The truth often hurts!

After much meditation I no longer will be searching for a tract of land.  As I am indeed getting older, ok we're speaking about the truth, I'm old.
My overall health is somewhat in doubt.
My physical range of motion will never return to what it once was.
And as hard as it is to post this, I need help from my true "family" from time to time.

Now anyone thinking about land in SE West Virginia, the owners just dropped another 15K off their asking price.  Monroe County, Hans Creek should turn up in a search for undeveloped land in WV.  My last offer was $900 per acre., it was rejected.

I may remain here at my parents house, maybe start some raised masonry beds and the pit greenhouse., the rear faces to the South/South West  And fence the back yard, sorry Bambi!

Peace

Some dreams can come true.  And some won't.  I'm glad you have a place to live where you have a yard, even if it isn't acrage.  I think you can keep refining it and making it wonderful for you.

We looked for nearly 2 years before selling our old place and buying a year ago.
The largest on our "watch" list was about 20 acres.( forested)
I had been hoping for something in the 5 range. What we got was just under an acre but a perfect-for-us house in our 1st choice region and it was mostly grass lawn, so a blank slate to work with.
A year in, I am generally glad we didn't get bigger. I am in my 50's and taking care of parents in their 80's and it's still a lot to handle. At least I am pretty sure that once everything is established, I should be able to keep it up on my own and have a chunk of my food needs covered.

What I'm saying is that being realistic about your situation and needs isn't a bad thing and it's fine if you have to grow into different dreams.

If your dreams don't serve you anymore, it's time to change dreams.

As others have said, it's nice to live within your abilities and not take on the extra stresses of having too much, too big, and following dreams you had when you were a different person.

It hurts to grow (even growing out of dreams), so take care of yourself and give yourself some leniency while you do it!

Hugs!

Deane Adams wrote:After much meditation I no longer will be searching for a tract of land.  As I am indeed getting older, ok we're speaking about the truth, I'm old.
My overall health is somewhat in doubt.
My physical range of motion will never return to what it once was.
And as hard as it is to post this, I need help from my true "family" from time to time.

Now anyone thinking about land in SE West Virginia, the owners just dropped another 15K off their asking price.  Monroe County, Hans Creek should turn up in a search for undeveloped land in WV.  My last offer was $900 per acre., it was rejected.

I may remain here at my parents house, maybe start some raised masonry beds and the pit greenhouse., the rear faces to the South/South West  And fence the back yard, sorry Bambi!

Peace

Riona Abhainn wrote:.... I think you can keep refining it and making it wonderful for you.

...and occasionally wonderful for others as well!  Many decades ago when I was in graduate school in Corvallis south of you, my wife and I had a small house rental (remember when those were moderately affordable? :-/ ) with a fenced back yard.  We already had a menagerie of animals....pot-bellied pig, 2 dogs, one cat, one pigeon, several rabbits....so the fencing allowed for free roaming of the animals in the yard.  Our neighbors were an elderly couple....had moved like many after the Great Depression from the southern Plains to the west coast.  When we first arrived, we had our greetings but noticed they mostly kept to themselves, sitting on their back porch furniture and not saying much.  Within a few weeks, both of them would already be standing at the fence, waiting to greet the pig, the dogs, the rabbits, etc!  It really felt good to see how they became more engaging and even would share stories of what had happened in the back yard (good things, not worrying...) while we were away from the house during the day.  Even their garden expanded while we lived next to them and we would swap veggies and recipes and stories of gardens past.  So yes....your backyard can very much be your little haven and possibly one shared with neighbors.

Deane Adams wrote: I may remain here at my parents house, maybe start some raised masonry beds and the pit greenhouse., the rear faces to the South/South West  And fence the back yard, sorry Bambi!

The recent raised beds I have made are 30" high - kitchen table height. They're awesome! No kneeling. Lots of punky wood in the bottom like a hugel, only with straight sides. Not as much planting area as a true hugel, but I was looking down the road and wanting to be able to putter in the garden for a good many more years.

Yes, Bambi's a problem. They snuck into my garden area and ate every leaf and immature fruit off my baby Fig tree. The tree survived, but if you want to garden, I can't recommend enough to make it both deer and bunny proof. If you like seeing the deer, plant stuff they like in the front yard!

It gets pretty cold here, and even though it doesn't *usually* stay below -5°F, for more than a week or two, I decided to pot my baby fig, and set the pot on a piano dolly, instead of putting it in the ground. Having it on the deck means it's bunny & deer proof, and freeze-safe, because it can come in the house.

I use big, old coolers (with cracks & holes), and cattle mineral tubs as raised beds, so they're smaller, and can be moved (though not easily, without the tractor), if needed.

Carla, I saved two of those light blue supplement/mineral cattle tubs when I moved to my mothers house.  I use them for my mostly lazy compost containers, I call them lazy because I might turn them over once or twice a year.  When one is mostly full I cover it with a dark yard size trash bag and let it be till spring then I shovel out the compost, run it all through a quarter inch hardware cloth screen, putting the unfinished material into the current tub in use.

These tubs were from a regional farm supply store and are made of a really thick plastic that is very UV resistant, they must be at least fifteen years old and perhaps older.  I drilled half inch holes in the bottom and later on drilled larger holes (inch & half) to allow greater contact with the ground, which allows more bacteria to get to work.

Peace