Homestead mailing list

[<eureka AT hctc.net>]

On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:43:19 -0800
 Susan Trickett <gmasue AT inbox.com> wrote:
> Because homesteading, self sufficiency and outside jobs 
> take so much time how have you simplified your life?

One way I've simplified life is by not watching TV for the 
last 30 years. I decided as a teenager I'd rather be 
riding a horse than watching someone ride a horse and 
never turned the thing on again.

I am not disconnected without it. I got news by word of 
mouth until the Internet arrived. Even though I work (from 
home) in the field of advertising design I have been 
spared from watching commercials, knowing about the latest 
useless product, and developing any desire to visit the 
mall. An art reviewer once published a critique of my work 
saying I had a healthy disregard for trends. I think this 
applies to my entire life. Working from home has reduced 
my impact on the earth and my gasoline bill. I can get up 
in a pair of sweats and wear them all day long.

I've learned to say NO to people and causes that don't fit 
my lifestyle, purpose, belief system, etc. That is not to 
say I don't take time to read or listen to alternative 
views (I am on this list after all ;) I am open minded and 
try to expand myself through reading, which I can pick up 
and put down to fit my homesteading schedule. I have 
developed deep and lasting friendships with a few people, 
rather than superfluous ones with many.

We only make one trip into the city every 2-3 weeks. If we 
forget something we live without it. This has taught us to 
make better lists. We entertain ourselves with our garden 
and animals, cooking good food, taking long walks, 
swimming in the river, making music together, and an 
occasional card game, all of which cost nothing, and 
reading or downloading a movie on the computer which 
sometimes costs a little. We donate some of our time to 
community building, namely the library and our food group. 
My husband, who cannot live without a newspaper gets it a 
day late from our neighbor through a mailbox on the fence 
between our gardens. We later use it to line the garden 
paths before we mulch. To thank them we give them eggs or 
arrange flowers at their kid's wedding, etc.

We are always looking for ways to simplify. I think 
homesteading requires this of a person. It directs us from 
project to project. Projects keep our minds and money 
focused. We were talking last night about life without 
electricity, and both decided we could make do, if we had 
to, except for one thing: hauling water up from our 
pioneer well would do us in. So we are considering how to 
convert our pump to solar power and looking into a raised 
tank over a spring house (since most of you convinced us 
not to convert our ancient underground septic into a root 
cellar!).

--Sage
Way Out in Texas