What did you do to make your neighbors think you are crazy?

T Simpson wrote:This one time my family got locked out of the house so we had to shim open a window and crawl through single file into the house. We have had a broken front door for a few weeks now but someone has always been home to open it from the inside...the back porch door broke today so now there is no way in unless somebody is home to open the doors from inside. Might have to go back to crawling through windows. XD

Couldn't one person have gone through the window then opened the door?

I built an underground home. To be honest most of my neighbors weren't here at the time. They have put up stick built homes and  moved in since.

I am about to do another crazy thing. I bought the adjacent ten acres and will divide it into two lots, five acres each as I have two kids who want to build and current covenants allow only one residential structure per parcel. The neighbor on the other side complained that this will depress are property's value. I can think of at least a dozen things I could legally do to decrease her property's value. Pig farm comes to mind.

Seriously, every single thing we do makes my neighbors say I'm crazy: raising rabbits, compost, bokashi, catching rainwater, making beer. Then again, I've caught the neighbor lady looking over the wall at my garden and literally saying "eew how dirty". Lady, not to spoil your innocent ears, but it's dirt: your food grows in it. (for the record, my garden is cute, no pig wallows or anything [not that there's anything wrong with that....], it's got concrete paths and raised beds, flowers and hummingbirds and a bottle tree. Dirty, my posterior.)

When I prune the trees in front of my house, they get mulched in my backyard. Which means I have to bring them all through the house, since I live in a row house type situation. That is always fun.

Possibly the best crazy moment, though, was a few months ago when I went to go cut some long grass for my rabbits from an empty lot up the street with my machete (always gets some odd looks....). Brought the grass back (through the house) to feed the rabbits, and left my machete on top of my car in the driveway, and then promptly forgot about it. Later took my daughter to work and lost said machete, in its lovely leather sheath and with the sharpening file, probably going over a speedbump at the end of my road. I was too embarrassed to be the crazy old lady knocking on doors looking for her lost machete. Hopefully whoever found it will love it as much as I did.

I did holes like a mole. My neighbors are always asking me what I'm digging now. They despise me for the dam I built at the edge of the property. Didn't consider how much snow that would cause to drift across the road. Does a great job holding water on my property though. We also put up 25 telephone poles to start our obstacle course with plans for 25 more to go up in a few years.

Also I free range my pigs.

Susan Hessel wrote:

I live 5 miles as the crow flies (if crows fly over lakes) from the capital building of the state of WI., in an R1 neighborhood with an unusual 200ft deep front yard on a 300ft deep lot. So most of my craziness is on display for everyone.

Wow! I live close enough that if you lean out the window and shout, I'd probably hear you!

Johanna Breijer wrote:I'm phobic of fire.  I wanted to make biochar.  I was standing by my garden gate asking the passers by(mostly RCMP)if they would light my fire.  I was holding my fire starter.  This was just an other thing the crazy old lady did.

Aww, thats not  nice, I would have not only lit it, I would have tended it to amke sure you didn't have to. Having a phobia is limiting at times, I know, I have one too. But on the other hand, I loves playing with fire...mmyyy precious....

Utility crew cut down four big trees in my yard in 2019. I made hugely beds with some branches, gave some as firewood to neighbor, grew shiitake mushrooms etc. For the two dozen big stumps, I have been rearranging them several times for flower beds, compost pile, kids playing things. Last winter I lined them up across the yard and they did a pretty good job catching leaves. Noted there are wood ear mushrooms growing on them. I spotted a few came up naturally, then I picked those to innoculate the rest of stumps to grow more. It worked.

Flipping critters we catch over the fence into the canyon to feed the turkey vultures... have to make sure we fling them hard enough to make it over the path just over the fence... sometimes we dont make it or there is someone on the path, watching a dead gopher flying over their heads Hahahahahahah we about fell down laughing  at that one!

sandy

I have located the pix of my pollinator garden with perennial sunflowers and asters. This is an area that offered protection for broody hens with chicks and was a source of aggravation to my neighbors. And there was a trampoline out there, too. Another "duck & cover" for the broody and chicks. This garden/poultry run was in a fenced area, so the birds were not "at large".

Cynda I think it's nice.  Makes you wonder about people who object to flowers.

I bought of neighbor his old bathtub to use it as big pot to plant some plants on a 13th floor terrace.  Also I removed the bathtub from my bathroom to use it as a big pot.

Phil Swindler wrote:

T Simpson wrote:This one time my family got locked out of the house so we had to shim open a window and crawl through single file into the house. We have had a broken front door for a few weeks now but someone has always been home to open it from the inside...the back porch door broke today so now there is no way in unless somebody is home to open the doors from inside. Might have to go back to crawling through windows. XD

Couldn't one person have gone through the window then opened the door?

Yes but that's no fun.

My neighbors do lots of things that make me feel like they're crazy....don't tell them I said that!

We live in a Victorian neighborhood if a small northeast USA city. Lots of painted ladies here, with tidy yards and lots of flowers.  People who garden keep it in the back. When I discovered permaculture about three years ago, right after we moved in, I immediately started trenching up the front yard to collect water from the roof of the porch and move it around the front yard. The front is the only place with any sun, so what else could I do?

At the beginning of the pandemic last March, we decided to expand the number of beds. We pulled up the grass and bordered the new rectangular beds in rocks. Quite a large number of folks of came by and asked about the row of what look like graves we were putting in. We call it our “Covidctory garden.”

By early summer when things were looking really good, the comments continued, but the tone changed. A lot of people have said that yeah, we really all should be growing food in our front yards!

We also have a huge wood chip pile in the front that gets refreshed whenever I hear the sound of a tree crew within a few blocks. We have managed to turn “King of the Hill” into “Monarch of the Mulch.”

We have 5 year old twins, always have neighborhood kids and adults over to play. The kids run through the paths like a maze, catching fireflies, looking for worms, whatever, while the adults drink G&Ts on the porch. Our immediate neighbors, in their 60s,  practically permies themselves, think living next door is really a lot of fun.

Well.....the neighbours thought I was crazy from day one!  The day I bought the place lock stock and barrel was in November of ‘99.  I came upon a bulldozer in Ottawa that was redoing the gardens at the airport. All the tulip bulbs that had been planted a month earlier were scattered all over the ground and the bulldozer was getting ready to drive over them. When I ran outside of of the terminal building in the pouring rain(of course) and jumped in front of the bulldozer. Of course the guy thought I was nuts. Started screaming at me. I said I had to rescue those bulbs. Go for another smoke break please. He did and I picked and picked through the mud and dragged 4 big bags of tulip bulbs to my car.  Planted them at my new house in the country. People thought I was nuts I hadn’t even moved in yet and I had planted hundreds of bulbs!  Every year I hear of people dumping plants and flowers in woods or dump sites. I happen upon it and it finds a new home.
This way I have planted hundreds of tulips and daffodils every year. The only thing that costs is my time and effort in planting. At all the tree give aways in the spring some times there are left overs. So I always put my name on a list and I end up with many trees to plant. One year I had 500 trees of maybe 6 varieties I had them planted in 3 days. On my parents farm and at my place. Even had enough to pass on to people who were looking for trees.

From reading all the posts I’m not the only crazy lady that goes into town to pick up leaves for the compost. I get a trailer and stuff that so full that I have to use tie downs to keep it all in.  The car is stuffed as well so full I can barely get in.  I used to follow the hydro trucks around to get wood chips. Now we have a tree lopper friend who brings his truck here to dump wood chips weekly!  Lucky me!  

I garden in the dark with a headlamp. I love to work outside in the rain (comes from my Dutch roots). Especially when it’s raining at night I go out with my headlamp and go to the road. Bring a bucket with a lid ( works best in spring) pick up all the frogs I can find since they would be sure roadkill. Even when I’m driving at night in spring same scenario I bring a bucket and jump out when my headlights pick out some frogs or toads that need saving!  
A car stopped once as I was doing this and of course it so happened it was a neighbour of mine. They said, “oh it’s you”  and drove away.

I pick up roadkill. Not to eat except if I saw it being killed, (The odd turkey, or grouse, a deer once long ago) but I can’t bear the sight of a cat or a coon or anything being hit over and over again. Yes I know the vultures eat everything. There are too many farmers dumping their cows in the woods the vultures have plenty to eat here. So I go back home when I’ve found another victim, grab gloves and a shovel and a feed bag or 3.  Pick up the animal and bring it home and bury it in my vegetable garden for my selkie tomato plants. Which require a dead offering. Yes when my neighbours see me doing this I’m sure they just roll their eyes!  There’s the nutter at it again!  Well I have an image to keep up.

I do have a skull collection from when something gets dug up from the garden, that goes on my chicken coop wall on the outside. We also have many highland skulls around, that brings to mind another story......
Last summer my nephew brought some friends over to camp in my woods. 26 year olds going on 15 I would say. One of them was working in a hospital in the city and stressed to the max with the virus mess.  So they played dungeons and dragons and then dared each other to go out into the woods flashlights turned off. Well wouldn’t you know it, i forgot to tell them about the cow skulls hanging in the trees to get cleaned by the crows.  I can just imagine. I did hear the screams at about 0100.

Yes and I’ve been known to scythe early in the morning my lawn and fields. The neighbours drive by real slow. What is she up to now?

Just to add to my previous frog story. Why was I saving frogs from the roads. Well to bring them to the safety of my pond of course!  There is nothing worse than driving over all those mutilated little bodies the next day. I have always loved frogs and toads.

This is not me. But......

Taking out the sods from the top soil and putting them upside down around the edge then putting the desodded dirt over top.

How wonderful that you do all of this planting. What a lot of digging! Your neighbors should be bringing you cookies and cake.

I am rethinking the pig farm thing. Pigs are very good at preparing ground for planting. I should let them do a small plot at a time and then plant all the free bulbs I can acquire.

Oh well i guess maybe I really am crazy.  My family thinks so. Another thing I do is collect rainwater in large quantities for the garden and for myself. I shower from late spring to late fall outside. Bucket showers.  We now have a proper downspout so can collect rainwater in those 1000 litre tanks. We have 10 of them. There is an elderly man who sell them in the next village for 130cad. Which I find very expensive. So I found them in the city at a candy factory for 35. The only catch was they were still about 1/4 filled with chocolate or caramel. We tasted it it was sickly sweet. John has spent hours cleaning chocolate from these things. At least 5 wheelbarrows full from 2 tanks.

Mary-Ellen Zands wrote:The only catch was they were still about 1/4 filled with chocolate or caramel. We tasted it it was sickly sweet. John has spent hours cleaning chocolate from these things. At least 5 wheelbarrows full from 2 tanks.

Feed the microbes! :)

roberta mccanse wrote:How wonderful that you do all of this planting. What a lot of digging! Your neighbors should be bringing you cookies and cake.

I am rethinking the pig farm thing. Pigs are very good at preparing ground for planting. I should let them do a small plot at a time and then plant all the free bulbs I can acquire.

We had pigs, Tamworth. Yes they are great at turning soil.  Your fences need to be good. Really good. We’ve chased pigs/cows/donkeys& geese all over the neighbourhood , when we first got our animals. They just went straight through the fencing we had made. Now we’ve learned that you alway always put your new animals in a shed or a confined place till you both get to know each other and when you feel that they will come to you for treats and cuddles then you can release into your larger spaces.

Lauren Ritz wrote:[quote

Feed the microbes! :)
Yes we dumped it in the woods and I thinks it’s still there. No animals have been at it.

I put 100 yards of compost ontop of my 3 story house for a roof top garden and installed a 3 foot fence to keep the deer out.

Neighbor wanted to buy a rabbit from me, so I offered them One that I had just butchered, They declined. Seemed to not have an issue with me bucthing 40+ chickens a few days before and me giving them a whole chicken.

My neighbours gave up on me when I started pumping biogas digester effluent on my olive trees. But even my fosterson who lives with me appears to have his own opinion of my sanity. I was speed dryiing some tobacco (not very permie I know but I wanted to fill my pipe) the other day and it caught fire. I said "O, don't mind the smell, I accidentally set fire to the microwave." He started laughing. "Nothing you do will surprise me" he said.

Yesterday I was outside and heard someone yelling. Looked around, couldn't see anyone. Walked to the side yard (in view of the street) and a couple kids were in a car at the corner. One yells out the window, "Why do you have milk jugs in your yard?" and then they take off, laughing.

People are strange.

I don't actually have neighbors but..
I have been going by a friends business and picking up mulch. He does landscaping for the extremely rich and saves all the leaves and whatnot for me.
When I went there yesterday I picked up 9 giant bags of oak pollen, yes, pure oak pollen. his employees think I'm a nut.
In the fall he has them use a shop-vac and pick up the really good acorns for me.  The white-oak types with the large caps. They have the least tannins and make very good flower, especially for sweets like cake and stuff.

What did you do to make your neighbors think you are crazy?

I'm a multiple sinner :-) Installed tanks and solar - now what did I do that for - You're connected to utilties aren't you they asked?

Installed a verge herb garden and street library. Hey what did you do that for, aren't you worried they'll be stolen? Nope they're to share says I, weird, they say.

Teach the kids in our cul-de-sac how to plant seeds, they love checking on their veggies, some parents were heard to say "better her than us", but they now encourage them to come.

Started a street collection for old towels, sheets and pillow cases, "now what's she up to? they asked. Sending these to the fire and flood hit areas to the Vets so they have them for the animals.

Share surplus fruit and veggies, delivered by trolley or bicycle. Some were suspicious at first but now I get big thank you for this, especially since Covid lockdowns caused our food distribution chains to be unable to deliver food and essentials - it got some of their grey cells working differently and many now have started their own gardens, it's wonderful.

Results are in:

so far, kids are using their bikes to help deliver and love to visit the neighbours to be seen helping out.

4 more houses have installed solar, neighbours walked down the street and asked what the advantages and savings were like - was happy to show them.

Some kids now have their own veggies they have grown to take home. They don't even realise how much they are learning they are just having fun. They even get involved with making meals at home as we discuss what their veggies can be used for. We have occasional street picnics where we close off our cul-de-sac and everyone contributes, keeping social distancing of course and discuss many of the "weird stuff" plants I grow that they get to try out. I have bush tucker as well as organic heirloom veggies and fruits, many not known to them as they never reach the shops so now everyone is eager to try the "new weird stuff".

Many have started clearing their cupboards for donations of stuff to send in the Vet packages for the animals, the kids are amazing, and way more conscious of the importance of helping do this, you can see the pride in them when I show them photos of the animals in their pouches and nests they've collected for. 2 of our seniors knit nests for the vet's recovering birds, another lady does the lining so little claws don't get caught.

Socially, and morale-wise we have far more connected and happy families, kids and seniors here and have pride in making our small patch of the world a better place. Some have even checked out permies.com! I love people care :-)

Ain't permaculture grand!!!

I leave a wide strip of my front yard in a semi-wild state and haul tree limbs and leaves into that area.  I stopped burning yard debris years ago and other folks don't see it as the resource that I do.  That strip is sand that dries into sun-baked desert so I also dug a swale that receives rainwater from the driveway, which got a "speed bump" to redirect the flow. The wild lettuce is spreading in the backyard and I'm encouraging it. The deer love it more than my fruit trees, it seems.

Judith Browning wrote:
edit...to add a bit of perspective, one of our first interactions with a neighbor across the street was to refuse his offer to mow for us.  He had mowed this for years and couldn't understand why we wouldn't let him...he was hurt for quite awhile and still brings it up occasionally.  His mower of choice is a very loud riding mower with the blades set on the ground...with an attitude that that green stuff is the enemy.  

The first time I mowed out front with the scythe a few days later another neighbor came and mowed for us while we were gone and very very short.  Apparently he thought we were poor and something was wrong with the husband that the wife was out there at dawn with such a tool.  

Oh, My Word.
You must know our neighbors, then?

One of our neighbors has started mowing our yard, one pass right along his fence, on our side. He's a nice guy, and I really don't want to confront anyone, even if they did "help" by mowing over some plastic and glass garbage that somehow escaped their trashcan.
That one of the young people just weedeater-ed all the bulbs that I had planted in a small rose garden does get me a little riled, but still ...

Yeah. It's been awhile since our entire yard was mowed to modern standards. I'm hoping Darling Adorable is able to wait until the dewberries are done for the year before he tries to tackle the front. It's good graze for the geese and the chickens adore the lawn clippings when he cuts the pathways, driveway, and some of the front. The rest we pretty much let do, aside from a few specific plants, mostly trees and shrubs.

Yes, I do have people "help", usually after a rain while I'm waiting for the ground to dry because the idea of compaction of soil just isn't something they trouble about. (grumble)
I stop or limit what I can, and just put up with the rest. They mean well, and we may eventually fence the front, so no sense in antagonizing them.

I put a post in a thread I started last year about Excess maple seeds this year? when I pretty much went under due to an amazing amount of maple seeds, most of which sprouted, and I'm still pulling baby trees.

This year I got weird. :D And I'm informed I really need to put that post here too, so I'm copying it over::

Alright. After last year's serious PITA with maple seeds, this year I got stubborn. I bought huge bolts of cheap tulle in white, turquoise, and purple, and they'll mostly be used to cover against bugs, but for now, I ran it over the entire garden beds. All three gardens here at the rental....
So for your entertainment....

The sunroot bed

Main garden bed, visible from the kitchen window

Main garden bed, over farther

Front yard bed

Out out damn maple seeds!!! I really pulled WAY too many baby maple trees last year, and raked too many, and tried to compost too many....
Memo: Garden beds under maple trees is not a good idea :D

If anyone else wants cheap tulle, I got it off ebay: Gifts International Inc  a bolt of 108 inches wide by 50 yards long is $28.00. I am hoping it'll stop squash beetles and cabbage moths.

And, incidentally, the T posts all over in the main garden bed will be holding cattle panel arches up! Small rebar posts are support for peas, then tomatoes.

And the neighbors... well... One told me the back beds in white look like huge tent caterpillars got it. The front yard purple stuff is mostly making the ones who have paid attention to my usual weirdness laugh, the ones who I don't know are studiously ignoring me when they drive by.

Personally, I call that a win, lets me know who is not going to be worth chatting with :)

Howdy!

I am lucky enough to live on an acre in the Texas countryside. Darling Adorable and I have been together for a rather long time, and we work together and share most opinions pretty well. While he did his tour in the USN and I tagged along behind, we were both unable to finish our BSes in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, different foci. Having both have had 4 years of land use management and identification/conservation of resources, it isn't something you forget.

Since we're both of a more "critters do what critters do", and "Monoculture is BAD" types, we seeded our lawn with a local mix of bird seed, just to get something growing, planted two mulberry trees to go with the live oaks, and let the land do it's thing.
So - first thing that makes us strange? Not mowing everything.
I seeded some mixed clover and buffalo grass about 10 years ago and we've been letting the yard do what it wants. When he mows, he'll avoid obvious flower stands.
Anything green is duly called "lawn" and mowed. Just the pathways and the driveway, really. Keeps enough in grass that the geese have graze, and the neighbors can pretend we might start trying to keep up with them. Ha.
Right now we're starting to get some "trash trees" which are following the dewberry bramble that makes up a huge percentage of the lawn. I'm hoping to borrow or rent a shredder/brush mower after the dewberry harvest and cut it all back for a better harvest next year. I guess we'll have to discuss if/what kind of hedge/barrier shrub or trees we want in the side yards.
The neighbors do "help" by mowing some parts of the yard. I would probably better accept it if they would raise the cutting deck to at least 3 inches, but I prefer having an open field of conversation to anything confrontational, so we'll just live with what we have for now.
Good people being helpful are really hard to chase away. I think I'll invite them for berry picking. Maybe that will help?

The second thing we did/are doing that makes the neighbors wonder about our mental health is we started training in martial arts. Originally sent to find a school where I could study Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, or something else non-stressful and good for me, I did a little malicious compliance and found a very nice and good master of a school that was within our driving range. He originally taught his style of Ishin Ryu and Tang Su Do, but joined a network of martial artists about three years ago and has been switching to a more MMA style - clearly defining the differences between styles, just to make sure everyone knows. Very good man, and a good instructor, we started training about 7 years ago and have both earned our black belts (being an older adult and dealing with Life Issues makes it take longer, but still ...)as of December of last year. Over the years of our training, we have been caught by neighbors in uniform, heading to class or an official ceremony, trying to hit each other with sticks in the front yard (escrima training), and walking through drills.
Adults going to karate class is okay, apparently, if you're a young person and/or have been in training for a long time. Older and more ...sedentary ... people are not often thought of as doing such a thing. There were questions and most people seem to think it's just a fad.

While trying to hit your spouse with a large stick is generally frowned upon. It's become a thing where, once they had seen it the first few times, and seen us in uniform more than twice, just got accepted as normal. I guess. No one ever called the police or tried to stop us from practicing.
Karate has been excellent for our marriage as well. Being able to go to class and be very active and/or spar with other students is great stress relief and gives us other things to talk about.
Because I was testing for my black belt during the quarantine (rolling eyes and deep sighs), a year after Darling Adorable had tested, I was able to use his experiences to practice what the tests were going to be like, and condition to the best of my ability. I did manage to take my test while wearing a mask (It was to appease my teams of doctors because, being a medical wonder does come with a price. More rolling eyes.), the equivalent, as far as I can tell, of "doing all the same steps backward and in high heels". Or so I'll tell anyone who asks. ;)

And the neighbors... well... One told me the back beds in white look like huge tent caterpillars got it. The front yard purple stuff is mostly making the ones who have paid attention to my usual weirdness laugh, the ones who I don't know are studiously ignoring me when they drive by.

Personally, I call that a win, lets me know who is not going to be worth chatting with :)


I love your set up; and  your ongoing battle with the maple seedlings looks like the odds may be in your favor this year! I love the  idea of using the netting for the purpose of  capturing the  falling seeds. Your garden bed set ups look awesome!

And than you for the link for the netting! I was wondering what I was going to use as plant covers...I ordered 3 of them in white!

First, it seems relevant that the moment I was sure I was in love with my husband (D) was when I arrived at his friend's christmas tree farm, and saw him coming out of the forest in his flannel and dirty jeans, with a chainsaw casually draped over his shoulder and dragging a christmas tree with the other hand. He was filling a trailer full of unsaleable trees to take to his goats, and I was so impressed. "HE'S SO SEXYYY", I told my sister; she was non-plussed and actually quite annoyed with it all...but I digress...

Our best neighbor story involved a dog who D (still single at this point) found chasing his goats around in the middle of the night. Since D is a dog-lover, he decided to just scare him some and chased him around the pasture for a bit with his truck. The dog finally found an exit and disappeared. The next day, D happened to be talking to his neighbor and the neighbor casually mentioned that something seemed to be up with his dog. "He came back home lastnight, ran into my bedroom, hid under the bed, and won't come out! It's been 14 hours and he still won't move! We have no clue what happened to him..." In his typical, too-honest fashion, D explained what happened, and said apologetically, "he was chasing my goats, I didn't know what else to do!" The neighbor laughed and said, "that dog wouldn't hurt a flea--he loves goats and just wanted to play with them!" They had a good laugh and the dog never came back to play.
A few months later, I started dating D and was headed out to his place to bake some pies for a party he was having. On my way in, I drove by this same neighbor's place and his dogs were playing out front. I slowed down, but goat-lover dog got in my blind spot and I ended up running over him. I had no clue until I heard the neighbor's son scream and saw the scene in my rearview. I got out to apologize, but the neighbor yelled some choice words and told me to leave. I did and arrived in tears to the party, causing more than one female partygoer to assume that I was having a dramatic jealousy attack. I explained the accident to everyone, and D soothed me and told me to go ahead and bake the pies. As soon as the pies were ready, he ran one over to the neighbor and offered his apologies. He was received a bit coldly then, but several days later we ran into the neighbor while out hiking and he said, "I don't want to remind everyone of a bad moment...but that was the best pie I've ever eaten!! And you know, I didn't like that dog anyway. Damn dog was always causin' trouble, teachin' bad habits to the others...and dangit if that wasn't the best pie I've ever eaten!" And we were friends after that.

So far as other things that have caused the neighbors to think we're nuts:
--letting alllll the animals run around together, creating a lovely mix of feathers and manure that our guests tiptoe around in with an expression of horror
--our countertops and cabinets are lined with jars filled with all manner of bubbling pickles and potions, as well as all sorts of weeds in various stages of dehydration
--I wave to friends and neighbors as I clip nettle and unearth dandelions from the side of the (only) road in our tiny village, nearly causing wrecks as they wonder what the gringa is doing with those weeds
--D's latest honey-do project is digging deep trenches everywhere with his tractor. I'm pretty sure the neighbors think we're preparing for mass burials
--picking up grass cuttings and branches from the side of the road. People drive by and think we're scavenging firewood because we're poor, or maybe just flat-out looney.
--I had a custom-made rack/cage made for the back of my truck, and everybody asks me what I haul in it; I tell them, "oh, everything! Goats, geese, children..." They laugh but there is a strange doubt that lingers in their gaze.

--D's latest honey-do project is digging deep trenches everywhere with his tractor. I'm pretty sure the neighbors think we're preparing for mass burials


OMG..I lost it right here...got a good belly laugh out of this!

LOL glad you got a laugh out of us, Kim! We like to keep the neighbors on their toes hehehe

Not sure this counts as the neighbors thinking I'm crazy, at least not all of them....
I bought a 1946 Dearborn Cultivator for my tractor when I first got it.

1946 Dearborn cultivator

I was making a planting bed with it out at my property and a neighbor stopped, guy I had never met, in his 70's or 80's. He said "My grandpa had one of those after the war! I haven't seen one in years!!"
They didn't quit making them because they were not good at what they did, but because the newer items did more than just one thing. Still works great :) I used it last year to tear up the front yard of this rental into a garden. The neighbors at the rental were way more puzzled that I was ripping up the lawn than caring what tool I was doing it with.

Mary-Ellen Zands wrote:Oh well i guess maybe I really am crazy.  My family thinks so. Another thing I do is collect rainwater in large quantities for the garden and for myself. I shower from late spring to late fall outside. Bucket showers.  We now have a proper downspout so can collect rainwater in those 1000 litre tanks. We have 10 of them. There is an elderly man who sell them in the next village for 130cad. Which I find very expensive. So I found them in the city at a candy factory for 35. The only catch was they were still about 1/4 filled with chocolate or caramel. We tasted it it was sickly sweet. John has spent hours cleaning chocolate from these things. At least 5 wheelbarrows full from 2 tanks.

I'll take the chocolate!

I have two IBC totes. My first one came with about 18-20 gallons of fresh olive oil. Date was on the container. The second was empty. We are still using the last of the olive oil. We have a lot to neighbors and friends as well. My two IBC totes were free. Triple win! Had I not lucked into them, I'd have jumped at the $35. That door is now closed for me though.