Trying...again

It's been nearly 2 years and much has happened that has detered me from writing, though I don't know why. I think had I been writing, I might have felt better. Within 6 months of buying my house, I lost my job. Thankfully I was only unemployed for a month, but the job I took was for considerable less money, forcing me to wipe out my retirement to pay off my credit card debt. Essentially I had started over, wiped the slate clean and began to rethink my spending habits.

It was during this nearly 2 year period of time that I began to think more about sustainable living. I tried to practice it at my old house, but it was difficult with the limited space, the really close neighbors and other things that just seemed to work against me. Now, with the feeling of wide open spaces and almost an acre of land at my disposal, I'm trying again. I was given a child's old dollhouse that I converted into a great chicken coop and 5 baby chicks back in June, a rooster not long later and now 5 more bantams. Raising chickens these last 8 months has taught me so much, not just about chickens, but about myself and what I'm capable of. The hard work of insulating the coop, making a locking chicken door, making nesting boxes and a roost, putting up fencing, fixing said fencing after a heavy snowfall, cleaning the coop, lugging 40 lb bags of feed and gallons of water, the endless reading, the worry that they're not warm enough, happy enough or safe enough...I've surprised myself!

It's all been worth it, its all part of the balance that I've been seeking. And collecting those eggs each day, watching my girls and my cranky rooster "Cogburn" (yes, named for the John Wayne character in True Grit), it's been fun! It's also made me want more...to plant my fruits and vegetables, to build the things I need, to create more and waste less.

I've read about homesteading, a lot, and something about it clicks inside me. I don't mean no electricity, cooking on a camp stove, trying to milk a cow in -30 degree weather. I mean starting small, doing what I can to sustain myself and adding on from there. This is the start of my journey. I'm trying...again.