Kate Michaud

Hi All.

Hope all have had a Happy Solstice, Merry Xmas, and wishing all a Happy New Year.

My homestead is named "Stone Baerm", which translate to "Rock Pile", and it is literally a lot of bedrock.  A friend says my house is built on the "Spine of the Dragon" for the bedrock ridge that runs through the property.  I get residual heat from the bedrock for the house and surrounding gardens.

I have also nicknamed this place "Still Kicking" because I am determined to age in place.  Older, I carry my battle wounds with pride, and of course now work smarter.

K

Thank you all for the interest you've shown on this thread today, it encourages me to forge on.  
Sometimes, I feel I'm very much alone with nothing but my echo for company.

I have attached a couple of pics ref; simple diagram of rain catchment system, and lower pond evolution.

About my "pizza" oven, it is a rocket oven, built using brick and mortar for the base, and clay and sand mix for the dome.  The whole of it was finished with lime plaster that adds to the insulation of the oven.

Cheers!  K

Hi Judi.

I garden on bedrock, thus plenty of soil building.  

The area right in front of my house catches the rain water off the roof, so I thought a bog or rain garden would work.  But we get an awful lot or rain, and the garden would eventually go; mould, mildew, muck, mud, and mosquitoes.  

To remedy that, I dug down to the bedrock (2.5 feet) and put a pond liner in with an overflow.  I now have a mot in front of my house with a walk way over it to the front door.  Frogs love it, and they take care of the mosquito issue.  Alas, I haven't taken the time to take pics of the mot, maybe when the warm weather returns.

I hope to post more recent pics of the pond shown in this thread, to show how it has evolved.

Cheers!  K

Greetings to all on this thread.

Name is Kate, and I've been watching this thread on and off for some time, and have now decided to introduce myself:  Just turned 66 yrs, homesteader for 26 yrs on 32.5 acres with livestock.  Not totally off-grid but close, and have very little reliance on the outside world.

I am fortunate however to have one person, a locale who enjoys the place, loves the quiet and helps out on a regular basis, making the day to day easier, but it doesn't quite fill the hollow for companionship.  

I've had individuals over the years who wanted to learn permaculture, or get back to the land, etc., and more often than not they seemed to be running away from something, a place to hide out as it were.  In the end, those individuals never worked out, and there was always a mess to clean up, things to set right again.

So, I've accepted; this is it, I'm the "recluse" with goats and guardian dogs, living a quiet pastoral life with no drama, no chaos.

K

Hi Sarah.

Has your friend found a place to rent?

K

Nop!

K

The greenhouse build continues on, at a slower pace to be sure, so be it!

K

Hi Woodruff.

Thanks for the inquiry.  

The project still goes; working on the footings/foundation which is probably the most labour intensive part of the build.  
Not much for pics with so much to do.  Visitors sometimes take pics and maybe send them to me, but not often.

Care to take a working holiday and learn to mix and use lime mortar?  Oh, and haul rock, lots and lots of rock.

K

Hi Ryan & Co.

Can you be more specific about your expectations from the Land owner, and what you require day to day as basic needs?

Do you need housing, or do you have, for example, a tiny home.  
Would you live on property, or off, etc.,.  
How far do you want to relocate from your present location?

Cheers!  K

Visitors to a farm or homestead should inquire with the owner about feed rations for the livestock before hand.  I have a sign on my front gate that reads;  

"Working Homestead, behave accordingly",

another sign reads;  

"Caution,
Keep gate closed,
Guardians on duty, free-range livestock,
Authorized entry only"

Why should I need these signs?  

Because I have had many (not all, but many), total strangers show up asking to see the place, some with their children, to then completely run a muck; leaving gates wide open, chasing chickens, taunting goats, wanting to ride my horses, treating working dogs like pets, clambering on garden trellises, stripping the raspberries and rhubarb patch, running through garden beds, and unwittingly causing all sorts of issues as per Livestock/Liability Insurance, etc.,.

Again, it would be wise to inquire ahead of a visit to a farm or homestead to consult with the owner on the "rules" to keep everyone safe and sound, and make sure the rules are adhered to.  As the song goes;  "I'm not here for your entertainment", cause this ain't no petting zoo.

If you want to make a Great Impression, offer to help muck out the barn till the job is completed.  You'll earn big time "brownie points".

Personally, I had a career in the Creative Arts and a Design Studio for many years, hold an MA, and was being groomed for Doctorate Level Studies when a major life event changed everything.  I dumped it all, and moved to the solitude and calm of a Homesteader, to get away from the clamour, the noise, and frankly the BS.  

In recent years and ever more frequently the "Noise" now shows up at my front gate,...so be respectful, be attentive, offer to help out if there is a need (because there is always something that requires extra hands), and all will be well.

K