New Movement or Old Way of Life

We seem to be hearing so much these days about a “New Movement” the one they are calling “Getting back to the basics”–Is it really new movement or are just more and more people finding their roots?

I think many of us are simply finding our roots, the ones from our forefathers–there is nothing new about farming, self-sustainable living–its in the bible, its in our history, it’s what america was built on–I suppose however to our industrialized society we tend to look a bit ‘freakish’ if you will–I mean we are leaving societies concept of ‘living’ behind in search for a more ideal lifestyle–one that is simpler, cleaner, sustainable and less stressful–Seemingly the folks on this path know where they are going and how they are going to get there–They have let go of consummerism(or some have), long work hours, many have let go of at least one income in order to simplify their life and spend time with the people that are most important to them–their familys–they have traded their paychecks for feeding farm animals, sewing, baking and gardening–years ago this was just a way of life for folks–women spent the day, taking care of the children, cooking, baking, mending clothing, gathering eggs, just taking care of the needs of the families–Men of the home worked either on the farm or at a job in the nearest town to make just enough money to meet the basics needs of the family–Slowly family became discontented with just the basics of life and began to sacrifice time with family to persue monetary gain so they could aquire more possessions–soon moms left the home to work at a job so the family could afford the lifestyle shown on television–consummerism became a way of life–this is how its been for many years–Here we are 50 + years down the road with a failing economy, families in shambles, divorce rate is skyrocketing–all of that monetary gain is failing us and those possessions are being divided in our divorce courts–what are we gaining?–Our children are angry, joining gangs to find what their family is failing to give them–Look around–Lives everywhere are in shambles–it’s sad–God is sending America a wake up call–Some of us are heeding that call, others, well they just don’t see it or if they do they ignore it thinking their paychecks will offer peace, security and happiness–They continue to spend and buy those gadets shown on television–they are on a hamster wheel–working and spending–I think the “new movement’ began when family’s began defining themselves by what money they had in the bank, the car they drove, how many credit cards they had, the name on the tag in their shirts–We, those of us living simpler lives are not a new movement, we are the backbone of what America is, we are what America was founded on–God,Farms, agriculture and family–We are not a new movement–we are living the “Old way”–A simpler way–a sustainable way–we are getting back to where we began–There’s nothing new about it–we are just reviving it!


::Until Next Time::
The Deliberate Homesteader

Deliberate Homesteader

It has been a productive month for us here on the farmstead–

We now have around 27 hens, this should be enough to keep our family in eggs and bless others that we know–with the new bill that passed I wonder if we will be able to share/sell our eggs now?–Hmmmm

In a month or so we will have some meat birds here also–I am hoping for around 60, that would be a years supply–Just today we added 2 pigs to the mix–one we will butcher for the freezer the other hubby has decided to keep for breeding, so we will be looking for a female soon–He has decided to begin that as our next adventure–LOL–we would love nothing more than to be able to provide to other Christians families that are on the same path we are on–I remember a couple of years ago we sold a couple of Toggenburg dairy goats to a family that was just beginning their journey into a more self sufficient lifestyle–we talked with them and learned we held the same philosophy and outlook on the future of our country–It was a great time of fellowship and such a blessing to see them beginning their journey knowing we were some small part of that!–It was a bigger blessing to realize there are others like you–LOL–We often feel alone–

Our goals are being met one by one–day by day–we are thankful for God’s provision in our endeavors here–We love being Self-Suffcient(as we can be) and God-Reliant–We now have a meat source(pigs and soon chickens), milk source(goat) and more than enough fruits in our vines, plants and trees–this spring and summer will bring a host of herbs and veggies to our plates and cupboards–

I have enjoyed today, I came home cleaned my little home and felt such satisfaction–God has been good to us–I truly believe times are going to get very hard, but I also believe hubby and I will face them not with fear and trepidation–but with joy and peace–peace that surpasses all understanding–We have followed the Lords leading and prompting to be prepared even in the face of ridicule and judgement–We know where we are going, we know how we are gonna get there–We are going to get there by Deliberatly working, praying, and listening to what the Lord impresses upon our hearts and minds–After all we are “Deliberate Homesteaders”

::Until Next Time::

The Deliberate Homesteader

Making Plans

Tonight on the way back from taking DD back to the facility Hubby and I had a very good talk about what our goals are for our little homestead–we really don’t have many in the short term and all are very atainable–Since he now has a steady paying job we have set some goals and are going to be the task of meeting them–They are in no particular order–

• Purchase more pigs–hopefully within the next couple of weeks–We want feeder pigs and hopefully a couple of sows and a boar for breeding–We would like to begin selling a few here and there to help pay for feed-
• Get the greenhouse built– ideally by spring, but may have to wait until spring depending on weather–
• Order fryer roosters–this won’t be until January as the hatchery won’t ship again until then–Our goal is to have enough chickens in the freezer to last at least 1 year, along with the pork, venison, and fish–this will only leave us with the need to purchase beef–
• Get the addition built onto the house so we can turn the small bedroom into a walk in pantry/laundry room–right now my washer and dryer are in a separate building–The pantry is a must as our plans for stocking are growing and we are out of room–LOL–
• Purchase at least 1 more deep freezer–
• Add onto the chicken yard–right now its 100 sq feet–want to make it 300 to 400 sq feet and add at least 50 more hens–Selling eggs will pay for their feed and then some–We have the fencing just gotta put it up–
• Adding to the berry patch(springtime)–We are wanting to add a few more raspberries,blackberries,blueberries and some more grapes–
• Build and outdoor herb garden(springtime)
• We have both agreed the time has come to get serious about a few things–We both feel an urgency to get these things done–The first of the year is coming up and most of these things we would like to have done by then or at least within the next few months–We will have our tax return check to do alot of this with if its not already done and then in March I will have the puppies to sell–the biggest expense we will have is putting the roof on the addition and then the carpeting, trim etc…we have all the lumber–I am excited to see how the Lord provides all of these things–But one of my favorite sayings is “If the Lord brings ya to it, he will see ya through it!”–

::Until Next Time::
The Deliberate Homesteader

Living Your Dream

I have heard many people over the years say they wish they would have done this or done that, how they wished they had lived out their dreams–Some people dream simple dreams, others more elaborate dreams but we all had a dream–When I was a little girl some 30+ years ago I remember dreaming of a little white house with country blue shutters in the best part of town, flower boxes under the windows growing perfect little flowers, a nice sidewalk leading up to the front door and a white picket fence all around my yard that housed my well kept lawn and beautiful flowers–I would wear a nice dress, with my hair all done up, fingernail polish, the whole 9 yards–I would be married to the perfect man and we would be rich–I was gonna have 3 children and a poodle–LOL– and of course we would be one big happy family–

 !!!!!!!!FAST FORWARD TO REALITY!!!!!!!!!!!!
30+ years later–apparently I traded in my little white house with county blue shutters in the city for my little comfy mobile home in the sticks–My flowers and perfect yard have been replaced with dog, cats, chickens, goats, rocks and lack of grass since we cleared this spot late summer–My nice dress has been replaced with sweat/lounge pants and sneakers, that nice hairdo has been turned into a pony tail, we won’t even talk about the fingernails–That perfect man I was gonna marry–hmmmmm–not sure I ever even met him–LOL– but I do have the ‘perfect man’ for me–those 3 kids–well, I have 2 and trust me, they are far from perfect–Don’t have a poodle but I do have a Cavalier King charles that we adore!–Oh, and we are broke most of the time–LOL–So much for dreaming, huh?So do I regret not living my ‘dream life’?–Absolutly not–I have the dream life–I am living the life God intended me live–struggles, trials, and all–I am where I want to be, suppost to be–When I was a little girl, this was not my idea of life–but as a middle aged woman I cannot imagine my life any other way–No, I don’t have everything I would like to have–But I have everything I need–and in todays world thats something.–I love getting up and hearing my rooster crow, I love when I pull in my driveway my hens run to greet me, I love watching my goats play, I love gathering eggs, I love helping hubby outside even when I break a fingernail– ;0) –I love spring time when I can dig in the dirt, plant my flowers and veggies and listen to the birds chirp–I love when my grandkids come over and say “Nanna, can we go get the eggs for you”?– and seeing them running across the yard with their little hands full of eggs so excited you would think they found gold nuggets, and I guess in a way–they did — It warms my heart so much and brings back many precious memories– I remember as a little girl helping my grandma do her farm chores, best memories of my life–While life is hard at times– I wake up everyday thankful for all I have– We have more than some and less than others, but we are blessed!

 When I am old(er)–and I tell others about my life–I will be able to say–I lived my dream and then some–I don’t think I will have any regrets other than I did not begin this life sooner–Are you living your dream?

I am blessed–

::Until Next Time:: 
The Deliberate Homesteader

Purging Negativity

Since my blog deletion over at HSB and remembering I had saved years of my life thru blogbooker I have spent some time looking over the past year–What kept coming to my attention was ‘purging’–Seems I did alot of that this past year–I purged belongings, critters, friends and yes even family–the other ‘theme’ in my life–for lack of a better word–was negativity–I seemed to have purged lots of negativity from my life which is how the friends/family fit in–Don’t get me wrong I love my family, but many are just very negative people–seems they never have a nice or positive thing to say about anything or anyone–I decided months ago to let those people go–It was hard–It was a change–but one I am glad I made–Ridding ones life of negative influences is very hard at times–some of those people may be a significant part of your life daily–but they can destroy you–They can cause you question your path in life, your faith, your marriage–EVERYTHING–When times are hard they are the ones that do not encourage and lift you up–they tear you down and tell you what you are doing is wrong–

In my case it all ended when a few months ago before we got our well put in(we were without running water for 18 months)I was struggling–It is not easy to haul water daily for 18 months–I was down and just needed someone to talk to and I guess to have encouraging words–I was met not with encouraging words but words of negativity–

I was told it would be easier if we just let the land go back and it was stupid to continue to fight this battle–I was devastated–Had my faith in the Lord not been what it was and knowing in my heart the Lord led us here it would have been easy to just give up and wallow in my self pity–But I knew the Lord led us here, and in the midst of that trial were many lessons to be learned–We have turned this place into our little slice of heaven on earth–I love my land, I love that we took nothing but dirt, rocks and trees and have made it a homestead–We lived here for 11 weeks with no electricity–there had never been any here–there had never been a phone line, or water–never a house–never a critter(other than wildlife)–nothing–We have in 2 years went from dirt,rock and trees to having a home(albeit small) we have electricity, a well, a home phone, fencing, fruit trees and plants, a garden spot, a yard and more blessings that we could count in days!–We did this by the sweat of brow–no one built it for us–Nothing was handed to us–we have worked and worked very hard–We are proud of what we have accomplished even though it was HARD getting here–Everything we have except our land is paid for–We paid cash for our little home!–God has been good to us!

Had we listened to all that negativity, we would never have known the satisfying feeling of building something from the ground up–we would have never been so grateful to have running water or electricity or a garden–We would have never learned the lesson of leaning on and trusting in the Lord in ways you could have never imagined–We would never have known that we can survive in the face of disaster–We would have never known what it is like to draw near to your loved ones in times of extreme hardship–we would have never known some of the wonderful God, fearing people that we have met–We would have never known what it means to live simply, to live consciously and live deliberately–
Negativity begats negativity–nothing good comes from it–I am so thankful that the Lord showed me to purge the negative and to focus on the postive–Not that this is always an easy thing to do–I am after all only human–

::Until Next Time::
The Deliberate Homesteader

It's a Journey

The other day I had someone make a remark to me about simple living that was not made out of knowledge but out of ignorance–I think many people misunderstand what it really means to live simple–here is my meager attempt to explain it from my point of view–
Simple living is not living a life free of troubles or stress–Those that subscribe to this lifestyle still suffer stress, trials and tribulations just like others–we still have ‘drama moments” in our lives–this is part of being human and living in a fallen world–but its all about how you handle it–You must let go and let God–

Simple living means finding enjoyment in the surroundings we have and getting back to the basics–For us our simple life is getting back to as many basics as we can–cooking from scratch, growing our own food–slowing down and taking time to ‘just be’–We love sitting outside on a warm spring day watching the chickens peck the ground–we enjoy sitting out of an evening and watching goats play–We love walking on our land through the woods and taking in all the beauty that country living can bring–

Simple living is understanding that the land was given to us on loan and we are to be good stewards of it–God gave us this land to take care of for him–granted there are times when we must remove trees or soil in order to live, but if its not necessary it should not be done–Critters give and take when it comes to the land and we should too–It saddens me to see someome take 100 acres and totally clear it for their own selfish reasons–now it you are farming it fine, but just because youc an–that is very sad–trees give to us, what would happen if they were all gone?–We must carefully consider what we do to this land can have lasting impacts–

Simple living is letting go of consumerism–Consummerism is everywhere we turn–we are constantly bombarded with commericial, billboards and radio ads telling us we ‘must have’ the latest and greatest in order to be ‘important’–look at how many folks fall for this–this is not to say you should not have things, but that you should weigh what is a must have and what is a want–granted some wants can give back to you–like I want more chickens they will benefit me in the long run–they are not a must have–a must have would be just enough chickens to feed my family which I have–the ‘want more’ I can sell to bring in money–so some wants are not bad if its not for selfish reasons–the benefits need to be weighed–

Simple living is letting go of baggage–so many of us carry around pounds and pounds of baggage that weigh us down and keep us from being all we can be–in order to be whole we need to let go of those things that hold us back and keep us down–We must learn to forgive and realize none are perfect and when we hold grudges or are hateful we are only destroying ourselves and that is far from simple living–

Simple living is not easy ,its a trade off–Living a life of true simplicty is anything by easy–it’s hard work, it’s long hours, it’s tiring–but it is very rewarding–it is much simpler to run out and buy a cake mix or a pound of ground beef from the grocery than it is to bake from scratch or feed and water that cow everyday–but is a trade off–do you wanna eat all that processed food or eat what you raised or baked and you know what went into it–again gotta weigh the options–

Simple living cannot be described in a few sentences–it is truly a lifestyle and that lifestyle is different for everyone based on their needs, wants, desires and goals–But one thing I think can be agreed on is that simple living is understanding that less is truly more, and there is so much more to living than just working to have material possessions–it is a life based on understanding what is most important to you, your family and your goals and working toward that one step at a time and all the while taking time to smell the roses along the way!–Simple living is a journey, not a destination.
::Until Next Time::
The Deliberate Homesteader

The Simple Life

Just as the quote I coined that is on the side bar of my blog says "Finding simplicity is not a destination, but an ongoing journey". That is how we live and view our life–a journey– We began this journey 6 years ago–

For us simple living is not all about living on a farm with critters and all that comes with that, however I do believe it helps by getting "away from it all", but mainly its about finding inner peace and being content with where God has put you– Living in the country and having critters is icing on the cake–One aspect of simplicity to us is getting up in the morning, gathering farm fresh eggs and enjoying them for breakfast knowing you raised the hens, sitting on the porch drinking a cup of coffee and watching the goats play their goat games and listening to the rooster assert he is king of flock–its listening to the breeze rustle the leaves on the trees, its going out to the simple made hen house and finding baby chicks or running out to the goat barn and find a new goat kid has come into the world–its exploring the land you own(even a small amount) and litterally stopping to smell the flowers–It’s taking the time to cook from scratch and bake from scratch just like the good old days!–There is work involved in gardening, canning, making your own laundry soap, bath soap and cooking from scratch–-BUT the rewards for us outweigh the work–I can assure you I have worked harder outside the home than I ever have here on our farm and been rewarded far less–I lay my head down at night with peace of mind and a tiredness that means something–Our journey here has NOT been easy ,and has been dpwnright hard at times, but we are content with where the Lord has put us-–Hard yes, but the lessons learned have been many–

Simple Living is about doing more with less and having a deep appreciation for God and all he gives us, whether that be a little or alot–So many people I know say they cannot make it on one income–I ask them why–the usual answer is–Bills, I have bills to pay–why all the bills?–Well, theres credit cards, astronomical mortgage, high utility bills, car pymts, gas to run the children here and there–When you begin to chip away at those bills you find that if you didn’t have 15 credit card payments, and didn’t live in a huge home that was bigger than your family needed, and didn’t think you needed those big gas guzzling SUV’s you could live on one income–if you didn’t think your children had to be involved in every organization known to man just so they could ‘be somebody’ you could save —hmmmmm–I am here to atest that we live on a very meager income–Many people make a week what we bring in a month–and my children are somebody in spite of the fact we don’t do every club or organization–they are daugthers of the KING–and you know what–we have everything we NEED–And alot of what we want–We are debt free,other than our land pym-–We spend only cash–no checking account or credit cards, no line of credit at a bank or finance company–if we need a credit card we use those pre- paid debit cards–the money we have saved is huge–We do alot of trading with others–Yes, people still barter, at least in these parts–Nothing we do is complicated, its all very simple and clean–Making your own soap, sewing your own clothes, baking from scratch is NOT expensive it is very cheap in fact–My initial cost to making laundry soap was under 10.00 and for the 10.00 I can make tons of laundry soap––Simpler is more cost effective, at least here on our homestead–Homesteading can be hard work but for us its all in how you look at it–It was harder for me to go to work, pay a sitter to care for my children, work for a less than kind boss, and do litteral back breaking work(nursing homes, waitressing, and I have also worked in chicken processing plants) than to take care of critters, my land and garden and my home –There is appreciation in what I now do–The critters we have give to us in the form of milk, eggs and entertainment, and in turn we give back to them lots of love, God gave us the land, we work hard to take care of it and the critters give to the land, we have a very small yard(around 1/10 of an acre in order to not destroy what took hundreds of years to develop, and less is more–the less yard I have to maintain the more time I have for family and taking care of them–We garden for our health–what we can grow organically is priceless–we enjoy gardening, while some consider it work I think dh and I both look at it as a blessing and relaxation–its great to sit and pull weeds and just listen to the sounds of nature–I am not going to say life here is perfect–far from it–I am not going to tell you I am always content–I’m not–I am not going to tell you this way of life is totally easy–it’s not–we suffer disappointment, trials and tribulations like anyone else–but we have found something others spend a life time searching for–Peace–Peace with who we are, where we are going, what we stand for, what we believe, what we want from life and we no longer chase after the dream of having more–Many people spend their entire life ‘wanting more’ and ‘more’ aludes them–its never enough–Simplicity to us is simply deciding what is enough in your life, being content with where you are and thanking God daily for it all!::Until Next Time::
The Deliberate Homesteader