by Texas Homesteader ~
Wouldn’t it be great to build a truly unique life with your own two hands?
I used to just swim with the flow of life, going where the tide carried me. But then I decided there must be much more to life.
I didn’t want to just take it as it came, I wanted to make life uniquely MINE. And you can too!
Why Do Things For Ourselves?
You may wonder why I do it. Why do I go through the trouble (and expense) of raising my own chickens?
Or why do I plant a veggie garden and then spend countless hot summertime hours over a steaming pressure canner to preserve the bounty it produces?
And why do I haul my laundry outside when there’s a perfectly-good electric clothes dryer RIGHT THERE?
Doesn’t it all take too much time? Wouldn’t it be easier to pop open that commercially-purchased plastic snack-pak chocolate pudding cup instead of making Homemade Chocolate pudding from scratch?
HECK YEAH it would!
Why We Love Voluntary Simplicity
But the fact is that I love the simplicity of our days here. Yes the simple life takes much more time and oftentimes more effort too.
But the resulting reduction in cost allows us to spend our days working and living right here in a place that speaks to our hearts. And the resulting feeling of empowerment gives value to my days.
Sure we could work in the corporate world and have much more money rolling in.
Then we wouldn’t have to keep the temps in the house a bit higher in the summer and rely more heavily on fans instead.
We wouldn’t have to spend countless hours researching the rock-bottom least expensive option for cell phone plans. Heck we could reach up into the cabinet and grab a bag of pre-made cookies whenever we got snack hungry.
As it is, if we want cookies I bring out the butter, sugar and flour and bake them up from scratch.
Busy Life Often Eliminates Simple Life Opportunities
Yeah it takes more time to do these things. To feel this empowered and in control.
But time is something I’m afforded now since I’m not sitting in gridlock traffic to get to a corporate job where I sit at a desk all day.
There I’d be far away all day from the homestead that I love before dragging back home – way too tired to even think about a homemade supper.
What Are Empowering Tasks?
Now there is a caveat to this whole doing everything ourselves lifestyle. Yeah it’s extra work, but it’s empowering work.
If you’ve ever baked a loaf of homemade bread I don’t have to tell you how wonderful it feels to pull that fragrant loaf from the oven.
How proud you feel to have your family smacking their lips before it even gets cooled enough to cut.
And for you gardeners – how does it seem to touch your very soul to pull that first ripe red tomato from the vine?
And really, can any store-bought tomato even compete in flavor to a perfectly ripe home-grown tomato picked at the very peak of freshness??!!
Yeah, THAT feeling.
And I get to experience that wonderful feeling with almost every homestead task I complete.
Of course there’s give & take to living this way. We’re able to live this lifestyle because we don’t spend copious amounts of money on fancy foods or a constant rotation of high-end electronics.
But here’s the catch: we don’t feel any sense of deprivation or regret whatsoever.
This simple life is not for everyone, but DANG it’s a beautiful life for us!
Hard Times Affect This Simple Life Too
Now lest you think I’m whistling a happy tune every day with nary a care, know that there are plenty of trials in living this way too.
Recently my garden was repeatedly drowned out by torrential floods in the spring, attacked by hordes of grasshoppers afterward, and then finally finished off with record heat and drought – all in the same year!
Oh how I struggled mightily and failed miserably to get my garden going – even the portions I replanted in containers.
Hours and hours of toil for naught.
And we’ve had to make some hard decisions to put an animal out of its misery when we and our vet had worked tirelessly and done everything in our power but still couldn’t save it.
We’ve assisted in the birth of a calf expecting the joy and excitement of a new baby only to find it stillborn.
And my heart has felt the pain of the sight of the pile of feathers left behind after a predator took yet another of our hens.
We’ve plunked down money we could barely afford for seed and fertilizer to plant winter pastures to keep our cattle fed, only to have uncooperative weather kill any chances of growth.
Heartache abounds in this lifestyle the same as any other. But there have been so many times when we see that shining proof that we’re doing the right thing for us.
Simple Living Is The Right Life For Us
RancherMan & I have stood back & wiped the sweat from our brow as we surveyed the work we’d done on our barn’s chicken coop and felt pride in a job well done.
We’ve sat together many evenings on our porch swing watching that beautiful sunset while a baby calf bounces around in the pasture trying out his new legs.
We’ve teamed together as we removed the tree that had fallen across the fence and re-stretched that broken barbed wire back into place again.
Yes, we’ve experienced blood, sweat and tears. But we’ve built this beautiful life with our own two hands.
What Does YOUR Perfect Life Look Like?
When you build a life you love, your idea of a perfect life may be similar to ours. Or it may be completely different. Figure out what speaks to your heart & start taking steps now to make it happen.
Maybe you want to take control of your own kitchen and start providing healthier food for your own family. If you have a small patch of earth you can plant herbs or a few veggies.
Even if you don’t have room for a full-blown garden, container gardening is a small-scale way to get your hands in the earth and provide fresh food for yourself and your family. And it feels wonderful.
Or how about learning to make your favorite cookies from scratch. Heck mix up a triple batch and scoop the leftover dough into raw dough buttons for the freezer for quick-baking homemade cookie deliciousness sometime down the road.
Or maybe you dream of another profession where you can enjoy your days doing what you love instead of the drudgery of a dead-end job just to make ends meet.
Whatever it is, start today taking baby steps NOW toward a life that speaks to your heart.
A wonderfully unique life you love!
~TxH~
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Links In This Post
- Chocolate/Banana Cookie Recipe
- Cook Once, Eat Twice Method Of Cooking
- FINALLY! A Soft, Delicious Sandwich Bread Recipe
- Optimism When It’s All Out Of Your Control
- Refurbishing Our 1880’s Barn Chicken Coop
Other Simple-Life Articles
Simple Living
- Living Deliberately: Voluntary Simplicity
- How To Live The Simple Life Even In An HOA
- Building Your Life With Your Own Two Hands
- The Fast Life: Slowing Down, Living MORE!
Old Fashioned Tips
Eco-Friendly
Preparedness
- How To Stay Warm When The Power Goes Out
- Get Prepared Now For Power Outage Emergencies
- Preparedness Using The Sun: Solar Cooking
Make It Yourself
- Easy Laundry Detergent Recipe
- How To Make Your Own Laundry-Scent Booster
- Easy Air Freshener In Cute Repurposed Jar
- Lavender-Scented Gardener’s Hand Scrub
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What a wonderful piece. You said what so many of us feel. This life may not be for everyone, each persons idea of the perfect life may be different. But for those of us who chose to do more for ourselves…. it feels right. You are going to be this weeks feature at the Simple Saturdays Blog Hop.
I think your life sounds fantastic. Sometimes I struggle with the thought that pops into my head “Is this really worth all the effort or it would actually be cheaper to buy some of the stuff I grow/make”. But sometimes the cost or time spend isn’t the point. The point is knowing where your stuff comes from and what is in it. Also the satisfaction of making something with your own 2 hands is so empowering. I feel that there are so many young people now days that don’t know or feel it’s beyond them to create even simple things. They have been so conditioned into the consumer mentality and it never ocours to them to try to do it themselves. I like to know that I can do it myself but also have the freedom to buy some of that stuff if I need to without guilt. In regards to farming it has always been a tough lifestyle often at the mercy of mother nature. But that is why farmers are often so resilient and resourceful. It builds character. PS I also make my own laundry soap as a liquid.
You said it well and you right that there is nothing better then homemade cookies…mmmm.
Well written. I really feel I made the right choice by leaving a fast pace life to settle here in the south.. has been the best thing I have done for me.. Your post makes me feel like i have made good choices.
Thanks for the share.
Maria
🙂 Each person has their own vision for their perfect life Maria – sounds like you’ve certainly made the right move. So glad RancherMan & I have been able to make our vision come true. ~TxH~
There’s nothing quite the same as the satisfaction of making things from scratch, being able to repair things, and working together to make each day better. The biggest blessing in this type of lifestyle is that the learning never stops. And that’s wonderful. Enjoy!
Great post! Yes, it is hard work but it is very rewarding. And how many hard times do come (as you said)… lots of death and destruction on a farm! But also, a lot of beauty and life!
Thank you for sharing on the Art of Home-Making Mondays!
Beautifully said. Some of us just need to be closer to the Earth and revel in all it has to offer. Not only do we enjoy and appreciate nature but we work with it to reap the benefits and hopefully nurture our little place on it. Never an easy task for sure but surely glorious!!
This is such a well written post, it speaks to my heart. We left the big city and the rat race to move to a small urban area years ago and have struggled for years with livestock and farming. We cannot control the heat waves or in our case, the frost (we have a lemon farm). Ultimately, we are at the mercy of nature. And I wholeheartedly agree with you the deliberate choices we make are intentional and better than just keeping up with the Jonses. I wish you all the best in your life with all its joys and difficulties. At least we know that these were our choices and we are living a real life and not one of habit.
It’s not necessarily the lifestyle that everyone would want but it’s certainly the life for us (even with the uncontrollable weather!) It sounds like you & I are definitely on the same page. Best of luck to you as well. ~TxH~
I love this! It really is fulfilling to do things yourself. We lost a goat this past week, so I feel that hard side of this life, too. But it’s all worth it.
Ugh, that’s hard Jamie, so sorry… But like you said, through the trials it’s still all worth it. ~TxH~
Ah I see. I use the same ingredients but I dissolve it all and add water to the top of a 5 gallon bucket. It’s strong so I don’t have to use a lot. I make it into a liquid because the borax needs fairly hot water to get it dissolved. I remember many years ago when I’d just add it to my washer, and when it broke and the repairman came he showed me a crystallized mass, it was all the borax. Sooo, I just make it liquid. Ohh, it super good on windows and stainless. Porcelain fixtures too- white and bright!
I share your love of farm life. I grew up on a farm and granddad had a dairy. So farming is in my blood. When my kids were young I planted a garden and canned my produce from it. Then when they grew up I kind of left it. We moved and work changed, I ended up with 7 employees I had to babysit, be marriage counselor, etc. Nope. I only have enough work for myself now, perfect.
We’ve been here on my “farm” for 4 years now, Lew doesn’t share my love of farming but heck, I’m a big girl and I don’t care. I have a garden that has doubled in size in the last year, a new greenhouse and attached shed. I have gone back to canning- everything! I grow German Butterball potatoes and they can up real well! I make butter, cheese, and don’t have anything but “ingredients” (as my daughter wails) that I can whip up insanely good food. We don’t grow animals (remember MH is not a farmer) but I have found a source for beef (angus) pork (OMG! good) and chicken. I have a big smoker and 2 grill’s that I like to use all the time, they never make it into storage during winter! And am now making beer and wine and root beer.
All of this is NOT to impress anyone. I’m telling you because I’m so proud to get back to the fundamentals of living again. Reading your blog was so real to me. I know that feeling of being resourceful and penny pinching. Of being satisfied with the ‘work of your own hands’. Now the thing I need to do is find balance, there is more than work. I need to make more time for spiritual things and more social time (gag, not my fav.).
Thanks again for your words, they felt good to read!
Cheryl
YES Cheryl, I hear ya. I understand the thought of not to impress anyone but it feels so good to get back to basics. Yes, Yes, YES!! Good for you for taking the steps to make your life one that speaks to your heart. This year I made my first foray into milking one of our own cows and making my own butter and buttermilk for the first time, then using the rest of the milk when I made my yogurt. This life and all it entails just feels right to me. It’s not for everyone but I absolutely love it here. When I think of the hours, days, years, and DECADES I was trapped in a corporate job where the money & benefits were great but the environment was toxic and the hours kept me away from home – I’m even more thankful for the blessings that we’re living now!
I hear you, corporate is good for nothing but corporate. I resist working for too many corporate entities. Have you made soap or laundry soap?
Yessum, on both counts. I LOVE my laundry detergent –> ( https://texashomesteader.com/make-your-own-laundry-detergent/ ) and although I’ve not blogged about making soap that will happen after our next batch, which is due to be started in the next couple of weeks.