When we first began this journey, we went into it wholeheartedly and completely naive. We learned, we cried, we laughed. A homesteading/farmsteading lifestyle makes life amplified. The good is really amazing, healing, and life-giving; babies being born, fresh food from the garden, baby goats prancing sideways, a lamb’s comical yell, gathering fresh eggs from the coop, watching the sun set, waving at friendly neighbors, gathering wood to bring inside before an approaching storm, hanging clothes on the line while watching wildlife.
Crop losses, predators, freak accidents, money worries; there are a lot of things to worry about while being a homesteader. The neighbor’s wolf/husky got into my coop last night and killed my favorite chicken, Bubba. I was mad at myself for not closing the coop sooner. I was mad that I purposely chose this lifestyle! Where there is life- and farms are teeming with life- there is death. And it is much more in your face than apartment living. When we lived in an apartment, on our way to our next homestead, we had plenty of stresses and things to worry about then too. So, it really is a matter of how you want to live. This lifestyle gets ingrained in you, so that you have no other choice but to live like this. And we do love it.
Being a homesteader and farmer comes with a great sense of accomplishment. I tend to point out everything on a guest’s plate that I grew or handmade. I love the methodical motions of traditional domestic work. We appreciate the intense rush of love that comes over us when we see a baby being born. We appreciate seeing the horizon and knowing how to judge the weather by watching nature. Homesteading and farming is all about family, and living life to the fullest. If life is short, then I want to spend time bottle feeding precious infant goats, and being followed around by lambs and chickens. I want to laugh at duck antics while sipping homemade wine. I want to watch the fire swell up as it fills the wood stove. I love tying off the final piece of yarn to finish a project or snipping the last thread on a dress I have made.
If you are considering adopting this lifestyle- Do It! You won’t regret it. It costs some to get started but it pays itself back quickly. We save money, eat well, live healthier, have a happier marriage, a closer family, and a sense that we are really living. Start somewhere. Get chickens, or cheese making equipment, or get out yarn to make holiday presents. This is a very good life.
Farmgirl School 
–pointing out everything you grew or made! I do that, too, sometimes without thinking. Can’t help it.
It’s fun!
I do this with produce especially or maybe sometimes a whole meal has come from the garden 😊. And the Sunday dinner post. Only last week we were saying how every Sunday we used to pack up the children and either go to my mums or nicks mums for Sunday lunch! Our children do come but it’s only about once a month ☹️. Also we have to do it in the evening for them which isn’t always good for us, early starts mean early to bed! We all lead lives that are too busy! Last Sunday we plated two roast chicken dinners (Tom wasn’t at home 😂) and drove them to Charlie’s house for them to have when they had finished working on the house!
One of these days, Julie, (sooner than later) Doug and I are coming to England for Sunday lunch! What a fun surprise for Charlie to have supper ready! Yum! Hugs to you and Nick.
Do it!!! Next year! Get those passports and just come! Actually I nearly got to you this year a friend has a house in Florida and wanted a companion traveler I said I would if I could disappear to Colorado for a few days to visit a friend! Sadly she decided to just sell her house ☹️😢