A Cup Half Full and a Belief in Miracles

Gene and I had “The Talk” yesterday. Fall is a time of intensive labor on our homestead; what we call “The Fall Rush.” So much has to be done in a short amount of time, the stress builds and tempers flare. We are working hard to beat the first flakes of snow and the big freeze that is soon to arrive on our SW Michigan property.

Our vegetable garden at its peak this past July.

While we do struggle with the massive amounts of work to keep up our homestead and gardens here, I shared with Gene how blessed and fortunate I believe we are.

We are in fact truly privileged. We have health insurance coverage, we have a warm, comfortable and safe home, we own two, paid off vehicles and while none of these belongings are new or fancy, I have made the choice to look at our life like a glass half full and feel the bounty not the scarcity.

The meadow edge is the perfect habitat for butterfly’s, dragonflies and birds.

I remember vividly when 18 years ago we met at ages 45 and 50, both divorced and he was in massive debt. We had nothing between us except my small, 75-year-old Fairview city home. With only our mid-life energy, a dream and a drive to rebuild our lives together we set a goal to retire here and to build a more sustainable life together.

One of our four rescued Cochin Bantams.

With the tools of a strict budget, books, the Internet and nothing but the hard work from our own four hands we now own a productive 5-acres, a nicely fixed up older home, food gardens, chickens and a debt-free retirement. Neither of us had high paying jobs, divorce support or an inheritance – just a solid plan, a belief in the abundance of the Universe and our trust that miracles can happen and one did.

Today’s homestead gatherings’ apples, chives and a Rhode Island Red egg!

I am grateful for every sunrise, every tomato and apple and every day of good health. We are not just counting our years…we are making our years count.

Our water collection and storage system irrigates our property.

Here a piece written by Permaculture expert, Ben Faulk…it says what I would like to articulate today but cannot.

The chicken coop, run (in progress) and water trough from the vegetable garden.

“Perhaps it’s good when something you expect doesn’t happen because it enables you to appreciate all the other things you might have missed. And as long as we’re sufficiently fed, what’s life about anyway? Certainly, for me anyway, NOT simply more physical yields. This makes me think of Fukuoka’s dictum that “the ultimate goal of farming is not the cultivation of crops but the perfection of human beings.” I don’t like the word “perfect” but with each passing year I find myself agreeing with him more about a lot of things. In permaculture we say “Obtain a Yield.” Hmmm. Sounds a bit colonial for permaculture. And “A” yield? Singular? Color, shade, aroma, beauty, companionship, pollen, soil, nesting habitat, oxygen. All these things and many more have already been yields of these trees and they’re just getting started. At some point a tree’s yield in fruit or nut or wood becomes a bonus, not it’s core value. We need to eat, to be sure. But yields are subtle and myriad. “Get a Yield?” Sure. But perhaps we should say instead “Don’t forget to notice all the yields.”

Our Small House homestead yields are more than just tasty organic food and eggs, our yields also include a safe, warm home, a healthy organic environment of plentiful oxygen provided by majestic White Oak trees, their leaves and the blessings of flowers, sunshine, clean air and human happiness.

Small House homesteader, Donna

Winter is Back with a Vengeance!

The arctic blast is back on our homestead – brutally cold waters are blowing inland over the waters of unfrozen Lake Michigan. We are expecting wind chills of 5 to 15 below 0 all this week.

I am eternally grateful this week for my cozy and warm home and our snow blower!

Without a heated workshop, it looks like progress on the covered chicken run will be screeching to a halt. We did manage to get the runs two doors built and covered in chicken wire and hung this past week.

I guess there will be time to get our freezer defrosted and cleaned and the bathroom closet reorganized after all!

 

Stay warm and thanks for following!

Small House Homesteader, Donna

 

Another Annual Cousin’s Breakfast

I don’t mean to be melodramatic but one thing hard about getting older is losing family members and friends. One thing hard about getting older is losing family members and friends. With each passing year there are fewer of us around than before.

In my immediate family we have just one 82-year-old Uncle left alive and then it’s down to us — the cousins. This loss of family is part of life and on we all know death is coming but still, it is sad. And we are mostly in our 50’s & 60’s so its inevitable at some point.

A few years ago my cousins and I stared getting together for a meal around the new year. Some years its is held as a NY eve dinner and this year it’s NY day breakfast.

Most of us have to drive at least an hour and we pick a site that is about midway for most of us and it is a pleasant way to begin the new year or see out the old one. This is an opportunity to share and catch up on the past year. And it’s fun to.

Small House Homesteader, Donna

 

A Time for Gratefulness on our Homestead

When I think of what was here and how far we have come since we move to the Small House property in 2000 I shake my head in wonderment and say a prayer of thanks at all we have accomplished in the past 14 years.

I remember no driveways, no sidewalks, no fenced-in vegetable garden, no clothesline, no landscaping of any kind just grass and trees and lean, sandy and non-fertile oak savannah soil. The house trim was chipped and needed painting, this house had no eves troughs and an old roof.

There was no electricity to the pole barn and we added the blacksmith forge to the north end of the pole barn. And the inside of the house…oh my, it was definitely depressing. The inside of this Ranch home looked like the 1960’s with old crummy dark brown dog-hair-filled carpeting, harvest gold painted walls AND ceilings and old wallpaper everywhere. I didn’t have a digital camera then so I have few photographs of the homestead in those days.

Our home had previously been owned by a 70+-year-old couple in ill health and rooms were half done. Our laundry room had an ancient square water heater in it, harvest gold “place and press” tiles on the floor and wall-to-wall gray steel shelving filled with old cans of paint and household cleaners. This open is what I saw when I walked through our kitchen. UG!

 

Then when the couple passed away, the property was left to their five children and sat empty for way to long. I always said we bought this place for the land knowing with time and energy I could make the house into about whatever I wanted and could afford.

Fourteen years later I am grateful to have a snug one-story house that I now love. It won’t make headlines with its 1970’s-1980’s decorating style and feel but its practical and pretty and I can live in it.

Our snug little homestead home early on.

As our garden beds mature.

Above all I am grateful to have the body and the health to make these many improvements and make our dream come true.

Our back yard sidewalk and garden in the pre-flood years.

Then when I remember the high ground water year flooding it’s a miracle that we did not bail and sellout. Four consecutive springs of rain, rain and more rain and living in a marsh complete with mosquitoes and mud. Losing all of our garden soil we had worked hard to build up, losing many thousands of dollars of shrubs and trees and everything on the pole barn floor to the water and basically having to start all over yet again.

The beauty and bounty of the garden as ecosystem for bugs and butterfly’s.

And the tole on my health…sigh. As a result of the longstanding water and mildew I had more than three years of upper repertory distress, necessitating my using inhalers and medicine for asthma and on major skin infection… one right after the other…It was a very rough few years.

The bad years on our homestead. Flooded from 2008-2012.

What I am focusing on now it that its 2014 we have our new roof and it’s paid for in full. The driveway is newly resealed and the flowers gardens are on their way back. The vegetable gardens have newly built raise beds and the soil is fertile again thanks to the gifts of well-composted horse manure and bark chips shared with us by friends.

The meadow garden in the fall when the ornamental grasses are in flower.

We’ve added the water totes that capture and contain water from the pole barn roof, we’ve redesigned and rebuilt the chicken coop and are now working on building the covered chicken run. More egg layers to arrive in the spring.

The newly built chicken coop and dusting bed in the chicken run.

We have two freezers that are full of the bounty of our garden. Our home is now mold and mildew free and warm, the ditch system has been built to take the flow of water away from our property should the high water ever happen again. I certainly do not take the basics of life for granted here.

Two views of our remodeled laundry room. My now gone Labrador, “Spirit” checks in with me. I miss her everyday!

We’ve had a few health blips that have challenged us but we are mostly in good health for our age. We still have a ways to go on the homestead to get it to where we want because a homestead, like a garden, is always a work in process. We need to plant more Heritage fruit trees but we have made some real headway on our property here. Rome was not built in a day and neither is an American homestead!

Hubby and I at a special anniversary dinner a few years ago.

Happy Holidays everyone. Sieze the moment!

Small House homesteader, Donna

In Thanksgiving!

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving even though it was not so traditional!

When your son is divorced and shares the care of his daughter half time with her mother, it helps to be very flexible. We celebrated our family Thanksgiving early this year and in a restaurant. But what really matters is being with family not the where or the how!

We meet at a nice restaurant about half way between our two homes and share a meal together. It’s a special time to reconnect with our loved ones.

My granddaughter and I together.

Grandpa Gene and Brenna.

Our 2014 Thanksgiving family picture.

In grateful thanks for the love of family.

Small House Homesteader, Donna

 

 

Manifesting a New Homestead

Manifesting a New Homestead

Some of you may not have been reading this blog when I first began it in 20012. That blog was called The Small House Under a Big Sky http://smallhouseunderabigsky.wordpress.com/2012/03/.

In case you are new to our blog you may not be familiar with the story of how we manifested our homestead?

A wet snow covered the trees and turned our homestead into a winter wonderland!

We were living in the city, just a mile and half from downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan. We were living in a nice 75- year-old Cape Cod house, in a nice family neighborhood where I had raised my two sons and lived for 24 years. There was only one problem, I had always wanted to live in the country and I wanted to garden in the sunshine.

Our vegetable garden and pole barn in the rear and garden bench in the foreground.

As I began to dream Gene and I both wrote out a list of what we were looking for in a home and property. We wanted a one-story home to grow old in and I wanted an open floor plan. I wanted lots of land to garden on and Gene wanted a big pole barn and a pond. I wanted chickens and he wanted large Labrador retrievers with green spaces to run them. And we had to be able to buy it with the profits from the sales of our city home.

Our snow covered raspberry patch near the pool shack.

Disclaimer. Be careful of what you wish for as it will come true….

How We Got from the City to Our Homestead-Written In Thanksgiving…

When Gene and I made the decision to move to the county to grow our own food and have a more earth centered, hands in the earth lifestyle, we made a plan to get here. This was a long term plan that took a lot of hard work and some time to make it real. Homesteading does not happen overnight and neither do major lifestyle changes.

Our homesteads pole barn through the apple tree.

Our plan was this;

1. We would make our city home ready to put on the market while we looked for a country home. We would not spend more on the new home than we could get from our old one. We would only move if we sold our home and found another at the same time – no expensive bridge loans for us.
2. Gene would keep his IT job in the city for our income and I would quit my job to prepare for the sale, pack up the house, make the move and begin again in our new home. I would paint and prepare the new home and get things up and running on our garden and so on.
3. Gene would continue working until his retirement age, approx. 9 years away. We would scale back our lifestyle so that we could live on one income.
4. I would continue writing feature articles from home for a few years and then I would start a small county business using my skills as an artist, marketing specialist and advertising pro.
5. We wanted a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, one-story home with a first floor bedrooms and laundry that we could age in with out-buildings for storage and animals.
6. We were hoping for a brick or fieldstone sided home because we love that low and for low maintenance. (After years of dealing with old two-story windows) we wanted newish windows that could be easily cleaned from the inside.
7. We were looking for about 5-acres of land with lots of sun and space to put in a large garden so we could grow our own vegetables with the goal of keeping chickens at some later, manageable date.
8. We wanted to be close to lakes, rivers, forests and open green space where we could hike, kayak, run a dog and generally enjoy the beautiful of a our beautiful state once retired.
9. I was very serious about not being too near agricultural fields where fertilizers would effect our organic food garden.

In the end we manifested a one-story but older 1950’s Ranch-style home in the largest agricultural county in the state of Michigan that was part of a family estate. The five adult children who had inherited this home were willing to dicker with us which made the purchase possible for us. Our city home had to sell first of course and it sold to the first couple that walked through the door and made an offer. They paid our asking price, not even asking us to take less although BUT we had to be out of the house in just three weeks or pay a penalty.

The Small House up close.

The country home sellers took $20,000 less than the original asking price to meet our goal of buying for the exact amount for selling city home sale. Success! That was certainly a challenge but we made it. Three weeks later we were in a new house in a new city!!

Michigan Holly and juniper branches in an old copper boiler.

It happened so fast it made my head spin. Sometimes abundance is like that!

May you have abundance this Thanksgiving as well!

Small House Homesteader, Donna

 

 

Signs of Health and Wealth on our Homestead

It warmed up to 46 degree here at the homestead today so we took advantage of that warming trend to get a few lingering outside chores completed. Although the day is still gray and damp it is warm enough to be outside working. Even the chickens wanted to be out and about today.

Gene is adding the new gate he built from scratch to the south side of our vegetable garden.

Today Gene finished building the southern gate for our vegetable garden. We have been entering it from the north side but this second gate will give us a second option and be a bit more convenient. We will no longer have to walk through the chicken run in order to get into the garden, which will be an extra perk.

The chicken in their run with stumps for playing on and straw bales to protect them from the westerly winds we have here.

I worked on shoveling and spreading our homemade composted since the snow on the compost pile has melted. This is an outside chore I always hope to get done in the fall so the compost has a chance to further break down and the nutrition and microorganisms can make their way into the roots of my perennials by spring.

One of the “three amigos.”

We are still in the process of reorganizing the kitchen pantry but decided it was important enough to move to the outside chores to take advantage of the nicer weather.

Sassy comes over to investigate the chickens.

The chickens wanted out of the coop first thing this morning so they spent the day free ranging in their run and in the vegetable garden too. They are doing a fine job of digging up the weedy side of the garden where I hope to put our hoop house next summer. We bought 5 large metal hoops from a garden club for just $20.00 so that will be the beginning of our hoop house to allow us to extend our growing season even further. I am researching plans for hoop houses this winter.

Clover and babies in the vegetable garden.

I am grateful for this reprieve from winter, for the heath and strength to do the work we want to do and the time in which to do it. This makes me think if the old saying I’ve seen cross stitched onto throw pillows …”Health, wealth and the time to enjoy them both.”

In my opinion that’s the symbol of true wealth for a homesteader.

Small House Homestead, Donna

Physical Therapy and on the Run

I’ve been a bit MIA this past week. I’ve been trying to juggle a new schedule of physical therapy twice a week and exercises three times a day at home.

My house work is not getting done, my bark chips are not getting spread, the leaves are not getting picked out of the stone beds and I am not getting my much needed rest periods either. It’s been a big juggling act around the homestead.

I’ve been struggling with a painful back for many months now and finally got to see an orthopedic surgeon. On the positive side it’s just a bulging sick and won’t require surgery. But it is still a painful budging disk that is requiring treatment and that has sent my schedule into a total downhill slide.

Gene and a few years ago.

I also discovered that I have one leg shorter than the other and that has wreaked havoc with my hip, spine and neck areas. My spine is twisted the opposite of where it’s supposed to be and therein lies the rub.

The goal is to straighten my core, learn better techniques for posture and move the hip bone back into place. I may be looking at a lift inside my shoes too.

To quote Betty Davis…’Getting old is not for sissies!”

Small House Homestead, Donna

 

Sharing Reiki Healing with my Equine Friend Juniper

I haven’t shared on this blog yet that I am a Reiki master and use this ancient healing work in my own life and the life of my family, companion dog Sassy, granddaughter and friends.

My special interest in equine Reiki has brought me many opportunities to work with horse companions as well as the eight special horses who work with in conjunction with humans in psychological and emotional healing at The Sundance Center at Red Horse Ranch in Fennville, MI.

Best buddies, BJ (on the left) and Juniper (On the right)

I am certified to work with humans by my teacher, Sharon Dee, of Spiritual Healing having certified for Reiki 1, 2, and 3. I am also certified to share equine Reiki after studying and certificating with horsewoman and Reiki master, Lisa Frey of Flying Horse Ranch Energyworks.

I believe that we are all spiritual beings, humans and animals alike. It has been my greatest discovery to connect with a horse’s spirit and encourage them in their life.

Reiki for those of you who are not familiar Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by a “laying on hands” and is based on the idea that an unseen “life force energy” flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s “life force energy” is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.

The barn at Red Horse Ranch

My friend Juniper had been sick with a very serious equine disease that almost took her life. She spent a week in Michigan States Equine Animal Hospital in isolation receiving antibiotics and fluids. It was touch and go and many in our community were all praying for her and sending her long distance healing energy.  I personally send her healing energy morning and night when I did my own daily Reiki practice. Luckily our dear Juniper survived and came home last weekend.

I was invited to come and give her more healing Reiki energy the day after she returned home, which I happily accepted. I’ve worked with Juniper before and I have discovered that she is the kind of a horse who knows just where she wants and needs her Reiki. Most of the time she wants Reiki in her flank and left side belly section, though as she relaxes and goes into what I call “The Reiki Zone” she will allow me to touch her elsewhere too. I know this because she positions herself directly to my hand and presses her sides into me and pushes. She tells me where and how to send the energy in no uncertain terms, and I have learned to listen.

The farmhouse at Red Horse Ranch

As the Reiki flows through her system her eyes close, she relaxes and receives the healing energy. As she pushes her flanks towards me, her belly growls and churns in response. She receives my healing touch for as long as I will give it or until her buddy BJ leaves the stall next door. And BJ always come comes over close to Juniper and shares in the flow of energy as well.

I knew Junipers healing session was done when she yawned, chewed and released a huge breath, kind of like a dog sighing. We enjoyed our session for some 45 minutes and both left feeling energized, content and happy again.

A lovely fall vignette on the ranch…in the color red of course!

I feel blessed to be able to work with you Juniper and your herd on Red Horse Ranch. Be well my friend!

Donne, Reiki Master on The Small House Homestead

 

Our New and Improved Small House Blog

If you’ve been following The Small House Under a Big Sky for any time you are likely realizing that our previous blog focus was mostly about our furniture restoration and painting business and it is now changing.

The front of the Small House this past July when the flowers were in full bloom.

This blog is evolving because our life is changing too. I recently realized that 90% of my time and energy is going into our gardening, our homesteading efforts and living a greener lifestyle. If you look back you’ll quickly realize that we are seeking to live a healthier lifestyle building the fertility of our life while building the fertility of our soil.

The grass pathway between the meadow garden and the pool. the grasses and seed heads provide food for the songbirds.

And if you look back over the posts of the past few years you’ll quickly see that this blog was really about our practice of living sustainably and organically. As well as about our efforts to create a healthier and more meaningful lifestyle on our small 5-acre “farmette.”

A small garden bed behind our three-season porch overlooks the back yard and our majestic White Oak trees.

I have recently realized that our life here in this small community in SW Michigan is really all about changing our own small world while creating a sound, native, plant ecosystem and growing better soil and tastier and more healthy food.

One of four bird bath we monitor that keeps water ready for our songbirds.

Yes, I still save, refinish and repurpose vintage furniture but our life is about much more than that.

I have dedicated myself to saving our land, to improving our community and our health while creating something larger than ourselves to pass onto another when the time is right.

Butterfly bushes in the raised cedar bed sits adjacent to the meadow garden.

My goal is to live gratefully in right-livlihood, to practice my yoga and Reiki daily, to live a life of peace and justice in a community of like minded individuals. And like the Reiki healing techniques I live and practice the Reiki Principles I strive to live by…

Just For Today Do Not Worry ~ Just For Today Do Not Anger ~ Just For Today Be Filled With Gratitude ~ Just For Today Do Your Work Honestly ~ Just For Today Be Kind To All People.

Be the change you seek.

Donna at the Small House Homestead.