usually sound wrong in this context

Russian often uses на with places understood as sites, grounds, or functional locations:

• на заводе = at a factory
• на станции = at the station
• на ферме = on a farm

Yes, всегда literally means always, but in this sentence it is closer to:

• all the time
• permanently
• forever, depending on context

So жить на ферме всегда means to live on a farm all the time / forever, not just occasionally.

The speaker is saying they do not necessarily want that as a permanent lifestyle.

Word order in Russian is flexible, and this placement sounds natural because всегда clearly modifies the whole idea of living on a farm.

So:

жить на ферме всегда
= to live on a farm always / all the time

You could move всегда in some contexts, but the original order is smooth and idiomatic. It keeps the focus on living on a farm permanently, which is the thing being softened or denied.

Because нужен is one of the most common and natural ways in Russian to say that something is needed.

The structure is:

• мне нужен день = I need a day
• literally: a day is needed to me

This is different from English. In Russian, the person who needs something often appears in the dative case:

• мне = to me

And the thing needed is in the nominative:

• день = day

So:

мне очень нужен такой спокойный день
= I really need such a calm day / a calm day like that

The verb нуждаться exists, but it is used differently and often sounds more formal or is used with в + prepositional:

• нуждаться в помощи = to need help

You would not normally say я нуждаюсь такой спокойный день.

Because нужен agrees with день, and день is:

• masculine
• singular

So the form must also be masculine singular:

• нужен for masculine singular
• нужна for feminine singular
• нужно for neuter singular
• нужны for plural

Examples:

• Мне нужен день. = I need a day.
• Мне нужна книга. = I need a book.
• Мне нужно время. = I need time.
• Мне нужны деньги. = I need money.

So in your sentence, нужен matches день.

Такой means such or that kind of.

So такой спокойный день means:

• such a calm day
• that kind of peaceful day
• a calm day like that

It refers back to the kind of day associated with farm life in the sentence’s image or context.

Also, спокойный can mean:

• calm
• peaceful
• quiet

So the phrase suggests not just a day without noise, but a day that feels mentally restful and peaceful.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, but changing it changes the emphasis, not the core meaning.

Original:

Не то чтобы мне хотелось жить на ферме всегда, но иногда мне очень нужен такой спокойный день.

This sounds natural and balanced.

Possible variation:

Не то чтобы мне всегда хотелось жить на ферме, но иногда такой спокойный день мне очень нужен.

This still works, but the emphasis shifts a little:

• мне всегда хотелось could sound like I always wanted
• такой спокойный день мне очень нужен puts more focus on such a calm day

So yes, word order can change, but the original version is a very natural way to express the thought.

It sounds mostly neutral and natural, with a slightly thoughtful or reflective tone.

Reasons:

• Не то чтобы ... но ... is very common in everyday speech and writing
• мне хотелось sounds softer and more nuanced than blunt я хочу
• мне очень нужен такой спокойный день is natural spoken Russian

So this is a sentence a real speaker could easily say in conversation, especially when explaining mixed feelings in a subtle way.