Starting Our New Life

The drive to our new little cabin in the mountains went very smooth and without incident. I know CT would probably say otherwise since he was driving the U-Haul with our car in tow and the climb from the Piedmont area into the mountains was anything but easy (not to mention the narrow country road that brought us to the house). I drove our SUV, which was pretty well packed to the gills with odds and ends along with our three dogs.  However, once we arrived and sat down to rest on a large porch that overlooks the valley, we knew we were home. We took our time getting the U-Haul unloaded since we had 3 days before it had to be returned. We were also exhausted from the stress that comes from moving and just needed to take it slow. Once the U-Haul was empty and returned though, we were able to breathe a HUGE sigh of relief. Now we could really take our time. Aside from me getting things ready to move to my new classroom, we had no time constraints on getting settled and we took that quite literally.

We’ve been here three months now and we’re finally feeling settled. Although there are still some unpacked boxes, they don’t contain any essential things so we’re not in any hurry to get them unpacked. Our goals now have to do with setting up the homestead. There are a lot of things we’d really like to do, but we’re also smart enough to know that we have a lot of learning to do first and that we should be careful to not bite off more than we can chew. On our list of things to do:

• Set up a chicken coop
• Start a rabbit hutch
• Prepare land for a garden
• Set up hydroponics for lettuce and herbs (This is CT’s goal, but I’d like to add aquaponics to that mix)
• Install higher wattage solar panels
• Build up our stores of home-canned goods

I know, there is a lot of ambition in that list, but I think it’s manageable. There are other things we could add, but these are what we’d like to do in the next year or so. Since we’re renting our house, there are some things we want to do but will need to wait on such as planting some particular fruit trees or raising goats. We do have access to multiple apple, pear, cherry, and plum trees on this property so that’ll help. We have taken advantage of the apples and pears this year to make several pints of applesauce and dehydrated cinnamon apple and pear chips. Our landlords have given the go ahead on the chicken coop and garden and will even help us get the land ready for planting. Our plan is to stay in the house for about 2 years while we look for and then prepare the land for our own homestead. In the meantime, we’ll use this place as a learning homestead, although I am fully aware that learning never ends on a homestead.

The more I learn about my family, the more I realize that this need or desire to live a self-sufficient lifestyle is not just a personal desire, it’s really in my genes. I have family that live on homesteads now and many more that have in the past. I have close family that are also trying to lead a more self-sufficient lifestyle. I have ancestors that traveled across the country using a tiny house on wheels long before “tiny homes” became trendy. As a child, I remember picking beans from my grandparents garden then sitting in the kitchen with my cousins preparing those beans for dinner. I recall my mom making dill pickles with some of the jars having jalapenos in them and then trying those pickles and thinking my tongue would fall off, but the regular dill ones were far superior than anything we got in the store. I grew up learning the importance of self-sufficiency, but as I made it to adulthood I seemed to have forgotten those lessons. It’s taken me 20 years to realize the wisdom in life lessons I learned as a child. I’m so glad that I’m finally doing something with those lessons, I just wish I had done something sooner.

Adventure Awaits (part 3)!

Job? Check! Rental house? Check! Packed house? Not quite!

Next up was making the actual move. Due to the date I set for my resignation, I would be working up until the week before the move. That meant almost all the packing was going to have to be done in the evenings and on the weekend.  At least I work in a place where there are A LOT of boxes to be had. I asked our wonderful cafeteria and maintenance staff to please save boxes for me. Since I’m a teacher, it meant I not only had to pack our house for the move, but I also had to pack all of my classroom resources, which, as a science teacher, was a significant amount of “stuff”. Oh, and in the meantime, I still had to finish out one school year and plan for the first few weeks of a new year. Even with great resources, that’s still a necessary time commitment.

One thing I quickly realized as I began to pack was that we had accumulated A LOT of “stuff” in the six years we’d been in our house. Not to mention, I found a couple boxes that hadn’t been unpacked since we had moved in! Holy cow! I knew that multiple trips to the thrift store and county dump were going to be in our future. The hard part would be deciding what would stay and what would go. The thing about most “stuff” in our lives is that it got there because we wanted it. There is some kind of significant meaning behind most of it and letting go can be a difficult thing. Take, for instance, a collection of state quarters. When the quarters were first introduced we bought a nifty display card that had a slot for each of the fifty quarters. We checked our quarters diligently for several years to make sure we had one of each state and then carefully pressed it into the slot for the world to see. But, the thing is, many of the quarters had been circulated already so they weren’t all shiny and ultimately weren’t worth more than their face value and a bit of sentimental value. So now we are $12.50 richer and honestly don’t miss that collection. Granted that example may not seem like something hugely sentimental, and to be honest, it’s not, but the point is that there are a great many things in our lives that are just like it and sometimes we just have to learn to let go.

So bit by bit the “things” that defined our lives were slowly disappearing into boxes designed frozen pizzas or fresh fruit and those boxes piled up in the garage. I tried to pack a few boxes each evening and even more on the weekend. Each day the pile in the garage grew until we couldn’t park in the garage any longer. As the day for the move got closer and closer, the packing got more and more frantic. I had been careful about how I packed (that’s the old Army brat in me) – keeping like items together in a box, accurately labeling boxes, fitting as much as possible in a box before closing – but as time got shorter, I really had to fight with that OCD part of myself. I knew I’d probably regret it once we got to the new place, but I just didn’t have the time any more to be picky. Kitchen items were packed with computer room odds and ends. Some of my craft items ended up in boxes with linens and Christmas decorations were mixed with Halloween (is that even legal??). I still tried to label things so hopefully I wouldn’t be too confused when the time came to unpack.

In the end, everything came together and we were about 90% prepared on the actual day of the move. We hired movers to help us load the U-Haul truck and after several back breaking hours we had most of our belongings tightly packed into the truck. We were ready to hit the road. There were a few things left in the house and we still had to do a deep clean so we made plans to go back to the house a week or so later to finish up. We rose early the next morning, walked the dogs, had breakfast and a cup of coffee, then loaded the dogs and a few random odds and ends. We were on our way to a new country life before the sun was even up. Leaving our home of six years was bittersweet, but we knew we had an exciting adventure waiting for us on the other side of the state. The next step… unpacking.

Adventure Awaits (part 2)!

Now that I had a job in the mountains, the hard part would begin. Leaving my current position, packing, finding a place to live, moving, and finally starting a new job. My head was spinning so fast once I was offered the job that I wasn’t entirely sure where to start. I spoke with my principal to tell her that I would definitely be leaving shortly after the start of the school year (I work in a year-round school) and then submitted my resignation. I began breaking the news to my co-workers, who were all completely shocked. I know it came out of the blue for many of them. The funny thing though was that as I started to tell more people, everyone began telling me how jealous they were of this opportunity. So that makes me think… why don’t more people take that leap of faith to do something they really want to do? I guess sometimes it’s just easier to stay put than to make a major life change. When you only live once, I really think it’s important to make the absolute most of that chance.

However, what’s a job in a faraway place worth without a place to live in? It was time for some serious research. We decided we didn’t want to buy a house right away and would find a place to rent instead. We really want to get to know the area well before we commit to a mortgage in an area we don’t like. If we’d done that when we first moved to our particular area, we would have been incredibly miserable. For now, I had to begin looking for rental properties.

I headed straight to Craigslist to see what could possibly be available. While there were many listings for the area, it was much harder to find a place that would accept pets, let alone a German Shepherd. After watching the ads diligently every day, I finally found four possibilities and lined up appointments to see the houses. It was time for a ROAD TRIP!

We loaded Gabby up in the Expedition early on a Saturday morning for a one day 10 hour round trip adventure. Our first appointment was for 11am and we had 3 more in 1 hour increments after it. The first stop was a 2 bedroom/2 bath cabin with detached garage on 2 acres of land located off a dirt road. We talked extensively with the owners then took a look at the home and immediately fell in love. No matter what else we saw that day, nothing would compare. This home was *exactly* what we were looking for. However, the owners said they were showing the home to one other person who had contacted them before us and they felt they needed to offer them the home first if they were interested. I told her I understood and we would just wait for her to let us know.

We were then off to our second appointment. This house was not nearly as nice and had an unusual driveway. It must have had an angle of probably 50 degrees or more. And although it was listed as having an acre of land, the house was situated on one corner with another house about 10 feet behind it. Definitely NOT what we wanted. We politely declined and headed to the next home where we arrived about 20 minutes early. The home was set back a few feet from a busy street and as we waited to speak with the owner (who was in the middle of showing the house to someone else), we must have counted at least 5 cars go racing by. Again, not exactly our cup of tea, which was fine because the owner finally came out and told us the people before us were going to take it.

Off we went to the last home. It was a very small 2 bedroom/2 bath home on the side of a mountain with a lot the size of a dime and absolutely no room for Gabby. Not to mention, the road getting into the home was so narrow that our Expedition was almost too wide. How in the world would we get a U-Haul up to the house? Again, we politely declined and then hit the road for home. Out of 4 possibilities, only one was what we were looking for and unfortunately, that wasn’t a sure thing. All we could do was wait, and starting looking for more homes.

I few days later, I got a call from the owner of the first house. She wanted to offer us the house! Imagine our relief and excitement. We couldn’t have asked for a better home. I’ll have to drive about 25 minutes each way to work, but the view from the front porch is amazing and we’ll be able to have a HUGE garden along with chickens. The location makes the commute worth it so I definitely won’t complain. Not to mention we’ll be in the middle of a national forest, 10 miles from the Appalachian Trail, and about 30 minutes from a major national park. What could possibly be better for someone who loves the outdoors? Everything was falling into place for our move to the country. Now on to the hard part…. packing.

Adventure Awaits (Part 1)!

When I started this blog over a year ago, the idea was for me to have a place where I could chronicle my family’s adventures in learning how to homestead. Our goal for several years has been to find a place in the country where we could have some land and work toward a self-sufficient lifestyle. We both love the mountains and knew that was where we wanted to be. In the meantime, we would learn what we could on a quarter acre in suburbia.

A couple of months ago, CT came to me and said that we need to do *something*. We needed to figure out a way to make this move to the country a reality. He's not happy with his job and I’m feeling serious burnout after only 3 years of teaching (but that’s a discussion for another day). We both acknowledged that it was time to pull ourselves out of the rat race before we got dragged further in. We decided we would try to make the move by the end of this year. I wasn’t too keen on possibly moving to the mountains in the dead of winter, nor leaving my students in the middle of a school year. I felt it would be better to wait one more year and make the move next summer. CT reminded me that if we kept making excuses about moving that it would simply never happen. There’s always going to be a tomorrow, but we need to live for today. I think my next response shocked him. I told him we would have to move this summer then. It’s easier to find a job as a teacher when I can start at the beginning of a school year and it’s easier as a teacher to work with students from the beginning of the school year. If we were going to do this it was time to jump into the deep end.

I began researching counties in the western part of the state and started looking into open teaching positions in those counties. I quickly found one position that I was very interested in (middle school science) and another I was only semi-interested in (middle school math AND science) so I promptly sent off my resume to both positions and continued to look. I was contacted for a phone interview at both positions within a couple of days. The interview for the science only position would happen a week prior to the math and science position. The interview happened on a Friday and went exceptionally well. They requested my references including my principal’s contact information which meant I had to break the news to my principal that I might be leaving. Although my principal was upset to hear the news, she also understood our need to get to the mountains. She was very supportive and wished me luck in obtaining the position. I have no idea what she told the principal from the new school, but by the following Monday I had a new job. I could hardly believe it!

The first part of our plan to move was in place. Now we had to find a place to live! That was going to be a little more difficult. We currently live about 5 hours away from where I got the job so it wasn’t like we could just drive over and look at houses. Not to mention, we have dogs and that can put a damper on finding a rental. In any case, I’ll write more about our search for a place to live in the part 2!

New Neighbors

For Christmas last year, my dad sent us a beautiful heart-shaped wreath made of natural ingredients like eucalyptus, dried flowers, and sticks. The colors are red, white, and blue so it’s useful year round. I’ve had it on the front door since Christmas and I absolutely love it! Some of the flower colors have faded a little, but it still looks beautiful.

Well, a few weeks ago I noticed some new sticks right in the corner of the heart. Although they were really more like small twigs. It appeared that a bird had found a place for its nest! No big deal, I thought. We don’t actually use our front door a lot since it’s right next to the garage and we typically go out through the garage. So I watched the nest steadily grow over the next few days and listened to the birds happily chirping right outside the door. Then one day I noticed that the nest looked complete so my curious self decided to take a closer look. Much to my surprise, I found a light blue speckled egg inside!

I then watched the nest closely for the next few days. Mama bird sat in her nest chirping away and papa bird (presumably) sat on the corner of the house watching over her. Day after day they were there, chirping back and forth to each other and each day, there was a new egg until we got to a final total of 5. (I missed getting a picture of the day there were 3 since I was gone most of the day).

After looking all over the Internet and in a book of local birds, I’ve decided the birds are house finches. The last egg appeared a bit over a week ago and according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they have an incubation period of 13 to 14 days and a nesting period of 12-19 days. My best guess is that the first egg was laid about 2 weeks ago. If that’s true then we should start seeing babies in the next few days. We’ve been careful to not approach the nest unless the mother is already gone and especially careful not to touch anything. The nest is high enough up on the door that only other birds would be able to reach it. I really hope that I’ll be able to get pictures of the birds, but I don’t want to scare mama bird away from the nest so I’ll have to be careful. In the meantime, we just enjoy listening to the birds in the morning and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens!

Perpetual Learning Curve

I’ve learned a large number of things over the last few months since I last posted. Among the most important:

• The goal of writing a blog post at least once a week was WAY too ambitious. And knowing my procrastinating self, I should have never made that goal in the first place.
• Gardening is both a frustrating and rewarding endeavor, and takes A LOT of work, which can be difficult for someone who works full-time and is working on a Master’s degree in her spare time.
• Pressure canning is a tricky process and one in which you can never ever cut any corners.
• As much as I would love to raise chickens, the rural (yes, I said rural) town in which I live does not at this time allow backyard hens. Maybe it’s time I learned how to change that.
• There is no possible way in the world that I will ever be as elegant and astute as all of the amazing bloggers that I currently read; however, I can just be me and give my perspective on this new way of life I’m moving toward.

As I mentioned above, I lead a very busy life. I teach 8th grade at a local middle school. I am also the advisor for the drama club. Yes, I know, I’m crazy. You don’t have to tell me that! But the fact is, I really do love working with young adolescents. As frustrating as they can be, they are at a stage in life where they can be truly teachable and it is possible to make a difference. In addition, I am working toward a Masters degree that will give me the certifications I need to teach high school. As much as I love middle school, I’ve found that I’d like to teach more advanced subject matter and be able to take it to a greater depth, which is simply not possible in my current position.

So now that it’s been over a year since I last wrote, and now that I have more visitors due to my Pinterest board, I think it’s about time I tried to give a little more attention to my story. I have an amazing garden this year that I will write about very soon. I have done more canning and have been trying new recipes. I’m working on better menu planning and food budgeting. There is plenty to catch up on and I will attempt to do so in the next few weeks.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that some of you will join me in my learning adventures!