being single sucks sometimes....

You know the holidays are the hardest for anyone with grown kids (or almost out of the house in my case) or that are alone for that matter...

Here's a little back story in case you don't know me, yet. My name is Amy. I work full time, 12 hour rotating shifts, and hate every minute of it. I also own a soap company, a face and body art company (face painting), and a soap supply business. Whenever I can't go outside to work on my projects (re-roofing the shop next to the house at the moment), I spend online researching ideas (rocket mass fireplaces, wind turbines, water turbines, off grid stuff) and connecting with like minded individuals like myself.

It's definitely not a simple idea to do alone, let me tell you. My current hold up, aside from the weather (brrrr), is trying to get the lumber my mother gave me today, up on the roof to replace three rotten boards. I have to replace those in the morning before I can start laying down the OSB, then tar paper, then the metal roof. I think I have a system of pullies that I've got worked in my head to get it done. But if all else fails, I'll call some friends up and invite them over. They like when I cook...

Once the roof is completely done and not just the section I'm working on (check out  Instagram @mysliceofidaho to see short clips I took with my phone), then I want to tackle the rocket mass fireplace in the front room. My mom thinks I'm nuts to take the natural gas fireplace out and deal with wood and ashes. But no matter how many ways I try to explain why I want to do it, she doesn't get it. It only took the one time for the gas to not work (my house has a natural gas furnance and stove) for me to get that I need an alternate source of heat in case something happens again. Yes I can cook over the fire pit out back, but that's not fun in freezing temps.

I also have to save like crazy to get the electric poultry fencing if I want to let my chickens free range. In the last two years, neighbor dogs have killed no less than fifty chickens here. Yes I can shoot them, if you can 1) catch them in the act and 2) make sure they're dead on your property...which I couldn't. I had one dog in my sights but it hid behind my horses...grrr...

My plan is to have my place paid off in 8-9 years and have enough chickens to fill my freezer in the winter, eggs all year and for sale. A simple sign outside the house was getting $3 a dozen (back when I got three dozen eggs a week). And turn the shop next to the house into a farmer's market/craft market (no MLMs allowed).

I just wish there were more like us (permies) close in my area. Anyone ever thought of a meet up? I'm in Blackfoot Idaho by the way....and this is my little hello, how y'all doing, care to chat a spell....

You sound a lot like the new woman we have moving in to one of our houses. My Grandmother lived there until her death, we put a new kitchen and bath in it, but then it just sat as old farmhouses do because no one wants to live in them. But in May we are going to Moldova for a few weeks to help in teaching the sheep farmers there about proper sheep farming, and so we would need someone to watch our commercial sheep farm while we were gone. Naturally lambing here is the same as there, and that is the best time to go.

So we contacted our sheep shearer, a 24 year old girl who has not had the best luck with me, and while highly intelligent, and really good with animals, is living with her 3 sons in her mother's house. I am not even sure how it came up, but when she found out we had a house we were not using where she could raise her own sheep, she came out and looked at it. A dozen other people could not see its charm from its rough, unused edges, but she is planning on fixing it up and moving in next Spring. It is a small house on only 30 acres, but if she is willing to spend the time and money to fix it up instead of paying rent, it should be a good deal for both of us.

But I love her resolve, nothing is too hard for her, and she scrounges for building material deals and gets by with very little help. To say she is independent is an understatement, and we need more people like that. I do joke with her though, "next year you better not charge me the farm call fee", a $30 fee she charges to show up at your farm to shear your sheep before getting $6 per sheep for shearing.