"If I knew then what I know now....."

[where I want to]

With a nod to simi's remodeling thread, I think those few words are worth a whole thread to themselves.

If I knew then what I know now-

1) I would have logged the trees back farther from the house. The quail would just have to do with less habitat.

2) I would have not bought a pellet stove. Who knew pellets would be $7 a bag and the power would go out for so long so many times each year.

3) I would have built the horse shed so the back was up hill and the open side down hill so the river of rain would not tend to run into the shed and I would not be out in the worst rain digging ditches to reroute a new river that found its way into existence. I can live without seeing into it from the house.

4) I would have developed a better base for the riding ring ( a glorious name for the mud patch) than redwood bark as who knew 'biomass' energy production would take all the chips left after most of the sawmills closed. And what few there are get shipped to China for paper manufacture.

5) I would have laid more gravel- lots more.

Much I did right but these are things that are hard to change now.

[Forcast]

yep on cutting more trees from around the house.
built more closets
built in a pantry
built in a mud room
have electric run in the basement and garage and some outside outlets
more than one outside water source heated
insulated the basement and garage
put in a hand pump and well
more gravel or black top drive way
should have leveled more land to make it usable

[Danaus29]

I would have waited for land that was more suitable for agriculture. (more acreage)

[simi-steading]

I would have bought a place that needed a lot less work, or I would have made sure I had a lot more money before I got going on this place..

I would have made sure I had a tractor with a loader

I would have started on a shop before I started on anything else.

I already think a long hard time before I do something with a project, but now I know I need to think twice as long and three times as hard...

I would have figured out a way to have my wife around more to help. Many times, it's not a one person job, but I figure out a way, that usually ends up in a pulled muscle or something like that.. I've got a pinkey finger that still hasn't healed up since I broke it 4 months or so ago... I just keep re-injuring it..

I got a huge list like this, but it goes into a lot finer detail.. .

Oh.. I wouldn't have put my tree stand on the back ridge until I had a way to drive the ATV at least most the way up there.. That was wasted time now, because I know I won't shoot anything up there until I can drive it most the way down..

[simi-steading]

OH.. another.. .I wouldn't have lifted the up stairs floor before I sistered new joists onto the old to level the floor.. Once I removed the jacks, it sagged again.. Not as bad.. but..

[FarmboyBill]

Never got married to city gals.
Kept my 40 in Kansas

[Buffy in Dallas]

I would not have gotten pregnant at 17, 19, 21, 23 & 26.
I would not have gotten married to the person I did.
I would have gone to college. (horticulture)
I would have bought land much sooner.
I would not have let myself get so out of shape!
I would not have let a husband who had never built anything try to build a house.

[Tango]

I would never have sold my previous 50 acre, off- grid farm.
I would never have sold my former cows.
I would never have left my dogs in the care of a neighbor.
I would never have ordained or given away so much of my hard-earned belongings.
I would never have listened to the advice of people I did not know personally or think they knew better than I did.
I will never, never again let anyone get away with cheating or stealing from me without going through the appropriate legal channels immediately and making use of the recourse the law provides.

[karenp]

Yes, on the trees
I would have had them make the foundation 3-4 courses higher.
I would have bought a place with less woods and more pasture/garden area.

[willow_girl]

I would have stuck to rescuing something like hamsters instead of worn-out dairy cows.

[handymama]

I would never have let the opinions of another person close to me completely rule my life.
I never would have allowed my parents to doze the remains of an old house into the ravine behind my barn.
I would have kept the family land cleared off as a teenager so it wouldn't be overgrown now.
I would've never stopped riding horses.
I wouldn't have tried to make it work with an abusive guy just cuz I was having his child.
I would have kept going to college.
I would have put my trailer somewhere besides behind my parents house.
I would have stolen moms heater that caused her house fire, which was from the seventies and I had BEGGED her to stop using.
I would never have married ex hubby.
I would have talked to my great granny more about her life farming and growing up and raising three kids in the backwoods. She died when I was 14.
I would never have smoked that first cigarette!

[Bret]

...I would not know now what I thought I did then.

...I would have harvested trees before the tornado devastated the woods. OK, so I'm a tree hugger.

[Wolf mom]

I would never have married the men I married. Therein lies the tales of all misgivings.

[Micheal]

If knowing back then what you know now thinking you wouldn't make the same mistakes, errors, etc. you wouldn't know now what you wish you knew back then.....

[Mike CHS]

I would not want to change a thing in my entire life as that change might mean that I would never meet the wonderful woman that I married.

[SouthGAMan]

I would have been a better listener to my elders.
I would have spent more time talking to my grandfather about farming.
I would have spent more time speaking with my father about ...well just about anything.
I would have tried to be a better parent to all my children.
I would have been more thankful for good health when I actually had good health.
I would had done things when they were needed to be done instead of putting off many things until 'later'.

[CraterCove]

I would have started my project for self sufficiently earlier.

I would have been more gung ho about getting fences in place /before/ the goats.

Otherwise... really, I am enjoying the journey for what it is.

[BohemianWaxwing]

Oh, I like this thread!

Question for those who mentioned clearing more trees from around the house. What's the reasoning behind that? I've got lots of cleared areas on our land but was looking at nesting the house back up against the trees on NE and W sides for shelter and shade. Is it trouble from branches falling on the roof? Roots in the foundation? Something else?

Thanks.

[MO_cows]

Would have kept the '68 Chevelle SS.

Would have done the fencing better and with a different layout.

Would have come to the decision sooner we had to build a new house and started saving for it sooner.

[BohemianWaxwing]

Originally Posted by simi-steading

I got a huge list like this, but it goes into a lot finer detail..

I want to hear some more of them, simi! Details are good for those of us who are still looking FORWARD to MOST of our mistakes.