This seems to be a rambling journal of things we do, and things that we have done. It is my hope that by sharing some of these details, it will give others an idea of what we are looking for.
I am currently sitting here, after waking up at 3:45am. This is pretty typical for us. Living off grid, we tend to go to bed when the sun goes down, and wake up early, finding that we have the most
energy in the early morning before things get going! Tim is working his regular Monday-Friday job. He works according to east coast time, so he is usually done by 1:00 in the afternoon and able to help around the homestead after that time. I have YouTube running in the background, listening to a virtual tour of some intentional communities. Is that what we strive to be? I think so. Tim is not nearly as keen on the idea as I am. He prefers his privacy and prefers to be alone. I crave community and friendships.
We have shared our land with others. One of my adult sons lived with us for a while, I've had friends on our land, we've had visitors from Harvest Hosts, and we have had long term renters. I have learned from each of these situations. Honestly, besides the renters, the experiences have been less than ideal. First of all, living with family, especially adult children, is a challenge. There is the parent/child relationship that can create its own drama. I was totally taken advantage of by a "friend" that we were helping who lived in our RV rent free and proceeded to trash it, leaving it dirty and needing extensive repairs. That destroyed a 10 year friendship, which is unfortunate. It makes me wonder why I would consider allowing a complete stranger to live in a community with us. Well, because I do have hope that there are others out there who crave community living.
Between 2012-2014 I immersed myself in farm life, learning as much as I could about animals. I volunteered on farms where I worked with goats, sheep, cows, llamas, alpacas, pigs, tortoises,
chickens, doves, and turkeys. I learned how to make goat cheese! I bottle fed baby goats! When I
WWOOF'd, I gave my all. I worked for 4-6 hours per day, on my hands and knees picking weeds on a dahlia farm. I also worked as a ranch hand, working my butt off mucking horse stalls. The work was therapy for me, as I usually cried the whole time. I had just gone through a very difficult situation, started a new chapter in my life, living in my van, and basically had no idea what I was doing. I was working with dressage horses - with no interest in horses at all - but I looked at those huge creatures, and cried harder as they watched me cleaning up their
poop. It was hilarious and sad at the same time. But it was just what I needed. I became an intern on a four acre community supported agriculture (CSA) farm. That was where I had the most fun. I lived on the property where I looked after 400
chickens, and that's where I was introduced to livestock guardian dogs! Oh my goodness, that's where my true love of Anatolian Shepherd Dogs started! I learned about crop rotation, how to drive a
tractor, and how communication is important. I planted strawberries with a non-english speaking helper, and after three hours, the farmer informed me that I did everything wrong which meant I had to spend another five hours removing the strawberry starts and replanting them correctly. Apparently, the helper kept trying to show me I was planting them incorrectly, but I misunderstood. I thought she was encouraging me and telling me what a good job I was doing! That was a huge learning
experience!
Then I went to nursing school! That was an adventure! It was awful, truthfully. I had so many set backs, but got up, I brushed myself off, and tried again. I graduated nursing school in December 2016, and felt pretty darn good about where my life was going after that. And then....2020 happened...
more tomorrow...
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