The simple life

[earthmother]

So, remember the "back to the land" movement? Well, I always sort of got a kick out of that phrase, cause I never left it myself. Folks wanted a "simpler" life. Get out of the rat race and the system and all. Be your own boss and answer to no one, right?
Well, I'd like to know what is so simple about it??? Ya work your arss off 7 days a week from the time ya get up until ya drop from exaustion. Gardening, canning, digging, hauling, building, fixing, milking the cow, chasing the goats, feeding the pig, fixing the fence and tracking down the horses that got out, being attacked by the rooster... Your hands bleed, ya go to bed dirty cause yer too exausted to even take yer clothes off... All that just to eat and maybe have enough gas money to go to the store for the things ya can't grow yer self, and if yer REAL lucky, enough money to keep the bills paid.

Bitch, bitch, bitch. Actually, I HAVE spent quite a bit of time living without ANYTHING that causes bills, but then its even LESS simple!

We tried various different living arrangements on the farm/commune back in the early 70s. The one that ended up working the best for me was the one where I moved into the barn with the animals, and left the rest of the gang to bicker amongst themselves about how to make the garden beds, or how to slice the cucumbers for the salad tonight...
Sometimes I think that hippys might actually be some of the HARDEST people to share a house with! Everybodys got such STRONG feelings on how things should run, and everybody would get so picky about how to do things that they would sometimes not be able to do the thing at all, for the disagreement about it, and the fact that nobody wanted to be a boss or the bad guy, 'cause after all, hippys don't act like that(?)...

AH, the simple life.
Your experiences?

[ClosingTide]

Well.. When I left Frisco in the early 70's and joined a commune in Colorado, things were pretty crazy. Anyone ever decided to slack-about, their ass was chewed all over. Good times, good times.

[dilligaf]

ahhhhhhh earthmama,,, i hear every word of that,,,, my simple life letter to a friend the other day went something like this... the simple farmlife,, ahhhhhhhh!:( the animals are escaping everywhere ...i got goats with chickens chickens in with the goats, the goats in the yard with the chickens n noone is quite where they belong...The seed are sprouting in the greenhouse, new stuff arrivng daily tiller dun died n aint got the money for a new one,,, shovel n couple hands will have to do the garden but the weather n work dictate that,,, but no the greenhouse n seedlings do as well... anything that has had the notion to up n die in the last four years died three weeks ago(granny), things that shouldnt be breakin have done (car truck water heater)so and things that shoulda broke 5 years ago have(waterlines n spiggots---> empty cystern) and everything else is just waiting for the most inopportune time to go ahead n do so...Babble-on work is slow (hhb broke in half or feels like he did) n slow there means slow here,,,






aint the simple life grand!!!;)
so much better than the city, wouldnt change it for the world...

on another note since i wrote that the only thing left not fixxed is the tiller,,, and it wont be fixxed,,,, the car,,, i just dont care bout that,,,, and the hose bibb which i am doin today.... wonder whats next...;)

[THUDLY]

Yeah, living in the country isn't exactly simple. Just getting in free firewood to last the winter is neither "free" (gotta buy gas, oil, files and new bar-chains), not to speak of up-keep on the tractor. Animals must be fed. Pickled foods need vinegar. Frozen dead animals need a freezer and electricity. Even home-made wine needs sugar and yeast.


It ain't easy to be a red-neck.

BUT, IT'S FUN!

[freakysady]

Tis funny.... I remember all that too. I lived on several communes in the 70's. Some of them I did very hard work and others I did very little work. It depended on the rest of the family. By far the easiest and most fun one was outside Grants Pass, Oregon. There were seven women and twelve guys. The owner of the farm was Master John Stanley,aka, Levi. He was well off and had paid servants and ranchers to do all the work. We mostly partied and dealt. I was his "queen" for two years and my job was "tester". OMG what a trip that was. I ran awy when he decided to bring another "wife" in to our bed. Dumb me. I should have stayed....

**** AFTERTHOUGHT ****
TO BE SURE I AM GLAD I DID NOT STAY. I WOULD HAVE MISSED OUT ON MANY A GOOD, *REAL* THING IN LIFE.

[bushpunk56]

yeh its all familiar to me ..one time i caught my pigs trappin my chickens,they would leave some grain in the trough and hide around the corner then when a bunch of chickens were happily munching away they would rush them we lost 200 that year but it wasnt all the pigs..they was a family of fat foxes in are neibourhood that year too.i had 15 yrs on the farm & 4 more years on 30 acres of bush living in a trailer now im stuck in town &boy i miss that life even with all its hardship

[tuatara]

well i moved back to the country from the big city in 79 ..........i live on the outskirts of a small town ...bushpunk knows the area .while i did not build a commune here i did go back to the land ..it wasn't always easy but then again it wasn't sheer hell either ,some good years and some bad ..equipment breaking down but what else is new ..i just wait for warmer weather to fix it all up .......firewood is work but well worth it in the winter with the price of fuel oil or electricity ...when asked if i would do it differently now the answer is NO

[THUDLY]

Tuatara-- You are goddamned right! Getting in the firewood is work, but GOOD work! Hard work is good exercise and what better way to spend a day in the life than up in the woods sawing trees and drinking beer? When January comes and I have 4 cords split and stacked, smoke pouring out the stone chimney (which I built), the house warm as a pussycat's belly, and a freezer full of deer meat and peppers and trout, what more can one ask?


Huh? Well, she'll be back-- she just went to Texas for awhile.

When I die, if I have to, I want to die in my work clothes, boots on my feet, a chainsaw in my hand, up in the shady woods getting in firewood-- just have a heart-attack and keel over. (Then, you'll miss me Teepi, Sloth and ShamelessCow!)

You may divide the beer remaining in my cooler, loves.

[shameless_heifer]

I've lived on the farm so long I don't think I could be happy living in the city. Too much smog and too many damned people, runnin' 'round like crazy ants.

Life is lived at a much slower pace in the country. I was raised a city gal the first half of my life, the second half of my life has been on this farm..It was easier in the city, not as much work to do. One can just pick up what ya need from a store (one on every corner). Here we gotta either grow it and can it ourselves or drive ten miles into town to get it.
As much as gas is and rising we are thinking of getting a covered wagon and a team of mules to get us to town and back and fuck a bunch of Iranian gas and oil muther fuckers.
I'm looking forward to driving a team of mules, I think it would be so cool if everyone started ridin' horses again and gave them gas whores a run fer their money.
I have a little burro but have only rode him twice, I'm the omly one he will let mount him. I think I'm more the buggy type now, them donkeys ride a little rough..lol.
I would like to keep the tractor though bc my Lynn has worn his bones out working in them damn Oil Fields for 27 yrs. and I think trying to plow with a mule would do more damage to his arms and back.

As I sit here looking out my office (home) window. I can see the meadow across the road with the cows grazing, and the family of squirrels that play gingerly with them.
I see the Red Red Cardinals that splash in the bird bath that is nestled between the Daylillies and Artimesia in my front yard, taking turns with an ocassional Blue Jay that may want a refreshing bath after a good worm hunt.
I see the Morning Dew freshly laid on the new blades of Saint Augestine grass I planted last week, sparkling like diamonds in the rising Sun's golden rays, as the Guienies peck their way over the land searching for a nice fat juicy bug to devour.
I never experienced these feeling or sights in the City. I never felt part of the sceam of things in the city.

Altho we own it, the Farm does not belong to us, we belong to it. We cater to it, we care for it and it owns us, body, mind, and soul. Altho we are no slave to it, we bow to it's Majesty. We give our blood, sweat and tears to it as we cultivate it and plant it with seed that will feed us in the cold winter months. Our work, and sweat are rewarded as the first seedlings pop up through the tilled soil and reach for the sun. The promise of a good harvest to come in the fall. We look at each other as we work together in the garden, we smile threw the sweat running into our eyes and leaving dirt trails down our happy faces. We talk of how good the Sweet Corn will taste with the fat Hog in the freezer and how yummy peaches will taste in the Cobbler that we will have for dessert. I watch as the grapes start sprouting their new leaves and knowing we will have fine wine to drink with our friends and family as we feast on the bounty the earth has given to us. We say a prayer of thanks and hug eachother over our work well done.
Blessed Be
sh

[THUDLY]

Well said, Shameless! Ah.. you're just a tender-hearted poetess!

[shameless_heifer]

shhhh.. now Thudly, I didn't want everyone to know .. now my secret is out.
I am a published Poet~) My poems regiestered at the Library of Congress, somewhere.. maybe 5 or 6 of them, maybe more.. I forget.

[THUDLY]

Well, good luck Cow-in-shame : I actually have a Library in Congress #, but I can't access it. It is 2001119297. I don't know how to go about it, but I'd love to know a copy of my novel is forever preserved and that I'LL NEVER DIE!

A dubious immortality, eh, not?

Publish your poems here, Mad-Heifer.Allow us to judge.

[shameless_heifer]

I have a few of my poems posted somewhere n the forums, it's been a while since I have been possessed by the writer's ghost. I guess I have been too busy to notice. I haven't even worked on my book in ages. I may be in a slump or maybe, yes, that's it.. I have just been too busy to be inspired.
Things around the forums sure haven't been very inspiring lately so I took a fishing trip. We just blew in from the lake and I do mean blew in. The wind raged the whole four days we were there. It was blowing at about 60mile gusts and a steady 30mph day and night. We did manage to bag over 150 lbs of catfish reguardless of the windy conditions tho.. There was a few times the wind would pick up a small tent and tumble it across the campsite and the kids all had to run and capture it before it hit the lake. We did have one episode where The Chaple (our 10X20 inclosure) went flyin' like a humungouse kite across the campsite, tumblin' and rollin' like a toy. And this thing is metal not pvc. It took four of us to hold it down and get it back in place.
All went well and everyone enjoyed themselves.. I did slip into Ninja Granny mode for a few minutes, but it was like lightening and was over fast before it got crazy.. but that's a whole other story heh heh

sh

[THUDLY]

Windy conditions suck-- I'd prefer a steady rain. What did you do with all those catfish? Smoke them ? Freeze them? Give them to Teepi in exchange for one of her paintings? Mail them to Diligaff for the entree at their Easter blow-out? Let them get ripe in the Texas sun and entice my herd of cats south for the duration? I WISH!

[shameless_heifer]

We ate the first batch, about 55lbs on saturday night, the Ester morning we bagged about 7 more weighing out to about 20 to 22 lbs a piece, which to answer your question, is tucked nicely away in the freezer till the next gathering. We catch the fish together and we eat it together.
I never smoked a catfish, what kind of high would that bring.. would you smoke it in a water bong...lolol..

[THUDLY]

Come on, you rebel Jezabell! Smoked in a 55 gallon drum with apple smoke. (Or, down your way, with mesquite smoke.)


Or, road-killed armadillos.

[shameless_heifer]

Ha! we don't eat road kill.. we taxiderm it and hang it on da wall. silly yankeys.. Naw.. we just meal it and fry it up and gobble it down, yum yum, with fried taters, cole slaw and hushpuppies.
There were 36 adults and about 12 or 15 kids(they move so fast ya can't count 'em) some camped some went home and came back the next day. We had two boats and 175 hooks on four trot lines, we fished for shad and little perch to use for bait.

I got DRUNK on shots of Jose and finished off a pint. There was a little scuffle and I had to jump into Ninja mode and subdew a huge dude that was beating up Chris and leaped onto his back and got him innna choke hold like a fricken sumo wrestler and this dude was 6'2 and 260. It was a dumb move on my part bc of the size difference and I should realize that I am an OLD Warroir and my sword and shield NEED to be retired permenatly. Of course I was never in danger bc I had like 15 dudes backing me, I never thought of them untill it was all over and done with. There was no blood drawn and no hard feelings were held by anyone. Some people just can't hold their licker.. me I hold mine by the ears...HA!!

[THUDLY]

FUCKING YO! Jesus! You rebel wimmin must be nuts! (My ex-bed mate, Dolores, is living 10 miles north of Houston, for what it's worth. Maybe she'll come back with a live armadillo-- I'll breed it with a possum ande have an unique animal to throw at bartenders that flag me.)


Where was I?

Yes.

My God, dear, I hope you're not into female domination! You sound as if you're a tough cookie already! I wouldn't want to see you in spike heels with a whip! (Or, maybe I would.)

JUST KIDDING!

(Don't hit me mistress!)

[shameless_heifer]

Well Thud my man.. I am no dom.. but I have been known to kick a few butts in my time.I raised 6 boys, two girls. Them boys were a handfull the girls were much easier. Of course there were more boys and they brought their Friends!!!! We hada build a room on the back of the house just fer the over flow. Some even stayed in the (converted) barn. Of course the barn is not so bad with a big screen TV, woodburning stove, icebox, cookstove, sink with running water, kingsize bed in the loft with a dining table downstairs and a poker table in the loft also. We havn't got the potty in yet but the house ain't that far iffin ya gotta go.
The barn has been used for everyones storage for 16 yrs and after a yr and ya don't get yer stuff out we keep it and divvie it out to ones that may need whatever.. we call it the Majick Barn, bc when someone does really need something they can usually find it in the barn. It's famous around here..
I don't wear spike heels, they are a stupiud mans invention to plauge women and give back problems. I do however wear BOOTS when I need to..

[THUDLY]

Drunk again.

[poor_old_dad]

Yea, well anyway...

Hey S.H.,

Something you said here about a week ago reminded me of something I said to one of my sons and his friends. I was answering some of their questions about living a simple life.
I said, "For the most part, life (or living) is easier in the city and simpler in the country." What do think?

Peace,
poor_old_dad

[THUDLY]

I'll answer for the Virgin Cow-- she's probably either running a trot-line or whipping on some biker dudes.


If one has plenty of money, it's easier living in the city: no electrical outages (everything's underground), buy your meals, landlord pays utilities (after, of course, you pay him extra in rent), stores are open 24-7, no grass to mow, no snow to shovel-- all one has to do is mind one's business and stay out of the ghettos. Looking fabulous doesn't hurt, either; but I'm at the age where just looking presentable works. I know-- I lived in both SF and NYC.

Now, it's not easier nor simpler living in the country-- I also know: I lived in the country for 54 of my 59 years. Do you think making home-made scrapple or sauerkraut is easy? Butchering deer and steers? Driving 10 miles for a pizza? Doing without REAL Chinese food? Hell, no!

But, it is cheaper, especially if you already have your property paid for and heat with wood.

That's assuming one doesn't let some sex-starved, cigarette- smoking, beer-drinking 39 year-old woman into one's house who wants a baby! ( I was spending close to $35 a week on condoms!) On second thought, I should have bought them by the gross.

Oh, well! Condoms are cheaper than babies, but not as much fun, though one still has to change them.

[hippiehillbilly]

man i make sure my sex starved women are std fre an have there tubes tied before i let them in my house,, saves 140 bucks a month.. ;)

an im only 41,, geeze thudly,,when ya gonna grow up?? ;)

[THUDLY]

HippieHillBilly-- I'm like Peter Pan-- I'll NEVER GROW UP!


Of course, I ain't Peter Pan-- I'll die.

BUT, I'll always think when I go to bed, sober or drunk, that I'll live forever.

Isn't it amusing, these lies we tell to ourselves?

[SLOTH]

Sloth Outta Here!

[THUDLY]

Sloth, love--- my ex-wife went through the same shit that you did. She lived; so will you. Colitis, I think it was called-- she lives. So, shall you.

Of course, I got mucho pussy from my wife and mother of four kids-- will you, love-dear, give me anything resembling mucho-snatch?

Aie, aie, aie: what a drunken, nasty man I am,!

I apoligize.

Now! LET'S GET DRUNK! (Pass out and sing Hank Williams and Ernie Tubb,)

[tuatara]

only problem living in the country is the time it takes to go to the store .......and it's only a mile away ....oh well by the time i get back i know who's sick and how this years crops are going to be doing and just about every other juicy tidbit of information about what goes on in town .........never let it be said that the town folks here are aloof ...lol

[shameless_heifer]

Money makes all the difference in the world. With it you can live comfortable anywhere. But to me money doesn't bring experience, just trappings.

Living in a place that is all hustle and bustle makes it hard to find any peacefullness. The most excitement I've seen around here is when the neighbor's pig got loose last week and they tried to run it into a trash can to catch it.

Now where in the city can you see something like that. Or the farm alarm, now here's a treat. At 6;45 am every morning my cute little ass goes off. He gives us all an HEEHAWW HEEEEHAWWW for about ten minutes. Now iffen you have never heard a donkey bray, well it would scare a city slicker to death and has..heh heh..

POD I'm so glad to hear your doing so well, I was worried a little when you were not posting, glad to see you back

Brightest Blessings
sh

[HippyChick1960s]

I remember the back to the land mood, and I was part of it, but never could afford land! Frustrating. Money makes a difference! We've lived on farms etc but did not own. Recenly we aquired our own land. Its great! but I would not be able to do it anymore the hard way, not at my age. I want indoor plumbing! LOL And toilets! And electric lights! So call me what one may, this is how I can do it as I age - and its the deer outside make it worth it, the organic gardening we are finally starting, the calmness that has finally come to my significant other. Maybe we aren't doing it the way hippies are suppose to do it (roughing it, or doing 'only' that which is natural), but we are doing it! It feels great!

[shameless_heifer]

Hey. I'm all for creature comforts. You don't have to live in a cave to be hip, it's a state of mind.
I'm 55 and I sure don't want to regress into living in the stone age.. well not that stone age anyway.. heh heh..
We live off the land, but we live in a house with all the modern facilities. When we camp tho we are in the midsts of living in the wild. After a few weeks roughing it in wild I am glad to be home where I can soak my bones in a tub of Hot water and lushes essential oils.
I have grown accoustom to spoiling myself with the easy life. I think I have earned to right to kick back and enjoy life while I still can. Kids are raised and just me and the hubby.. life is Grand.
Brightest Blessings.
sh

[HippyChick1960s]

Stone age lol, good one! Yeah, I can't do that anymore, tho did at the time and it was fun!

I agree its being a hippy is all a state of mind, but seems to need to be verbalized. Anyway, don't care what way it happened, just that it happened.

Essential oils are wonderful! Expensive tho. Want to grow my own herbs on the land. Wonder how hard it is to make my own EO's?

We just got our land this year so its all in the process. Hope we can get a full garden in soon.

[gate68]

http://www.boulderrelocalization.org/documents/Relocalization%20and%20Community.pdf

[poor_old_dad]

http://www.boulderrelocalization.org/documents/Relocalization%20and%20

"The requested URL /documents/Relocalization and was not found on this server."

Hey, Gate, ya might want to check that link.

Peace,
poor_old _dad

[gate68]

"The requested URL /documents/Relocalization and was not found on this server."

Hey, Gate, ya might want to check that link.

Peace,
poor_old _dadThanks dad,fixed it.Try it again.

[poor_old_dad]

Thanks dad,fixed it.Try it again.Very, very interesting reading. Thanks Gate.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

[gate68]

The Coming Islamic Superpowers?

This weekend, our so-called leaders finally began using words like "crisis" to describe the oil-powered shotgun we Americans have stuck in our mouths. Many indications are that we've crossed the point of "peak oil" worldwide, and production is now diminishing by a couple percent per year. (According to the IEA, oil production is now in decline in 33 of the 48 largest oil-producing countries.) Couple this with skyrocketing global demand, and whether you think we have ten years or one hundred years of supply remaining, it means one thing for prices: an upward trendline until it is gone.

And we Americans, while good at many things, are not so good at planning ahead. So, we are likely to keep doing what we've been doing: driving our SUVs, full of cases of cheap Chinese goods, along our sprawly commuter routes from our well-lit downtown workplaces to our ARM-financed suburban homes until the music stops. I am not an economist, so I don't know quite when the model "breaks" - but my hunch is that it's closer to $100 a barrel than $200, and no matter where the breaking point is, we stand closer to it than we ever have.

I'd like to propose an idea that doesn't seem to be in very broad circulation at the moment: the massively empowering effect of the imminent acceleration of wealth transfer from western societies to smaller Islamic nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, UAE and Kuwait. Depending on the depth of supply, their relatively small populations will benefit much more than they have in decades past. This new wealth is capable of fueling unparalleled economic and technological growth and spawning major new social, economic and military powers on a scale never before found in that part of the world. We are now seeing new military glimmers of this in Iran, and it is not stoppable.

There's been a great deal of chatter about China as the world's "next superpower", and it certainly has the population and potential to support it. But for this particular transfer of wealth, China is serving more as a moneychanger. Their own ballooning energy needs are forcing them to send their money (and ours) in the same direction - to the Middle East.

Well before the unstoppable price of oil wreaks havoc on the indolent American way of life, we will - like the addicts we are - continue to pay the going price for it until we drive off the economic cliff that supports our ability to do so. We have no other choice. Therefore, the incredible amounts of wealth that will find their way from Western economies into the coffers of sheikdoms and Islamic theocracies will make recently-bemoaned US oil company profits look like small change.

This could force the United States into an unenviable socioeconomic and military position. Having exported most of our wealth, and ultimately seeing the dollar's back broken by the inevitable Euro-based oil trading we're dying to prevent, we might no longer have the resources to outgun, outsmart, or outthink the rest of the world. Our ego will have some adjusting to do.

As a result of all this, more than one of these Islamic nations could ultimately emerge as nuclear and economic superpowers; several will become new centers of gravity for culture, the arts and technology; and their governments (elected or endowed) will wield more global power than they ever have before.

And how ironic would it be if this transfer of wealth enabled these nations and their young startup companies to engineer viable, sustainable ways out of the fossil fuel mess before the lights really do go out?
Posted by anthony at 04:14 PM | TrackBack (0)
tags: energy oil

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Comments

Great post. This is why we must start moving towards sustainable energy.
Posted by: Jason Gooljar | May 1, 2006 05:36 PM

The catch-22 though, Jason, is that if we create a sustainable energy solution and thus free ourselves and the world from oil, then the global demand for US dollars (which are the only way to pay for oil now, and thus must be held by every nation in the world that wants to buy oil), will plummet. If the demand for dollars plummets, so does their value, and the US system based on consumer and government borrowing collapses.

In essence, the dollar is no longer gold-backed, it is oil-backed; which has been better for us. Foreign lenders who had accumulated dollars through our voracious borrowing could redeem their dollar notes not at the US central bank for stagnant gold bars, but for constantly-consumed oil, which is the lifeblood of every economy. With no need for the oil that backs dollars, there is no demand for dollars, and the mighty greenback quickly begins to become more like the lowly peso. Indeed, the very pro-US IMF is already now recommending that the dollar should suffer a devaluation to get things back in balance. To oversimplify, if the value of the dollar drops by 50%, we as a nation can only afford to buy half as much stuff as we do now. Could you live on half your present salary? Could your church, school, municipality survive with half their present budgets? What does America look like then?

Just as we can't afford to have Euro-based oil trading, we can't afford to have oil replaced by people creating their energy locally from non-commodity-market-controlled sources like sun, wind, waves, etc. If they do, our currency withers and we can no longer afford our powerful military, our brilliant universities, our excellent roads, power, water, and telecom infrastructure, our schools, our well-paid jobs, our vibrant housing and mortgage market...

Are you willing to sacrifice the wealthy, safe America we know for a world living on sustainable energy? Our boys aren't dying in Iraq for oil, they're dying for the very survival of the dollar, and thus, the United States.

We're out on a crumbling ledge, and rushing to renewables will just crumble it faster. Believe me, if the world finds an alternative to oil, the US will become extinct far, far faster than the polar bear. Is that a price you are willing to pay?

For reference, just google things like "Euro oil bourse", "IMF dollar devaluation", etc. You have to be able to read some academic texts above a four-grade reading level, but the sobering information is there.

For an easy read summarizing it all, you can start with The Proposed Iranian Oil Bourse By Krassimir Petrov. A touch viscerally America-bashing in his closing paragraph, but otherwise a very imformative primer on the issue.
Posted by: Harry DuBois | May 2, 2006 03:14 AM

[smelltheroses]

We live in the pines on an island off the East coast with five cats and have our own small business to support ourselves. I don't even like going near the city, anymore, and my husband never did. I'm not so simple, though, as you can see by my presence here on the internet. Still, I think we can keep it down even with technology around.

We don't ask or expect much, some people can't understand that, but to each their own. :)

[bamboo]

I grew up in the country and lived in the country until about 11 years ago. My wife decided that we should live in town to benefit our two girls in school, activities etc. (town is a state of mind...3500 people)

We drew water from a cistern for the first two years after my dad bought the farm that I grew up on. Then he bought a cistern pump from Sears and we had cold running water to the kitchen. The other facilities were outside. We had our first indoor toilet when I turned 11 years old and I vividly remember burning the old shitter down. We had two milk cows, grew a huge garden and raised a couple of hogs every year. We burned wood and I remember having an almost cronic case of poison ivy from cutting wood and working in the brush until my "indian" great uncle came down and gave me the cure...thought I was going to die from that but it worked and I am still immune to poison ivy. Prior to that we used biled ironweed root to put on the rash...no ivy dry or trips to the doctor. We worked hard but it was a good life.
After living in town for about a year I decided that I didn't like "town." I couldn't move again but that is when I started planting bamboo. My back yard is surrounded by 35' tall bamboo leaving me in an oassis in town where there is no town. I sure miss the farm though.

[erzebet1961]

After having lived both THE SIMPLE LIFE, which is how I grew up, and YUPPYVILLE for a short space of time, I am back to the simple life, surrounded by grandkids ,and dogs,and cats and rabbits and guine pigs and chickens and planting and canning and hanging wash out to dry and trying to save what crops I can from the elements, and battling the dirt for my kitchen floor!!!!
BUT I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[OnlyOne]

land iz the mozt xpencive thing on earth.