Our version of retirement: Living a childhood dream

I posted a rendition to this in another thread, but it belongs here too;


I have a place in my soul for the song dogs (coyotes)

I know they’re a scourge in most parts of the country
But they’ve etched a place in this being

Their language, their verses describe the landscape as only they can

Their long, high notes,
floating across the meadow and into the trees of a misty early evening,
ringing out a conclusion to the day,
gives me a bit of a chill and a reverence,
imparting perspective as to where I am,
giving credence to this woodland romance I’m having

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gumbud said:
'ello old timer - how ya been keepin lately?? how's long ya been out there now?

gummy!
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Working on our fifth year now.

Gettin' a bit squirrely

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....long winter

I tend to clog up threads when snowed in
Folks don't appreciate that much
Backin' offa that



You?
 
well still hangin in on our 8 acre block in the forest - bit like yuz folk - only difference is the nearest hamlet is only 5kms away and we NEVER get snow! - still it gives the illusion of separation. In reality you can be sittin here for days and not see or hear a thing - peaceful man. Few family members call by occasionally but that's all.

been nursin a bad knee, cracked part of the knee cap and didn't feel like goin for a knee re-construction at my age so had a key hole exploration - clean out the broken scraps and let it heal itself. now off crutches and sticks and walkin like a drunk! still makin some homemade houch and watering the garden for the missus who does all the traveling and brings in the spondulas!

Sounds like ya turnin into a caravan park with all ya neighbors buildin up around ya? caught up with ya thread - winter -summer - sunsets and sunrises and that obsession with chipmunks! still sounds like the good life. cheers. gummy
 
gumbud said:
Sounds like ya turnin into a caravan park with all ya neighbors buildin up around ya? caught up with ya thread - winter -summer - sunsets and sunrises and that obsession with chipmunks! still sounds like the good life. cheers. gummy
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Yeah, it gets a might crowded in certain seasons

There’s a few hunter’s cabins here and there
One, I can see across the meadow with the binos

One year-round guy is only a quarter mile away, but he stays to hisself……good neighbor


Folks’ll be comin’ ‘round late spring with their ATVs…and kids….and dogs
The ones that know me or know of me, know better
Others, I have to educate
Part of the fun


Snow is disappearin’
Takin’ its sweet time

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But, the sawbuck is emerging, so is the outdoor dining table

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And the iceberg on my outdoor work table is getting smaller

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Terra firma has showed here and there

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A rancher friend dropped off a load of horse manure…shavings and all
It’ll mix well with the compost to give our garden effort a chance

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The snow has stayed slid off the shop roof, and should be gone by May

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Gawd, I'm a boring cuss



Take care that knee, bud...ya only got one extra
 
Our little mount gave me a different look this morn

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…then went back to somber, fighting the rays

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I don’t blame her


Think I too will tuck back in
 
Hi again G'O - I know you get lots of must be silly questions about your lifestyle - but one just occurred to me! - after looking at the receding snow scenes around your place. Do you shovel away the surplus snow or just let it melt? - I told you it was a simple one to answer!

gummy
 
gumbud said:
Hi again G'O - I know you get lots of must be silly questions about your lifestyle - but one just occurred to me! - after looking at the receding snow scenes around your place. Do you shovel away the surplus snow or just let it melt? - I told you it was a simple one to answer!

gummy
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Not a bad question.
More legit than you might think.

A gentleman down the path told me it takes five years to know what you can do and what you’d be better off not doing, as far as gardening (his expertise) and living off grid.
Now into my fifth year, I can’t argue with that.

What to do with snow;
The first winter we shoveled it night and day
The next summer we came into a medium grade snow blower from the wife of an old guy that died
The second winter we gratefully blew out paths
…and thought about the six foot hills of snow from the roofs, as they turn to ice rather quickly

So, we learned to pay immediate attention to what I rake off, and what sloughs off, in the places of where we need to get.
Strategically tossing those shovelfuls where we don’t walk (at least in winter)

Other’n that, let it snow
 
gumbud said:
thanks gary a technical approach then? which what took 5 yrs to develop! - not easy sometimes livin out there!
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Folks usually start out with the wrong impression in regard to actually living off grid and in the sticks.
And that impression is usually garnered from weekend camping experiences.
Day to day living becomes a bit gritty

Anyone camping, hunting, for, say, three or four weeks has a better idea as to what they’re facing.

One, often over looked, situation is what does one do with one’s poop.

You can only dig so many shallow holes
Soon, you eventually outa places, or get tired of the long trek, shovel in hand, every time the urge comes about.

Heh, a youngish family man (three kids) ended up digging a very deep hole.
That was four years ago
It’s now full
A veritable pit of shit
And not all that far from their well
I no longer accept their dinner invitations


There’s a place somewhere in this thread/diary that talks about how we addressed that bottom line.



Another misconception is ‘well, I’ll just hook up some solar stuff and have power for cheap to free’

One soon learns anything more than an experiment with solar technology is expensive

And I learned from them

One day I may go solar, but not with what’s available at present
 
yes solar always sounds so attractive very much so in OZ but we have still had many problems you wouldn't believe! there are two arguments at least in your case I see Gary.

1. solar power wasn't technically available for the old timers in days gone by and yet they survived so why not mimic them heh?

2. solar power is still now technically available to anyone on the planet so why not give it a go and make life more comfortable?

I would never dare suggest which is the best option for you as you may go for the two finger sign!!
 
gumbud said:
yes solar always sounds so attractive very much so in OZ but we have still had many problems you wouldn't believe! there are two arguments at least in your case I see Gary.

1. solar power wasn't technically available for the old timers in days gone by and yet they survived so why not mimic them heh?

2. solar power is still now technically available to anyone on the planet so why not give it a go and make life more comfortable?

I would never dare suggest which is the best option for you as you may go for the two finger sign!!
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1. solar power wasn't technically available for the old timers in days gone by and yet they survived so why not mimic them heh?

Prolly because they didn't have the wonderful electronics we enjoy today


Yeah, I watched Tesla get deep into solar power, then back off.
I was encouraged a bit, but I too backed off.
A somewhat local celebrity gent a few miles outa town invited me over.
Very nice set up
About $20K usd worth of nice
No batteries
Just swaps power with the utility companies.
I don’t see myself laying out that cash
My luck, I’d get all set up then something newer and more wonderful would come along, making my $20K investment a very poor one


2. solar power is still now technically available to anyone on the planet so why not give it a go and make life more comfortable?

I’m sticking with my gennys, but will play with solar a bit down the line


Meanwhile, I’ll still go and listen to my celebrated acquaintance play his mandolin at the quaint little downtown watering hole of a given Saturday night
He's quite accomplished in many genres
 
Spring is finally happening

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Oh, we still get snow, and more is predicted
terra firma today, covered tomorrow

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But the temps are rising, so the new white stuff don’t hang around much
Even the ice is shrinking

Truth be told, I’m pretty sick to death of the 'pretty'
I’d really like to get on with outdoor projects other than break ice to get at wood to bring in.
Or fetch water, or burn poop.

I mean, how many bird houses can one make?
...and how whimsical can they be?

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I am in the middle of designing an actual green house, so I can still build those components in the shop.

But March gave me the fever. Always does.

Got back from town today in what I’m hoping will be the last time for a long time in the Wrangler.
I do love it, but it’s a noisy lil’ cuss, and not the warmest rig, and little actual storage for building materials.

So, I dug out the ol’ truck.

Then spun the tires


Then dug out the ice around the wheels

Then spun the tires some more

Then rocked it back and forth

while spinning the tires


Then threw down some rock

Then spun the tires

Then pulled it out of the ice with the Jeep

Damn truck needs some paddles on them rear tires


Ended up creating the first mud hole of spring

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But, the truck is available for trips to town now
and just a bit of mud on its face

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Lil' Joe will now be second fiddle (until deep summer when the top comes off)


Heh, spring…is when I consider laying down some largish crushed rock in the drive
Then summer happens and the mud goes away….


And I get busy
Even in what’s left of the ever present white stuff
Especially when those tiny white devils keep falling

It’s my little way of thumbing my nose at what happens at this elevation…in spring…and sometimes summer


Still, it’s good to see snow pack in the Cascades, a bit to the west


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Keepin’ a low fire
 
oops still fightin the seasons then Gary?? hope ya not measuring them on a chrono thingy!!

yep love the scenery but that's a bit of a mud patch/pond in the drive - you got wellies?
 
gumbud said:
you got wellies?
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If by ‘wellies’ you mean dry wells, yes

We have 2 feet (.6 meters) of pumice from the spews of Mt Mazama (Crater Lake) eons ago
Then the hardest hardpan I’ve ever encountered
So I punched two in via auger on the path to the privy

Went 4 feet (1.2 meters)
Filled it with medium sized round rock so they wouldn’t mesh, and welded up some round plates of rebar for covers

As for the ’drive’,
I may dump some crushed rock there, but not all that concerned since it’s just a few weeks of sludge from spring break up,
then hard pumice/dirt mix the rest of the year

But...I may

It'd be an improvement
 
gumbud said:
oops still fightin the seasons then Gary?? hope ya not measuring them on a chrono thingy!!

yep love the scenery but that's a bit of a mud patch/pond in the drive - you got wellies?
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we call rubber boots "wellingtons" after Lord Wellington I think - thus wellies!!
 
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