Every time I think of 1001, the classic Arabic fable of 1001 Nights comes to mind. And when I think about all the posts I have written for this blog, and mostly at night, I never imagined in a thousand years that I would still be writing them.
Ah, the first post. All about my fear of someone burning down Mobies in our park! What a great positive way to start a blog that is now over 3 years old! Haha..
Now technically, I had another blog started about Mobile Home Rehab and such, and if you were with me from the beginning, you know about that. But probably most don’t.
That was back when I was afraid to use WordPress and just used Dreamweaver to make a sort of FAKE blog, where I would post my writings as pages in the website. That was back in June of 2008. Hard to believe.
This is the First Post I made…. All About Waiting for ole 83…
And here we are, 3 years later… in our dream country homestead. I can’t hardly believe it. 1001 posts later.
And what I can’t believe is how many people read and follow this blog every day!!! Haha… I still don’t get that, but I like it. I mean, I just can’t believe I’m that interesting that folks will “tune” in daily and see what this goofy hippy mom and her two daughters are doing now. I still have a little trouble with that. I guess because sometimes I feel so out in left field that no one “gets” what I do or who I am, how I think and what really means the most to me.
But then, I read a lot of other blogs with very like minded writers and I do get it… apparently there are a lot of people out there like ME… and you are all on various walks of your journey in life.
Perhaps you just dream of trying to make soap or moving to the country, or dream of your own flock of hens or working from home. I hope that I inspire you that yes, it’s possible.
Perhaps you are already started on that journey and miles down the road, with your own little mini farm in the city or an urban homestead, with veggies and herbs. I hope I encourage you as you keep walking and learning! Learning new things as I do.
Perhaps you are already there, with a homestead and a lifestyle that suits you to a T… you are complete with everything you want. I hope that I amuse you in my learning curve and that you want to cheer us on when times are tough!
Wherever you are on this life’s journey, I really do appreciate that you take the time here and there to walk along with us, leave little comments and just smile at some of our pictures and antics. I hope that in some small way, we are giving you a little bit of what you need to make it a fun and enjoyable journey!
I have to admit, I woke up this morning feeling as stubborn as any old mule. Still feeling a little stiff from working too hard last week. Wanting things to be further along and closer to my mind’s eye for our little homestead. Forgetting that it’s only been 47 days since we moved in. 47 days. It’s hardly even enough time to measure any other way! Just barely a month and a half. Not even a whole season!
Looking back at the blog it comes back to me that it took us almost a year to get one little skinny single wide mobile home in decent shape! And I’m lamenting 47 days on a 3 acres farm with 8 buildings and 72,000 pounds of grass and weeds?
Why do we do this to ourselves? I have really been searching my heart and soul today and the last couple days and thinking about contentment and goals and such, and I don’t think I’ve come to any real good solutions other than the human spirit can be hard to keep content at times. We are just hardwired to keep striving for more and better and finished and perfect and all that. It’s crazy. I think we forget to smell the roses as that old cliche likes to remind us. The roses of contentment…
I think that it is rooted in the fleeting feeling that we are not here long on this earth and that our trips around the sun are numbered. I was thinking about a friend of a friend that passed away not too long ago… 48 years old. I’ll be 48 in the fall. Wow. I don’t expect to be called home anytime soon, but there are days when my legs ache and my hands hurt and I think, I’m not the same as I was 5 years ago, or 10 years ago. I thank the Lord that I have two loving and eager daughters to help me when those days come along. They encourage and cheer me, they inspire me to help them to build a home they will cherish for the rest of their lives.
It’s really easy to look around Windhaven and see the need for new screen doors, and this needs to be painted or weeded, or think, the pastures need animals and the garden is only half planted, and we need drywall in the living room and the list goes on.
Yet, I have to remind myself. We own this. Totally. No bank, no mortgage, nothing. And we only paid $12 grand for it. All the land and the buildings, everything. Cars cost more. So it’s folly to think that in just 47 days we can have it all done up purdy and just like some $100,000 home that has been cared for and loved all this time. Windhaven had a family that loved it, at one time, but the last ten years have been very rough on her. She has a lot of scars and things that need addressing. And it’s going to take us time to get it done. Sure, if we had a zillion dollars we could have the place swarming with workmen and projects and such, but we don’t, we used all our life’s savings to buy the place. So, projects will have to take time, come about slowly and proceed as we can swing them. The house is already very livable and we are slowly rehabing the yard and property. I’m actually pretty surprised at how much we’ve done.
And the blog helps me to calm down that inner voice of panic and rush.
I sat out by the barn, on my little bench as my chickens wandered about my feet. Of course, I had brought them their morning treat… a slice of pound cake and a cup of strawberry tops. They love anything sweet and baked. My gosh, they would kill each other for donuts. They love pound cake. As i sat there, I just could not believe that I had a flock of hens, finally. I’ve just wanted them for so long and now, it feels like I’ve had them for ages. As if all those years of wanting, somehow counted towards “having” them for my own. I love how they come when I call them, and how they will take treats from my hand and let me pet most of them. A couple I can even hold. I just love the little dickens to death. I can not even fathom eating them! Not my first girls. Not my training hens. They will be with us until they are gone. And they will be buried in the pet cemetery. They are special and they are cherished.
Now, tomorrow, we’re going to the livestock auction and flea market in Hillsdale. Maggie hasn’t been and I have my eye set on a little group of pullets or turkey poults. The turkeys have a date with destiny. They won’t have names. Some will grace my table and some will grace my friends. It’s a new step forward into making this place a real little farm. Our first homegrown meat. I’m hoping it pares well with our home grown veggies and herbs. I believe the girls are going to help me to get our cold frames planted with lettuce and spinach and to fill up my barrel beds for herbs and perhaps potatoes… whatever I might get at the market.
Well, again, I have diverged into plans and projects instead of waxing poetically about our life and the meaning of 1001 posts. But I suppose, just like the princess Scheherazade who told her tales to save her life, perhaps this blog is a similar thing… these tales keep us focused and enjoying our life one tale at a time. And if you, gentle reader, find them interesting, then it’s even better!
Do me a little favor. If you have been reading this blog and enjoy it, drop a comment and tell us all about your journey in life… where are you in this wacky world of self sustainability, green practices, homesteading, crafting, music, whatever brings you here… how are you applying these things to your life? What inspires you the most? Do you like the whole romantic notion of ditching it all and moving to the country? Or do you just like a good banjo picking ditty and got caught up in the whole thing. What I really want to learn is about YOU! What are you doing, how do you walk this journey in life… what are your dreams and desires!!! Share with me so I can learn more about you all. That would really inspire me even more!!!
Thanks you all!!!!
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I honestly don’t remember how I first found your blog. I was reading different blogs and sites about self-sufficiency, gardening and the like and your web addy “themobilehomewoman” definitely got my attention and I’ve been reading every since *lol* I’m honestly just starting my journey. I have a blog and little garden…3 kids living at home…going to college and working every day. Your blog has really been an inspiration because you’re real and honest…that’s what keeps my attention. That and the fact that you’re doing positive things and you’re like someone I know from my day-to-day life. I hope you keep your blog going. I really do enjoy peeking in on you and the girls and seeing what you guys are up to
I’m really glad you are living your dream…you guys really deserve it!
I also live in a 12 year old mobile home that I’m rehabbing and remodeling as well
I love it when I see a new post from you in Google reader!! It means I get to “visit” you and the girls at Windhaven nowadays!! I’ve followed you for over a year and your get-it-done even if you’ve never done it before spirit has inspired me more than once to just go for it!! For example, last Fall I made apple butter after reading about a project you tackled!!
It had nothing to do with apple butter….maybe it was the beer…but you didn’t wait for everything to be perfect and you knew every little detail, you just started (so often the hardest part!!!) and learned as you went along!! I share so many of your values and I admire your work ethic and creativity!!
And Windhaven…what a beautiful place to live and what a testimony to your fortitude. persistence and resourcefulness!! And now you bring that all to your farm!! What you will accomplish there is going to be awesome!! Your daughters have obviously inherited your traits as they are all those things, too!!! What a team!!
I’m so thrilled you have your chickens now!! We have two here in the city and that’s all we’ll probably get (too noisy for more!! hehe!!!). So, now I get to join you in how much you enjoy watching them and how fun they are to have around!! We’ll let ours graze in the backyard a few times a week and it’s way better than anything on the TV!!!
I could go on an on…you decluttered, you get great deals and are willing to wait (I need to have that rub off on me!! ;)), you’re artistic in so many ways, you are real….I just can’t thank you enough for being here online sharing your journey in life!! I check in for so many reasons, but in the end I just like you!!
(I don’t mean that in a creepy way!!! LOL!!!) Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
Hi, Sherry–or should I say, Scheherazade,
I don’t remember exactly how long ago I found your blog, but it was not long before you moved out of the Moby and into Windhaven. Congratulations again! You made a sacrifice I’m not sure I would have ever considered (a mobile home), but it has definitely paid off for you and your family.
You have been such an inspiration to me on so many fronts. While I, too, have 2 teen daughters that I homeschool, I cannot imagine doing this alone. And, not only do you parent and homeschool them alone, you also do whatever is necessary to make your home not only habitable, but lovely as well. You do not let limited funds stand in your way; you simply reassess, forego whatever is unnecessary, and wait until you can afford what is necessary.
You pose a question that I am having to face more and more, as I discover more and more bloggers like you. Specifically, what would I really like for my life to look like? Yes, I (we) have to a great extent gone out on a limb and taken some paths very different than what most people choose. And it has been worth every unpopular, controversial, out-of-the-ordinary choice that we’ve made. Yet there are other things that I’d like to see us do. Your journey has definitely made me see that it is possible–with or without a lot of capital.
Hubby and I obviously need to be on the same page as to where we’re headed, so only the future will tell as to where we end up. I do hope it’s a little more “homestead-ish” than what we have now. Thank for for sharing all of your successes and failures. Your journey is such a blessing and inspiration.
We live in a small town in MA, and many in our town live in very large homes with landscaped yards–no gardens, wind chimes, bird feeders, or anything that might look individual or “messy”! No sirree. Uniformity at any cost.
Our house, on the other hand, is a small cape. Our lot is wooded, with a large space cleared for a veggie garden. We go out of our way to feed the birds and fox who come. We get deer, turtles, and owls. Heron fly over. (Many folks in our town freak if they see a racoon or fox in the daytime, thinking it must therefore be rabid.)
I think our little home is the perfect place to raise our young sons. I don’t want to knock how other folks live–if they’re happy with the big house and the unblemished lawn then I’m happy for them. But it does make us seem like the “odd man out” at times. I find very few folks in my area I can really relate to, because I don’t drive an SUV or get my nails done once a week (or ever, haha).
So reading your blog is always a relief!
Hi Sherry,
I’ve been reading your blog ever since I discovered it on the Tiny House Blog website. I’ve been hooked from that day. It’s very inspiring to think three women could pull off what you and your daughters have done…not once, but twice. It inspires me to get my act together, and I’m motivated to pay off my last remaining debt. I love the stories about the animals and their personalities. I also like that the girls’ father is very much involved in your plans.
My plans down the road are to change my career direction into the human services field. Yes, I know I won’t make much money, but I really want to make a difference in the world(corny yes). I’m planning to return to school for the transistion, and to take some art classes because I’ve always wanted to be an artist, even if I never sell anything. About seven years ago, I purchased a small cottage in a coastal community, and I’ve been trying to figure out a way move there permanently with my cat “Sniffles”. Unfortunately, it’s hard to make a living in the area. Right now it’s where I plan to retire someday.
Please continue to post as it helps me to keep moving toward my goal. When I’m feeling defeated. I just check and see what Sherry and the girls are up to, and it gets me back on track.
Please tell all the “babies” I said hi.
I ditched it all and moved to the country!!! That was when I was 49 and DH was 58. My soulmate drug his feet a bit, but we compromised on building a new small cottage versus an old farmhouse like I dreamed of. He got to build himself a BIG SHED three times the size of the small cottage (which I designed). Bliss…
But bliss was shortlived and cancer reared it’s ugly head. I did have a garden and chickens, but life revolved around doctor visits and trying to squeeze 20 years of normal retirement puttering into the expected 5 years my DH would have. I lost him 11 months ago.
A few chickens have died off from natual causes and I have downsized the gardening. As you well know grass grows like crazy and DH mowed a trimmed quite a lot and now I keep up with it but not as neatly. Plans of fencing and a couple of beef steers and maybe a milking goat have all went by the wayside.
I don’t mean to be a downer here. I found your blog because another facination of mine is living in small houses and I think more mobies should be redone, instead of people languishing ( sorry, my opinion) in apartments. DH and my first home was 540 sq. ft. and was made from an old 2-unit motel cottage. We didn’t add on until after the 3rd kid was on the way.
I was sooooo glad you didn’t give up on Windhaven and cautiously wait another year or 2 until another opportunity MIGHT have presented itself. (Never for the same $$$, though!!!)
I love reading about everything you and the girls are doing. Fair warning, I might “skim” future posts about butchering…but that is just ME, being a sap about critters. (Do I know if I could have eaten those beef steers DH wanted to raise?? I expect so, since I could have went away the day they got loaded on a truck and then they would have come back in packages for the family’s freezers.)
Here’s a laugh for an end to my tale: As I sit here with a laptop in my living room (pinewood floors, thankfully) there is a Buff Orpington hen standing on one leg, three feet from my chair. She likes to come in and be sociable and share some converstion and crumbs.
My best wishes to you, always.
Then there’s me..lol..I have written about myself before..so I wont repeat it. But..I’m a little older than you..but my life has been mostly “do it yourself”…as an ex “draftsperson”..I know how to build..and Ive been an artist since I was little..so that’s a plus..learning to sew in high school..another big plus..and living paycheck to paycheck..also a learned experience.
And so..I’m on my 3rd house restoration..and each time..I get giggles..and laughs from passer-buyer with nasty comments..like “shes gonna do WHAT”..later..getting people to stop over..at the amazement of my finished projects..usually being the most..yes THE MOST beautiful home on the block. But..until I prove myself..people laugh and make comments. So..starting another house..and having contractors come fix the things I cant (electrically)..comments like..”who fixed that?” or…”your gonna do WHAT?’ and then have then give each other a look of like..(this ones a crazy lady).
Being a single mom..I learned where are the kewlest places to go for FREE..its not where you go..its what you do. Even on a Saturday night..we might have a picnic on the floor with tablecloth and candles..or letting the kids play dress up..and me making little playhouses out of cardboard.
My girls are grown up now..but this last house is the daughters..so we share time doing and fixin..of COARSE she knows more than me…until disaster strikes. lol..Then I smile..did you know..that you can take FLAT WALL PAINT and paint counter tops and windows???? me either..but..daughter says so..hehe..(disaster).
Im older now..and get tired..but I stay awake nights..thinking about how I’m going to fix thing..I truly am an old hippy from the seventy’s..and I grew up with nothing..not even my own room..or phone..or tv. BUT..so I don’t mind doing without..I get pleasure from small town fairs, civil war memorabilia, auctions,,anywhere there are friendly nice people. I miss my small town of Oak Harbor OH..and in the next couple years..I WILL go back..people say..”why you want to move THERE..there’s nothing going on..it’s boring” <—-exactly…I WANT to be bored..lol.
So ..I sneak in here..to watch your girls grown up unspoiled..you..YOU getting excited about the littlest things..and appreciate life. Your and intelligent, strong, talented woman…and a good mom..and I so enjoy your post..and I also "sneak" a peak on others who have posts on here..it takes me back to my childhood..simple times..love it..
Linda H.
I’m one of those strange people who check in every day (well, I subscribe to your RSS feed). I found myself in a similar situation, although our homestead cost more than $800! I found your blog while searching for tips on fixing up our place.
In hopes of inspiring others, I’ve included the link to my Flickr set that shows how much work I had to do just to clear out the mess the previous owners left. There’s still a lot to do on the inside and outside. They thought just moving as much stuff as they felt like taking and leaving the rest counted as leaving the place move-in ready.
At first I was a little sad to see you’d be leaving the moby, but, it’s clear it was the right thing to do, and I’ve been enjoying the updates on fixing up the farm just as much! Keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing.
Love reading your blog. I have been reading for about 6 months. Love the posts about the chickens and their different personalities. I think I missed the post about Moby, did you sell her? Keep writing and I’ll keep reading!
Hi, I just happened onto your blog from another one (I was reading on homesteading,self sufficiency etc) and the title caught my eye because well, I live in an old mobile home in Florida on an acre of ground. After I started reading I couldn’t stop! You are very interesting…..you have a lot of fortitude, and you do with what you have which is my philosophy also. Although mine and my husband’s kids are grown and we are grand parents we recently bought this mobile home which needs a lot of TLC and we plan to work hard to make it nice. We are planning to get chickens, we garden, can foods and do most everything very frugally. After seeing what you did with the MH and house, I am hopeful we can accomplish it. You have inspired me! Thanks