frustratedearthmother
Sustainability Master
LOL - sometimes life doesn't give you many choices, but sounds like ya'll are gettin' 'er done! Hope one (or more) of the job opportunities works out for your DH.
Our patch of earth
- Thread starter Reice
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Mini Horses
Sustainability Master
Is that something you are doing? Or just musing?
Marianne
Super Self-Sufficient
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We are planning on the move, hopefully next year. I'm 67, husband is 72. By next spring we'll both be a year older. He's in pretty good health, takes ZERO medications. Me? I have issues. Ha!
So the plan is to sell our McMansion in the country and move to a little town of 1960 people where our daughter lives. Real estate is tight, it's not unusual for a house to be on the market there for two years. And not too much for houses, either. Lots of old, plaster/lath houses on the main drag, gorgeous old things that I drooled over 30 years ago, but I can't deal with stairs now (arthritis), the upkeep and eventually I'll be dragging oxygen tubing around as well. So, it's time to start dealing with things. I'll adjust. I may complain a lot at first, though.
We're going to replace a lot of siding when it cools down (hail damage) and hubs has been working on our last bathroom.
Mini Horses
Sustainability Master
Better to face it now, while you can still "do something". And you know what you will need to have, time to look. It's a smart move. Maybe a deck will be there to allow a container or two for a couple plants. It will work. 
Complain away!!
Complain away!!
Lazy Gardener
Super Self-Sufficient
Agreed with Mini. Time to make that move now. And there are a lot of ways to satisfy your green thumb without getting down in the soil. Container gardening, even hay bale gardening. You could even have a mini flock of bantams to provide you with fresh eggs in a tight space, if allowed by your zoning laws.
Beware those charming old houses with plaster and lath. Many older houses, while charming to look at, are a total nightmare in terms of requiring lots of work, including structural to keep them habitable.
Beware those charming old houses with plaster and lath. Many older houses, while charming to look at, are a total nightmare in terms of requiring lots of work, including structural to keep them habitable.
Mini Horses
Sustainability Master
I'd even consider a lot, add a little house....I've considered that here at my farm. Then RENT my house. 
Marianne
Super Self-Sufficient
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We want to finish this house before we put it on the market. We're making progress, rather HE is making progress along with our son who is here just half of the time now that he has a girlfriend. So, like I said, we're shooting for next spring.
I agree with all the gardening tips and I was thinking that some bantams in a cute little coop and run would help me with my chicken fix....but...
Bottom line is that DH is the one that's having to clean the coop, the goat shed, etc. I know DH was thankful when that last hen died. Our daughter took our 4 goats and we had already given away our ducks and guineas. We still have a few barn cats that we feed on the porches, so I generally take care of that.
Our last house was built in the 1920's. We tore out plaster, lath, added on, redid the kitchen, bathroom, everything. We've also helped friends and our daughter tear out and rebuild houses. Neither one of us wants to get into that again. There are lots for sale there, but you have to choose one of the 4 house plans they offer and they build it. The restrictions are ridiculous for such a small town.
On the other hand, maybe the perfect little house for us will pop up on the market when we have a contract on our existing house, right?
Oh for Pete's sake.. sorry for the thread hijack.
I agree with all the gardening tips and I was thinking that some bantams in a cute little coop and run would help me with my chicken fix....but...
Bottom line is that DH is the one that's having to clean the coop, the goat shed, etc. I know DH was thankful when that last hen died. Our daughter took our 4 goats and we had already given away our ducks and guineas. We still have a few barn cats that we feed on the porches, so I generally take care of that.
Our last house was built in the 1920's. We tore out plaster, lath, added on, redid the kitchen, bathroom, everything. We've also helped friends and our daughter tear out and rebuild houses. Neither one of us wants to get into that again. There are lots for sale there, but you have to choose one of the 4 house plans they offer and they build it. The restrictions are ridiculous for such a small town.
On the other hand, maybe the perfect little house for us will pop up on the market when we have a contract on our existing house, right?
Oh for Pete's sake.. sorry for the thread hijack.
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Reice
Lovin' The Homestead
Hijack away! All good I like hearing stories.
Holy Moly the heat!!! Makes for a wee bit of slower going.
Of COURSE unexpected things have popped up and some things cost more than we had planned. So, some things are not getting done before the move and we will just live in it not complete and fix it as we go.
One of the unexpected but should have been expected expense is some flat tires. Two on the hubby's truck a day apart, one could be patched, the other could not. And naturally he has weird sized wide tires that were hard to find used. So instead he found 2 skinnier used tires and put them both on the front. Purchasing those and getting them mounted means less cash to do some things. And then there's the electrical wire that cost more than we budgeted due to needing more feet than we thought, 120ft when we thought it was 100ft. That wire is expensive, ouch.
And the money is running out. Yay. Applications are in for other jobs, just waiting to hear on those.
So here's what's not going to be completed before the move and how we'll work around it. Plumbing. Was going to redo all with PEX lines. Until then we have a garden hose outside, will fill gallon jugs. For hot water and shower will use the solar shower bag and paint a few gallon jugs black and set in the sun. Will take dishes outside and wash them in tubs by the water hose. Not too bad. Bucket compost toilet until the septic is dug, already in use and the hubby has actually used it and lived, haha, I've used many times. The hubby has a line on some tanks for the septic and will be hand-digging, but it can wait. Will leave up the wood that covers a few windows until we can install the plexiglass. Well, actually, it will stay covering only one bigger window, the other windows in question will have window AC units going in, so the wood will be cut down to cover the open part. Heck, curtains will be put up covering it anyways, won't bother me none. The floor in the bigger bedroom is finished and will probably just leave it bare wood for now. The kitchen floor will wait. And of course, money ran out to rent the equipment to dig the trench for the electric wire, so hubby is hand-digging it himself. But this heat, oi.
All of it is completely workable. Actually, it was kinda fun for me figuring out how to work around the stuff, lol. Like camping. Grew up camping, so I'm in my element, haha. Step up from a tent, that's for sure!!
That's all for now. Still motoring along.
I like hearing stories. Holy Moly the heat!!! Makes for a wee bit of slower going.
Of COURSE unexpected things have popped up and some things cost more than we had planned. So, some things are not getting done before the move and we will just live in it not complete and fix it as we go.
One of the unexpected but should have been expected expense is some flat tires. Two on the hubby's truck a day apart, one could be patched, the other could not. And naturally he has weird sized wide tires that were hard to find used. So instead he found 2 skinnier used tires and put them both on the front. Purchasing those and getting them mounted means less cash to do some things. And then there's the electrical wire that cost more than we budgeted due to needing more feet than we thought, 120ft when we thought it was 100ft. That wire is expensive, ouch.
And the money is running out. Yay.
Applications are in for other jobs, just waiting to hear on those.So here's what's not going to be completed before the move and how we'll work around it. Plumbing. Was going to redo all with PEX lines. Until then we have a garden hose outside, will fill gallon jugs. For hot water and shower will use the solar shower bag and paint a few gallon jugs black and set in the sun. Will take dishes outside and wash them in tubs by the water hose. Not too bad. Bucket compost toilet until the septic is dug, already in use and the hubby has actually used it and lived, haha, I've used many times. The hubby has a line on some tanks for the septic and will be hand-digging, but it can wait. Will leave up the wood that covers a few windows until we can install the plexiglass. Well, actually, it will stay covering only one bigger window, the other windows in question will have window AC units going in, so the wood will be cut down to cover the open part. Heck, curtains will be put up covering it anyways, won't bother me none. The floor in the bigger bedroom is finished and will probably just leave it bare wood for now. The kitchen floor will wait. And of course, money ran out to rent the equipment to dig the trench for the electric wire, so hubby is hand-digging it himself. But this heat, oi.
All of it is completely workable.
Actually, it was kinda fun for me figuring out how to work around the stuff, lol. Like camping. Grew up camping, so I'm in my element, haha. Step up from a tent, that's for sure!!That's all for now. Still motoring along.
Britesea
Sustainability Master
Bravo on your "Can Do" attitude! So many people would whine about not being able to finish everything when they want it. You are moving ahead toward the life you want, and that's what counts.
Mini Horses
Sustainability Master
People have lived "without" for generations....and lived to tell about it! My grandmother did laundry by hand, with a tub & washboard. Water heated on a wood stove. Wash whites first, then light colors, then darks. Wring out, then hang on line. We even have plans for making a hand operated washing machine with 5 gal buckets, etc. on here somewhere. And a bucket in a bucket squeeze water out set up.
Lamp oil isn't terribly expensive. Lamps can be found in 2nd hand stores, etc. Some cheap solar lights work, too. Ice in a cooler for frig. Cook outside on camp stove or open fire. Solar oven? You won't have to paint those gal jugs of water. That sun will heat it fine! Heck, I just dumped some five gallon buckets of water that was too hot in just a few hours!! Some yellow, blue, red, etc...for animal watering. I have large troughs that stay cooler but, can vouch for the smaller/hotter in sun!
It can all be done! Camp out for a few weeks or months. May not be perfect but, it will work. You will survive. Make it a "fun" experience.
A challenge.
Lamp oil isn't terribly expensive. Lamps can be found in 2nd hand stores, etc. Some cheap solar lights work, too. Ice in a cooler for frig. Cook outside on camp stove or open fire. Solar oven? You won't have to paint those gal jugs of water. That sun will heat it fine! Heck, I just dumped some five gallon buckets of water that was too hot in just a few hours!! Some yellow, blue, red, etc...for animal watering. I have large troughs that stay cooler but, can vouch for the smaller/hotter in sun!
It can all be done! Camp out for a few weeks or months. May not be perfect but, it will work. You will survive. Make it a "fun" experience.
A challenge.
