Well I had plans on doing things outside, but it's raining, so I'll do a bit online then read till I go to bed.
I've discovered recently that I just can't seem to read enough. I've purchased so many books on so many subjects that I'm having a hard time keeping up. Homesteading, self reliance, self sufficiency, herbal medicine, natural healing, livestock, chickens, small scale farming, paganism, candle making, bread making, organic gardening....the list goes on and on. Most evenings now are spent with a good book, which has taken the television time down to maybe 4 hours a week. ( not counting movie nights when my friend bill visits) I honestly can't remember the last time I read anything fiction.
I just thrive on learning now. I want to know it ALL. Every single book I have read has given me as least one idea, one path to follow, one thing to do, a recipe,or something to discuss with Lisa. Our library grows every week, as does our list of magazine subscriptions. We get Mother Earth News, Grit, Backyard Poultry, Backwoods Home,and Countryside. We keep every issue of every magazine, all put away for future reference. That's the joy of getting magazines like that, they're educational. They don't discuss the latest celebrity gossip, the latest tv show or movie, the newest sports figures, they discuss and somewhat teach a better way of life.
We've chosen this way of life for many reasons, which I've said much about in previous posts. It's all coming easily for us, kinda like the "meant to be" saying. It just seems natural. It just seems right to get up at 5am and feed chickens and rabbits before I go to work, I actually enjoy it. It feels right to light the house with oil lamps and candles, and it may sound strange coming from a guy, but it has a nice charm to it over the dead glow of a light bulb....it must be the almost hypnotizing flicker of a burning wick. We're both happy on taking this journey together, we're proud of our accomplishments, and look forward to each new task and challenge. We have a list started of ideas and tasks for the rest of this year, as well as things to start in the spring. For example, we're looking for a good used wringer washer and tubs...call us crazy, but it's something we've been talking about all summer. In the spring we're also getting more chickens, maybe another layer or 2, but mainly meat birds. We have many garden plans, which is too much to list now, so I'll save that for a later post. We just want to do MORE.
The only thing that's hard about the way we are living is the lack of support we get. 99% of the people we know and talk to think we're insane. They think it's insane to want a wringer washer, we think it's insane they buy an $1100 television...to each his own I guess. We get so many comments that some we just brush off anymore, the best of course being "are you turning amish?"...that one just makes me laugh. We're called hillbillies, survivalists, green freaks, modern hippies, amish wannabe's...we've heard it all from those who simply don't understand or see our views. If you don't get it, then you don't get it, plain and simple. We aren't forcing anyone to live with us the way we do, we just want people to understand our choices and support us as much as they can.
I've discovered recently that I just can't seem to read enough. I've purchased so many books on so many subjects that I'm having a hard time keeping up. Homesteading, self reliance, self sufficiency, herbal medicine, natural healing, livestock, chickens, small scale farming, paganism, candle making, bread making, organic gardening....the list goes on and on. Most evenings now are spent with a good book, which has taken the television time down to maybe 4 hours a week. ( not counting movie nights when my friend bill visits) I honestly can't remember the last time I read anything fiction.
I just thrive on learning now. I want to know it ALL. Every single book I have read has given me as least one idea, one path to follow, one thing to do, a recipe,or something to discuss with Lisa. Our library grows every week, as does our list of magazine subscriptions. We get Mother Earth News, Grit, Backyard Poultry, Backwoods Home,and Countryside. We keep every issue of every magazine, all put away for future reference. That's the joy of getting magazines like that, they're educational. They don't discuss the latest celebrity gossip, the latest tv show or movie, the newest sports figures, they discuss and somewhat teach a better way of life.
We've chosen this way of life for many reasons, which I've said much about in previous posts. It's all coming easily for us, kinda like the "meant to be" saying. It just seems natural. It just seems right to get up at 5am and feed chickens and rabbits before I go to work, I actually enjoy it. It feels right to light the house with oil lamps and candles, and it may sound strange coming from a guy, but it has a nice charm to it over the dead glow of a light bulb....it must be the almost hypnotizing flicker of a burning wick. We're both happy on taking this journey together, we're proud of our accomplishments, and look forward to each new task and challenge. We have a list started of ideas and tasks for the rest of this year, as well as things to start in the spring. For example, we're looking for a good used wringer washer and tubs...call us crazy, but it's something we've been talking about all summer. In the spring we're also getting more chickens, maybe another layer or 2, but mainly meat birds. We have many garden plans, which is too much to list now, so I'll save that for a later post. We just want to do MORE.
The only thing that's hard about the way we are living is the lack of support we get. 99% of the people we know and talk to think we're insane. They think it's insane to want a wringer washer, we think it's insane they buy an $1100 television...to each his own I guess. We get so many comments that some we just brush off anymore, the best of course being "are you turning amish?"...that one just makes me laugh. We're called hillbillies, survivalists, green freaks, modern hippies, amish wannabe's...we've heard it all from those who simply don't understand or see our views. If you don't get it, then you don't get it, plain and simple. We aren't forcing anyone to live with us the way we do, we just want people to understand our choices and support us as much as they can.
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