This thought has been occuring to me over and over. It's amazing how closely my life resembles my grandmother's. There are some major differences too, but even the man I married is very close to my grandfather. This isn't a bad thing, not at all! They were amazing people, the down-to-earth type who would give you the shirt off their back.
She loved my grandfather fiercely, and they clung to each other through good times and bad. I always said that I wanted a marriage like that. My sister said they didn't make them that way any more, but I think I got lucky and found just one more guy like Pops. His life was his wife, and even on his death bed, he sent my aunt to buy Granny flowers on their anniversary. He said he hadn't missed a year, and wasn't going to let a little thing like cancer change that.
My grandparents didn't have or want a lot of money. Their basic needs were covered, with a luxury every now and then. They raised a huge garden (probably 2 to 3 acres at any given time) plus they raised cows, hogs, and chickens. They were professionals at "making do". And she was the only person I knew who could have 6-8 people show up at dinner time, add a few things to the table, and everyone walk away thinking it was the best meal they ever had.
Most of what I learned about relationships, hospitality, patience, and simple living I learned from her. I think I like living Granny's life. ;o)
Showing posts with label simple living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label simple living. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
It's another cold morning. Not cold as in snow on the ground, or beautiful images of winter's wonder, but cold as in my joints ache...Why is it so darned cold? Weird me, one hand is freezing, the other is fine. And I guess it's one more sign that I'm getting old...my feet are always cold. I need multiple climate controls just for my body. ;o)
I should crawl back in bed, but I have so many thoughts racing in my head here lately, I thought that I'd try to make sense of them all.
The first is that I feel so blessed. I would say that it's the New Year or the holidays that brings on these thoughts, but I know that's not right. I lie awake at night sometimes thinking how very lucky I was to find the man sleeping next to me. I'm almost afraid to voice it, afraid it will break the spell and he'll disappear, but every morning I wake and there he is. I think I'll live the feeling for now and worry about tomorrow when it gets here.
He bought me the very best gift this year for Christmas. Sometimes for holidays, I wish that he would just pay attention to what I ask for through out the year instead of asking for a list and then buying only the things on the list. It's kinda like shopping for myself and him wrapping the gifts. I'm not really complaining, I know it could be worse, just expressing a desire. Sometimes I wonder if I expect too much from him, expecting him to know my inner most wants and desires. More the desire that he knows my inner wishes, than the actual physical thing he bought. (Does that make sense?) And then, he goes and does something wonderful!
This year he bought me one of those metal fire ring thingys. You know the kind with grate and looks like a big bowl on legs? It wasn't on the list. With money being the way it has been, I would never have asked for such an expensive gift. I wouldn't want to hurt him by making him think he couldn't provide for me. But, there under the tree was one of my heart's desires. When I opened it, he said "I know it wasn't on your list. But, every time we walk past them, I notice that your eyes stray right to them." Is he not the best, most observant sweetie ever? :o)
I was reading a blog post the other day about happiness and how sometimes TV and glossy magazines can undermine our simple lives and happiness. In a way, I agree, but I also feel that if you're basically happy with your lifestyle, it doesn't matter what temptation you're presented with. I love my little house with the big goofy dog, who has such an adoring look that you can't help but feel worshipped. I love my crazy children who leave creative messes for me to clean up. Other people have asked "You're going to LET them do that?" And my response is "Yes, as a matter of fact I am!"
Perfect example....the 11 year old wanted to have her friend over for New Year's Eve. We had decided to pass on the neighborhood party, and she was feeling a bit left out since the 13 year old was going to the party with some friends of ours. She asked her friend over to spend the night and bring the new year in with a creative bang. She had attended a gingerbread making party a couple of years ago, and thought that would be fun. We (me, my daughter and her friend) stopped at a dollar store on the way back to buy stuff for their party. I told the girls to buy anything that they found interesting for the house. My daughter leaned over to her friend and said "I bet you never heard that before, huh?" I wanted to stop and hug her right there in the store. I have officially earned the cool mom status!
I watch the home improvement show, and I hear about people chasing happiness one dollar at a time. If I were given the chance today to trade my life for all the money in the world, "I'd say nahhh, no thanks. I'm good."
I've just noticed that the big goofy dog snores just like the hubs. I guess that's part of the reason I like him sleeping in my room. It sounds like the hubby is still at home tucked away in bed. Funny, the comforting sounds you get used to hearing. We only let the "outside" dogs in when it's really cold outside. Ok, really cold by Texas standards. ;o) Lucky, the big goofy dog, seems to understand that this is the only time he's allowed in. He won't push past you to sneak in, and on cold days he stands at the door with this look, as if he's asking to be allowed in. He also seems to know that he's only allowed in our room when the hubs is gone, otherwise he's content to sleep in his usual spot, right outside our door. I would let him in all of the time, but the hubs thinks he's too much to walk around in our little house. He is a BIG dog!
Well, I do think that I will head to back to bed now. The kids are going to their adopted grandparents' house to finish Christmas, and I'm off on a creative mission. I need to figure out how to bind the youngest's quilt. Any excuse to go to Joann Fabrics. ;o) I'll post about the quilt and what I've learned about making it later. I also think I'll dig back through some of my old photos I've taken and post some of them also.
I should crawl back in bed, but I have so many thoughts racing in my head here lately, I thought that I'd try to make sense of them all.
The first is that I feel so blessed. I would say that it's the New Year or the holidays that brings on these thoughts, but I know that's not right. I lie awake at night sometimes thinking how very lucky I was to find the man sleeping next to me. I'm almost afraid to voice it, afraid it will break the spell and he'll disappear, but every morning I wake and there he is. I think I'll live the feeling for now and worry about tomorrow when it gets here.
He bought me the very best gift this year for Christmas. Sometimes for holidays, I wish that he would just pay attention to what I ask for through out the year instead of asking for a list and then buying only the things on the list. It's kinda like shopping for myself and him wrapping the gifts. I'm not really complaining, I know it could be worse, just expressing a desire. Sometimes I wonder if I expect too much from him, expecting him to know my inner most wants and desires. More the desire that he knows my inner wishes, than the actual physical thing he bought. (Does that make sense?) And then, he goes and does something wonderful!
This year he bought me one of those metal fire ring thingys. You know the kind with grate and looks like a big bowl on legs? It wasn't on the list. With money being the way it has been, I would never have asked for such an expensive gift. I wouldn't want to hurt him by making him think he couldn't provide for me. But, there under the tree was one of my heart's desires. When I opened it, he said "I know it wasn't on your list. But, every time we walk past them, I notice that your eyes stray right to them." Is he not the best, most observant sweetie ever? :o)
I was reading a blog post the other day about happiness and how sometimes TV and glossy magazines can undermine our simple lives and happiness. In a way, I agree, but I also feel that if you're basically happy with your lifestyle, it doesn't matter what temptation you're presented with. I love my little house with the big goofy dog, who has such an adoring look that you can't help but feel worshipped. I love my crazy children who leave creative messes for me to clean up. Other people have asked "You're going to LET them do that?" And my response is "Yes, as a matter of fact I am!"
Perfect example....the 11 year old wanted to have her friend over for New Year's Eve. We had decided to pass on the neighborhood party, and she was feeling a bit left out since the 13 year old was going to the party with some friends of ours. She asked her friend over to spend the night and bring the new year in with a creative bang. She had attended a gingerbread making party a couple of years ago, and thought that would be fun. We (me, my daughter and her friend) stopped at a dollar store on the way back to buy stuff for their party. I told the girls to buy anything that they found interesting for the house. My daughter leaned over to her friend and said "I bet you never heard that before, huh?" I wanted to stop and hug her right there in the store. I have officially earned the cool mom status!
I watch the home improvement show, and I hear about people chasing happiness one dollar at a time. If I were given the chance today to trade my life for all the money in the world, "I'd say nahhh, no thanks. I'm good."
I've just noticed that the big goofy dog snores just like the hubs. I guess that's part of the reason I like him sleeping in my room. It sounds like the hubby is still at home tucked away in bed. Funny, the comforting sounds you get used to hearing. We only let the "outside" dogs in when it's really cold outside. Ok, really cold by Texas standards. ;o) Lucky, the big goofy dog, seems to understand that this is the only time he's allowed in. He won't push past you to sneak in, and on cold days he stands at the door with this look, as if he's asking to be allowed in. He also seems to know that he's only allowed in our room when the hubs is gone, otherwise he's content to sleep in his usual spot, right outside our door. I would let him in all of the time, but the hubs thinks he's too much to walk around in our little house. He is a BIG dog!
Well, I do think that I will head to back to bed now. The kids are going to their adopted grandparents' house to finish Christmas, and I'm off on a creative mission. I need to figure out how to bind the youngest's quilt. Any excuse to go to Joann Fabrics. ;o) I'll post about the quilt and what I've learned about making it later. I also think I'll dig back through some of my old photos I've taken and post some of them also.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
How We Got Started...part 2
Sorry that things got rushed towards the end of part 1. It was actually close to 11 pm when I crawled in bed, and the hubby was getting rather impatient. ; ) That is one thing that we agreed on when we got married, that we would go to bed at the same time, at least as close as possible.
Anyway, I was talking about the animals... At the time, the house was our major "homesteading" thing we did. We gave up a "big fancy house" to move into the neighborhood "crack house". After we moved it to the 15 acres, we added a hallway and a portable building that my dad bought for $50. The portable building became our bedroom. People still had comments to make about how we lived, but for the most part, we ignored them.
There were times that we both got so frustrated what the amount of things that needed to be done that we almost gave up and went and bought a new house. Luckily for us, I'd get frustrated at different times than he did, so we'd be able to talk the other one out of rushing out and signing our lives away.
New people who met us and came to our house commented on how much love was here and how comfortable they felt in our home. Those were the kind of people that we wanted to be friends with, not the ones thinking that we needed a big, fancy home.
I had never even heard of "homesteading" until we went to visit a Haflinger ranch that was owned by a husband and wife. We stayed for the day, thoroughly enjoying ourselves with these neat people we had just met. Their ranch was run on horse power. The horses were their tractors, they tilled their garden, pulled logs, etc. We had been having a wonderful day, when the wife asked me if I had heard about the Homesteading Movement. Of course, I thought about "homesteading" your house to lower your property taxes. She kinda laughed, then explained what it was about. Hmmm...could it be that we had been homesteading all this time and didn't even know it? I thought we were just living like my grandparents and parents.
We came home, and I did a web search on homesteading. The hubby walked past me, saw what I was looking at and said, "you're not serious, right? I like air conditioning and TV." You see, he's been married to me long enough to know that when I'm interested, I tend to jump in with both feet. I assured him that I wasn't going to take away all of his toys, that I was just looking for ideas to lower our grocery bill, maybe raise a garden, and farm fresh eggs are much better! He gave me a half hearted "ok" but he was still suspicious. The poor dear, he knows me too well for his own good. ; )
Well, after a while, even he was interested in some of the topics I was reading up on. He hates writing that check out to the light company every month, and it seems to get higher and higher, but when we got serious about looking about going off grid...well, lets just say that it's not in the budget. Shoot! I have managed to ease him into a few other things. He loves fresh homemade bread and the fresh veggies from the garden cut our grocery bill quite a bit. We discussed raising animals for meat for the freezer, but neither of us have the stomach for butchering and butcher shops around here charge so much just to butcher the animal, that it's cheaper to buy meat on sale in the store. And he certainly doesn't mind me cleaning the barn out to put in the garden!
So, I say all of this, and I've probably forgotten a few things, because the thing about homesteading is that you can pick and choose the aspects that work for you. You don't have to jump in with both feet, like I would have, at least until the 100+ temps of August. You can pick and choose things that work for you in your current circumstances. The things we have accomplished have been over years, and things that we want to accomplish will take even more years. Our farm has a life of it's own, and sometimes it's just like watching a child grow and develop.
Anyway, I was talking about the animals... At the time, the house was our major "homesteading" thing we did. We gave up a "big fancy house" to move into the neighborhood "crack house". After we moved it to the 15 acres, we added a hallway and a portable building that my dad bought for $50. The portable building became our bedroom. People still had comments to make about how we lived, but for the most part, we ignored them.
There were times that we both got so frustrated what the amount of things that needed to be done that we almost gave up and went and bought a new house. Luckily for us, I'd get frustrated at different times than he did, so we'd be able to talk the other one out of rushing out and signing our lives away.
New people who met us and came to our house commented on how much love was here and how comfortable they felt in our home. Those were the kind of people that we wanted to be friends with, not the ones thinking that we needed a big, fancy home.
I had never even heard of "homesteading" until we went to visit a Haflinger ranch that was owned by a husband and wife. We stayed for the day, thoroughly enjoying ourselves with these neat people we had just met. Their ranch was run on horse power. The horses were their tractors, they tilled their garden, pulled logs, etc. We had been having a wonderful day, when the wife asked me if I had heard about the Homesteading Movement. Of course, I thought about "homesteading" your house to lower your property taxes. She kinda laughed, then explained what it was about. Hmmm...could it be that we had been homesteading all this time and didn't even know it? I thought we were just living like my grandparents and parents.
We came home, and I did a web search on homesteading. The hubby walked past me, saw what I was looking at and said, "you're not serious, right? I like air conditioning and TV." You see, he's been married to me long enough to know that when I'm interested, I tend to jump in with both feet. I assured him that I wasn't going to take away all of his toys, that I was just looking for ideas to lower our grocery bill, maybe raise a garden, and farm fresh eggs are much better! He gave me a half hearted "ok" but he was still suspicious. The poor dear, he knows me too well for his own good. ; )
Well, after a while, even he was interested in some of the topics I was reading up on. He hates writing that check out to the light company every month, and it seems to get higher and higher, but when we got serious about looking about going off grid...well, lets just say that it's not in the budget. Shoot! I have managed to ease him into a few other things. He loves fresh homemade bread and the fresh veggies from the garden cut our grocery bill quite a bit. We discussed raising animals for meat for the freezer, but neither of us have the stomach for butchering and butcher shops around here charge so much just to butcher the animal, that it's cheaper to buy meat on sale in the store. And he certainly doesn't mind me cleaning the barn out to put in the garden!
So, I say all of this, and I've probably forgotten a few things, because the thing about homesteading is that you can pick and choose the aspects that work for you. You don't have to jump in with both feet, like I would have, at least until the 100+ temps of August. You can pick and choose things that work for you in your current circumstances. The things we have accomplished have been over years, and things that we want to accomplish will take even more years. Our farm has a life of it's own, and sometimes it's just like watching a child grow and develop.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
The Beginning of How We Started Homesteading
The hubby's parents and grandparents bought the land we're living on in the 70's. The grandparents changed their minds before the first payment was made, and his parents took over the notes. His parents got a divorce when he was a teen, but kept the place. His dad decided he wanted out, so his mom bought out his share.
Despite the fact that the hubby grew up in a big city, he knew that the country was where he belonged. He desperately wanted horses, but having less noise and being able to see the stars were an added bonus.
We put in a well and septic, then had our first mobile home delivered in 1995. Despite the fact that there's 15 acres here, we lived on about 1/2 acre because that was all that was cleared. We gradually cleared a path to the well, then expanded a bit more. We lived here for a couple of years when he was transfered to another town. We sold the house, bought another one in another town. We lived there for a couple of years when the hubby was transferred back. This time, we decided that we didn't want a house note.
We made a deal with my parents to "buy" a 1980 single-wide mobile home for what they had in it....about $400. The house was in deplorable condition, and we took quite a bit of ribbing from neighbors about moving into the "crack house". Some of them changed their tunes when we tore all of the old siding off and put up new vinyl siding. Then we weren't so crazy, but they started to see what we had seen all along. I say "buy" because we ended up taking it out in trade. My parents decided after an unexpected medical retirement, to follow our lead and build their own and get rid of their housenote. The hubby helped and my parents canceled our debt. Thanks Mom and Dad! The hubby's mom helped us out with more than just the land, she wrote us a check to help buy building materials. We are truly blessed with wonderful parents on both sides!
We moved the house to the 15 acres, after clearing more land. The hubby wanted the house further off the road. We didn't get it where we wanted because we were trying to clear land in 100+ degree weather. We cleared just enough to get it in, the back yard came later. ; ) We still didn't have horses, at least not for a few more years.
The first horse we got was also our first rescue. This poor old starved horse showed up in our front yard, eating the dog food. Come to find out, this horse was about 30 years old and belonged to a lady who didn't know what she was doing. We stabled him at a friend's house who had pasture. Our 13 year old (who wasn't 13 at the time) was down there every day, brushing him, talking to him, and just generally taking care of him. He only lived 6 months, but it was probably the best 6 months he'd had in a very long time!
This earned the 13 year old the right to own a horse of her own. We decided that if took that good of care for a horse she'd never be able to ride, then she'd do a good job for one she could. We found an ad in the newspaper for a Haflinger. We had no idea what a Haflinger was, so we did some research and fell in love with the breed.
The hubby's horse came next. He was a surprise for his birthday. A neighbor was in serious danger of losing his job and was worried about feeding 2 horses. He decided to sell Buck, as he was just a pasture mate. I worked out a deal with the neighbor and surprised the hubby with the for sale sign. I marked in big red letters "SOLD". It's the first time that I've brought tears to his eyes with a gift. Most of the riding that Buck had done was with the hubby in his saddle.
The third horse (technically 4th) was another rescue. I found out about 2 horses in the neighborhood that weren't being taken care of. I basically informed the owner that he could either give me the horses or I could kick his rear-end and then he could give me the horses. (The hubby says that I'm a rather fiesty little German woman, especially when animals or children are involved.) He finally agreed to give me one of the horses and he would take the other to someone else. Dollar is a thoroughbred/quarter horse mix, and now that he's put on some weight, he's quite a looker.
We also have chickens, and we sell the eggs at the hubby's work. We never seem to have enough eggs for the demand, so this spring we're getting more chickens.
I'll finish this story tomorrow....the hubby keeps looking my way, sending a silent message that it's bedtime. ;)
Thursday, December 13, 2007
It's not all about me
I've been watching Joyce Meyers and the last couple of teachings that she's done is entitled "It's Not All About Me". Her basic message is that God has His own timetable and His own plan, and that us worry worts need to sit back more and enjoy the ride. HMMMM.... that one really hits home. She talks about selfish people, but she also talks about people who love to give...well, that really got me to thinking.
I consider myself a giving person. I pattern (as best I can) my life after my grandfather who I really admired. My grandparents didn't have much, but whatever they had they were willing to give away. All you had to do was mention that you needed something and it was going home with you. This is a good trait, but what got me thinking is that sometimes I give so much it takes away from others trying to give to me.
Let me explain. Money has been really tight the last couple of years. Not as tight as in the past, but there's not a lot for extras. This year, I'm so worried about the hubby and kids and extended family, and their happiness, that I told the hubby not to worry too much about spending money on me. I wasn't trying to be a martyr, I just worry about other people's happiness first. But, what got me thinking is that I'm taking away his joy because he loves giving too. I had good intentions but was just a bit misguided.
So, my early New Year's resolution is to put more in God's hands. I worry so much, and it's really starting to show on my health, and worrying doesn't change much anyway. It's hard, but I'm working on it.
Now my next promise to myself is to try to enjoy the season more. I just haven't been able to get in the mood, between money and cleaning for company to come and...don't laugh... the cats. Yes, I said the cats. They are DESTROYING my Christmas tree. Right now we have 4 cats. The kitten goes to her new home this weekend. Another cat goes to her new home Christmas day. One more cat goes as soon as we find her a good home. And one stays here. I finally compromised with the cats and took all of the breakable ornaments off of the tree. Me, getting old and set in my ways, I'm not really happy about the situation. Of course, the breakable ornaments are my favorites, so the tree doesn't look the same. I keep telling myself to get over it, that I'm a creative person who'll come up with something just as good, but I'm not really convinced. Isn't it funny that the kitten sleeping in the tree is cute, but the cat sleeping in the tree is infuriating? ; )
We get paid tomorrow, so I'm going to go finish the Christmas shopping. I've done quite a bit of dollar store shopping and I've picked up some deals on clearance. I got some really cute purses on clearance for a $1. I even got a matching hat for one of the girls off of the same clearance rack. We try to make the kids each a homemade gift each year. My youngest is still clinging to childhood desperately, and she asked for a doll. I found the cutest doll crochet pattern that I was able to make for $2 for the fiberfill. I used yarn that I had from previous projects. The doll turned out beautifully. I know she'll love it, even just as an addition to her doll collection, whether she plays with it or not. For the older two, I making ponchos. The oldest one's was free (saving yarn pays off), which is good because I have to buy all of the yarn for the middle one's.
This weekend we're going to a local park that decorates for Christmas, and it's all free to the public. On the weekends they have hot cocoa and cookies, hayrides, and entertainment. We're all really looking forward to it!
Well, I guess I better get started if I want to get finished with the heavy cleaning by this weekend. I want to spend next week wrapping gifts so that can be done before my parents get here Thursday. (Yep, she's moved the time table up.) I usually spend most of my time wrapping while they're here and this year I want to focus more on the holiday.
I consider myself a giving person. I pattern (as best I can) my life after my grandfather who I really admired. My grandparents didn't have much, but whatever they had they were willing to give away. All you had to do was mention that you needed something and it was going home with you. This is a good trait, but what got me thinking is that sometimes I give so much it takes away from others trying to give to me.
Let me explain. Money has been really tight the last couple of years. Not as tight as in the past, but there's not a lot for extras. This year, I'm so worried about the hubby and kids and extended family, and their happiness, that I told the hubby not to worry too much about spending money on me. I wasn't trying to be a martyr, I just worry about other people's happiness first. But, what got me thinking is that I'm taking away his joy because he loves giving too. I had good intentions but was just a bit misguided.
So, my early New Year's resolution is to put more in God's hands. I worry so much, and it's really starting to show on my health, and worrying doesn't change much anyway. It's hard, but I'm working on it.
Now my next promise to myself is to try to enjoy the season more. I just haven't been able to get in the mood, between money and cleaning for company to come and...don't laugh... the cats. Yes, I said the cats. They are DESTROYING my Christmas tree. Right now we have 4 cats. The kitten goes to her new home this weekend. Another cat goes to her new home Christmas day. One more cat goes as soon as we find her a good home. And one stays here. I finally compromised with the cats and took all of the breakable ornaments off of the tree. Me, getting old and set in my ways, I'm not really happy about the situation. Of course, the breakable ornaments are my favorites, so the tree doesn't look the same. I keep telling myself to get over it, that I'm a creative person who'll come up with something just as good, but I'm not really convinced. Isn't it funny that the kitten sleeping in the tree is cute, but the cat sleeping in the tree is infuriating? ; )
We get paid tomorrow, so I'm going to go finish the Christmas shopping. I've done quite a bit of dollar store shopping and I've picked up some deals on clearance. I got some really cute purses on clearance for a $1. I even got a matching hat for one of the girls off of the same clearance rack. We try to make the kids each a homemade gift each year. My youngest is still clinging to childhood desperately, and she asked for a doll. I found the cutest doll crochet pattern that I was able to make for $2 for the fiberfill. I used yarn that I had from previous projects. The doll turned out beautifully. I know she'll love it, even just as an addition to her doll collection, whether she plays with it or not. For the older two, I making ponchos. The oldest one's was free (saving yarn pays off), which is good because I have to buy all of the yarn for the middle one's.
This weekend we're going to a local park that decorates for Christmas, and it's all free to the public. On the weekends they have hot cocoa and cookies, hayrides, and entertainment. We're all really looking forward to it!
Well, I guess I better get started if I want to get finished with the heavy cleaning by this weekend. I want to spend next week wrapping gifts so that can be done before my parents get here Thursday. (Yep, she's moved the time table up.) I usually spend most of my time wrapping while they're here and this year I want to focus more on the holiday.
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