How many of you out there

You've all given me some hope that I will be able to keep my 5 NY acres and be able to cope! Thank You. I'm also 48 and after 18 years with my husband we are now in the throws of divorce, sad, but I'm a happier person for it I think. I still have 2 teenage boys here to help me for another year, but I see things in a different light right now. I've had to go back out to work full time, to at least pay the bills, I also know that I have to re think things like my outdoor woodburner, which I love, but I can't cut 2 semi loads of wood per year on my own and I have to worry about winter and snow and plowing and.......

Sometimes things seem overwhelming, but planning will hopefully make a huge difference, and maybe a tractor will help! It's great to know that there are others out there that are doing the same thing, moral support is a big help. This year I am not doing a garden, but will do my pigs, and I still have my cows and chickens, it's my transition year where I will be re evaluating many things with a view to my future.

Carol K

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Midhill Dexters
http://www.midhilldexters.com/

It's definitely still overwhelming sometimes! I feel good reading all these posts because sometimes I wonder if I'm nuts. I have no emotional support from family, my coworkers don't understand at all; if it weren't for this site and Countryside Magazine and the friends I've made through them, I don't know if I would have gotten this far.

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I cried because I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet.

You are all a bunch of tough chicks! I'll think of you next time my husband is out of town and I'm complaining and I'll give myself a kick in the hind end.
Tango, you in particular are pretty awe-inspiring...teaching yourself about solar power and going off grid with no experience. This is tough enough with a partner. My hats off to all of you ladies!

I'm doing it alone, too. I'm in the process of getting divorced, at 48. The house had only been enclosed when he left, so I've been insulating, & learning to hang & finish sheetrock. I made some changes to the house to make it more doable for me. I hired an electrician & plumber, plus have had occasional help. I sometimes need help with heavy things, but have learned to do a lot with a wheelbarrow & a hand truck. I do get on the roof, but wait until someone is here. I'm 5', but strong. I've got chickens, plus a dog & cat. Also, a large garden and an orchard. He sold the tractor, but I did buy a used riding mower. I'd love to have a cart, as some of you have. Where's a good place to look for a good cart to pull behind a mower? Some days, I get overwhelmed, but most of the time, I just do what needs doing. It's wonderful to have the company of so many likeminded women.

I am 61 and have been on my own for about 25 years. Wanted to go "back to the land" in the 70's, and finally made it 15 years ago. I took early retirement 5 years ago.

My place is fairly small at 5 1/2 acres. Most of it is covered with red and white pine trees and brush. I probably mow close to an acre with a self-propelled walk-behind mower. I agree with the others who also find things like 50 pound bags of feed and bales of straw heavier every year!

My "livestock" consists of 2 geese and a flock of ducks. I keep thinking of adding a couple of goats and/or chickens, but that means construction of more barn space, and being outdoors longer in winter. I have a hard time keeping my hands warm and functioning when it is cold.

My biggest accomplishment was probably putting up fencing. The welded wire is 5' high and came in 100' rolls. The stuff is heavy! I attached it to t-posts and trees for the most part. I might do some more fencing this year.

I plant a small vegetable garden every year, have a couple of dogs and cats, and hire people for electrical, roofing work, etc. My grown children live across the country from here. It's nice to know there are a few of us out there!

I like that.

Pete

I'm 53 and was married for one yr a very long time ago. I have a daughter age 22 with Down syndrome and autism. She is too low functioning to be any help. I'm glad I can stay home and take care of her tho. Don't have much help unless I have money to hire it done. So I slug away at it by myself most of the time and hire help with the big stuff. Right now I'm still setting things up and trying to get it to where I'm not running constantly. I have a LOT of birds to take care of, especially during hatching season, which lately seems never ending! LOL Hoping to get it to where I'm doing chicken and duck breeding only in winter and the seasonal layers in summer. I finally got to buy this homestead last summer. This is my third and hopefully most successful. It helps tremendously that I am not in debt this time. It does not help that I have fibro, chemical sensitivities and arthritis. But with God's help, I'm making it!

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I believe in God's willingness to heal.

Cyngbaeld's Keep Heritage Farm, breeding a variety of historical birds and LaMancha goats. (It is pronounced King Bold.)

Count me too! I am 44, widowed for 6 years, with my youngest daughter (13) at home, homeschooled on a grass ranch that my husband and I bought 16 years ago and I finished paying for. We live 50 miles (30 miles of dirt road) from a town of 400 or 70 miles the other direction (35 miles of kinda gravel road) from a town of 2500.
I tell my daughter that we do things the 'girl way, the smart way'...most times things takes longer to do, in smaller loads, or different ways, but we get the job done and done right. I have an old John Deere 4010 tractor with a loader, a couple heavy chains and a favorite spud bar that gets most of the big heavy stuf shifted. I have an ATV and a trailer to move sacks of feed and minerals around. I dont use allot of outside help, but I do have an ongoing 'I need help to do' list for some unsuspecting neighbor that happens by and has a little spare time...

We have an assortment of beef cows, sheep, goats, chickens, a goose, rabbits, saddle horses, border collies, and cats. I lease some of the grass to a rancher who brings out cow/calf pairs for the summer, also.
We put in a canning garden (smaller every year, less mouths to feed), fix fence, help the neighbors brand, fix some more fence, cut a little hay, move the critters from pasture to pasture, guide a few mule deer hunters around the ranch (diversified income), cut a few cord of fire wood (or freeze), butcher some of the critters (or dont eat meat), then feed the momma and replacement critters through the winter... then the cycle begins again.
I just re-read the list and it reads like the work never ends, but I'm not as busy as it sounds or some might imagine. And it isnt 'hard' work...I putter.

I get overwhelmed too...that is when I walk on the prairie and let the wind scatter the cobwebs and doubts from my mind, and I re-evaluate what is going on and where my priorities are or if they are skewed. I adjust my mindset then I'm good to go, once again, for a while.
I do let go of allot of dreams, some with almost regret, but as I age I am recognizing and acknowledging what I really will or want to get done. And some of the dreams of my youth are no longer viable or reasonable. So, I let them go...

I am so fortunate, I am living what I am passionate about. I'm constantly adapting toward more and more simplicity so I may age gracefully 'conveniently in the middle of nowhere' doing what I love best.

It is so nice to read about other women (single and married) living their dreams, too... Ladies, we rock!

I am going on 41 and I live alone with a 2 yr old on 60 acres. I still have to work in the city to pay for the place. We only have dogs and chickens now. I sold all my rabbits when my daughter, her fiancee and my uncle all moved out. I felt over whelmed like I couldn't do it alone and sold them spur of the moment. I wish I had them back (rabbits) but I can look for some more in the future. I am recently divorced and went through some rough times and fears about being alone in the woods. Some days I feel overwhelmed and I hate to ask for help and other days I am too stubborn to wait for help. Always remember the "stubborn I can do it myself" days are usually followed by "Where's the ibuprofen and Dear God I didn't know I had muscles there" days. I am learning and I live day to day and am always thankful I live in the country. My family says I should sell the place and find something closer to town. They say this would be better for a single mom than living in the middle of no where alone.

Oh my, me too!!

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Apple Jack Creek
near Edmonton Alberta
author of Just Keep Knitting: a journey of healing through forgiveness, faith, and fibre and The Rookie's Field Guide to Supported Spinning

Wow! I am impressed by the responses. I think we need more than a thread: we need our own specialty forum (how about it, administrators?)

A lot of us seem to be turning 54 this year...was there something in the water to make us crave homesteading to the point that we are willing to tough it out on our own?

I use procrastination and avoidance as a coping skill! My porches are parking lots for projects I will get to "when I get around to it" or "feel up to it". I only have as many critters as my kids can take care of by themselves. I only mow around the house.

I want to learn to can and dehydrate in case a catastophy makes it necessary for survival (like these hurricanes have been doing lately). I prefer going "Amish" as I have no luck with technical or mechanical items. I try to collect tools from the old days....I can cut quite a patch of lawn with garden shears before going to work in the morning, then either feed the weeds to the poultry or add it to the compost pile.

A lot never gets done....but who knows, but me, as we live at the end of the middle of nowhere...by choice!!! I'm only going out with a toe tag on. My daughters are already fighting over which one wants to buy out the other when the time comes.