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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