I don't worry about my family. If they came, it would be on an invitation, and they'd pull their weight. But because they are who they are, I think they'd be self-sufficient where they are - all but one sister.
My husband's family I just don't know about. His dad is an accountant, does not really believe that things WILL fall apart. Funny that - old school Republican. He believes in money, doesn't truly believe it will ever fail. He would be completely humiliated if someone asked him to haul a load of manure to the garden and dig it in, or to move the ducks from one pen to another. I think having to ask for help would completely demoralize him.
Mother-in-Law is self sufficient in a few ways, not so much in others. She knows how to pinch a penny but rarely actually does. She cans because she wants half a dozen jars of jam to sample through the year, not because she feels the need to use home processed food. Gardens the same way - because she likes this or that fresh thing, not to preserve any.
My brother and sister in law are good people, would work hard, but again, the kind of life we are choosing is so far from what they could envision or would ever seek out. She just can't get around that her brother is becoming a farmer!
My mother is a different case. She taught me to work hard. But after Pa died, she just sort of shrunk her independence. She now complains of poverty, uses a wheelchair in her house, won't ever go out, and sort of expects that her needs MUST be met, even if she isn't terribly careful about her resources. She wants people to do a lot for her, when she is more capable than she wants to admit. She's lonely, I get that. But she needs to do more than she does, or she'll completely atrophy.
She will probably follow us to Texas. Part of me is glad - I mean, it will be the best thing for her. But part of me cringes at the limits I will have to set. And I hate doing so. I mean, she's my mom! But we can't dig, hoe, and weed her garden for her to meet all her food needs, and we can't redo her house for her because she wants it handicapped accessible even if she doesn't really need it. I think she's going to have to find ways to barter with other people to get it.
I've got a friend who lives in Florida who says when things fall apart, he's packing up his family and coming to live on our farm. And you know, I don't mind that a bit. Because I know he WOULD pull his own weight, would want refuge and a place where he COULD work, not a handout.
I feel that way all around. Pretty much any of my friends or family are welcome, if they are willing to work. I'll share food and roof if they are willing to put in the kind of work that self-sufficient living requires. If they want to put in a 6 hour day and vegetate the rest of the time though, and if they expect weekends off, forget it. Farms don't work that way! We watch movies in the evening, but we work while we're doing it.
All funning aside,we do take advantage of the extras we have.But we have the skills to leave them behind.I think that goes along way.We use these skills to grow a garden rather than drive to town and buy something.I have way more fun walking to the garden than driving anywhere.Just makes sense to me.
