November 28, 2022 - Day 1

What is Day 1? Well, back story - we have been watching Justin Rhodes on and off for several years now.  A few years back he started this thing called 100 days of growing food, which he would start in the fall and continue for...yeah, 100 days. He did that for at least three years, I think. Well this year he switched things up and decided to do 100 days of building a homestead. Check out his YouTube channel - you'll see what he's doing. 

Huh...interesting. Well, I decided that I would start something with the theme of 100 days. I mean really, I retired so I could live the farm life and what have I been doing? Not as much as I thought I might, that's for sure. I can only use the I'm-getting-used-to-retirement excuse for only so long. Not that it's excuse it's for real. The past year I have been actually doing more around here, but I want to see more results! Well, if I had to look back on what I accomplished, it would be notsomuch. 

Ideas - I have so many ideas! All I need is time...I've go that going on. I also need some funds. That's what has been slowing me down. 

Until Mr. Windswept Farm's retirement finally kicks in he'll need to figure out income. At the beginning of the year he was employed by a local engineer who works out of his home and it was okay. It was more frustrating than anything and that lasted like three months or so. Then the rest of the year was filled with a lot of handyman work - which lasted pretty well for quite a while. THEN in the last couple of months he was applying for jobs at a couple of engineering firms in the area. The first place which is across the river in Oregon invited him for interviews and tests and ultimately decided that the other applicant was a better fit. Okay, disappointing, but not the end of the world. Not too long after that a more local company (here in Vancouver) decided to interview him. Once they became aware of the skills and experience that he has they had other ideas for him. So, long story short, he started work on November 14 in a position that was specifically created for him. 

So, here we are nearing the end of the month and I'm looking forward to starting some outside projects. Soonly, he'll receive his first paycheck and we can start catching up on things that we set aside for another day. A couple of those things would be fencing the rest of the field so we can run the pigs further away from the house and gardens and give them more space that includes more pasture. The other project will be my second garden. Also, I would like to give the chickens their own space and keep them to a specific area. Mostly because this year we have had the least amount of eggs in the five years since we started raising chickens for eggs. No more free-ranging for the hennies and no more searching for eggs!

That's the plan at the moment - but we know that anything can happen and plans can change. 

Today is supposedly Day 1, but it's Monday and I serve as the Financial Secretary at our church. Which is fancy for "I count the Sunday morning offering". Actually I take care of retrieving the online contributions information as well AND go to the bank to deposit the monies. So, Monday is my inside day. It can still be my farm improvement day though. We'll see how things go inside and if I have time I can do some outside shenanigans besides feeding the critters. 

Stay tuned for more posts here over the next 100 days!

May Homestead Challenge

 2021 Goals!

I dream plenty - now it is time to take action!

My goals for this first year of retirement is to transition from filling my days with working for someone else to working for myself. Whether my day is filled with all sorts of projects or just a couple, my goal is to be cool with being home full-time. 

It's a big thing to work away from home for 26 years - working in an office environment and serving the public. Always representing the fire district well during while at work and sometimes when away from work.

These days I just want to be me and represent the Lord well. I'm working on relationships right now and with that I'm making myself healthy. It is slow going, because I want to be a hermit, but that's allowed. If I allow myself to become a hermit then my retirement will not be as full as I would like. I would be home doing all the farm things that I like, but that in itself is not fulfillment. There is no balance. I have to be intentional in allowing others into my world. Even if it's just a couple of people walking past our house and asking about the critters. Sometimes I have to reach out and ask someone for a coffee date or whatever. If I can get into the habit of asking other people how they are doing and how I can pray for them or how I can support them - that would be a step in the right direction. 

People are not the problem (not totally at least) just me in this transition from 40 hours per week away from home to being home all the time. At least once a week I ask Tom if I'm doing enough, because I don't feel like I am. The irony is that I may have filled my day with doing inside chores, baking bread, working on a sewing project and then helping with the outside chores in the evening. If I could just realize that doing all of those things ultimately make me feel content and somewhat accomplished, then I would feel better about being home. 

It's a perspective thing. It's a lot to be around people all day long, day after day who just want the latest new shiny thing or "need" to go on a big vacation. I've done my share of wanting and traveling. Now I need to be home and grow this space into something special to share with people around us. People who are neighbors or people who are friends.

My other goal is to have a kick-ass garden. Last year was so bad - I thought I would just give up growing a garden forever. So far I have plants that I started from seed to plant in the garden and I'm hopeful. Anything going forward will be much better than last year!