Female Homesteader Stories?

MariaAZ · #21 10/09/10, 07:36 AM

I'm the auto-mechanically inclined one in the family. DH bought me a 20 gal compressor and all the toys because I was so frustrated at not being able to remove bolts and such. He would sit outside with me while I worked on the car, basically as backup if I needed help removing stubborn bolts.

I haven't built houses, but I've built aviaries and sheds. When we had our kitchen remodeled, I built the new wall. We had an electrician and plumber come out to lay the new electric outlets and natural gas line (I'm not fond of working with either) but when the inspector came out, he told me the electrical work was not up to code. He told me what needed to be done and that he'd be back for a reinspection at a certain time. I don't remember what the whole problem was, but I remember it didn't sound too difficult and so did it myself. Passed reinspection with flying colors.

DH made the mistake once of saying that he wished our house was different on the inside (he grew up here). One day, after he'd left for work, I decided to block up the entrance to the dining room from the living room (there were two entrances about 8 feet apart). I built a 4 foot tall frame that slid into the opening and built what amounts to a reach-through that on the living room side is finished with wainscoting. I barely got the project finished when DH got home from work. He stepped in the front door, took one look at the wall then backed out the door, looked at the front of the house then stepped back in. "I thought I was in the wrong house for a moment" he explained.

I also built the cabinet on the dining room side of the new wall, as I needed something not as deep as standard kitchen base cabinets but deeper than wall cabinets. DH and I had recently pulled the old kitchen cabinets and reinstalled new ones, so I had an idea how they were constructed. I built the base and drawer bodies, but purchased the doors and cabinet fronts.

My folks raised me with the idea that I can do anything I set my mind to. DH and I are making plans for a future house that we intend on building ourselves. I have no doubt I'll be able to do what needs to be done. Power tools are the great equalizer

strawhouse · #22 10/09/10, 07:57 AM

ahahaha Kaza! I have yet to figure out how to put up fencing on my own! Oh, the cuts, bruises and scrapes I have from those stinkin' rolls coiling back on me!!!!!

salmonslayer · #23 10/09/10, 08:45 AM

Quote:

My brother thinks I'm insane. He's actually stated "How can we have possibly come from the same family?" My aunt thinks I'm pretty cool just because I knew that cattails were edible.

I agree with your Aunt.

springvalley · #24 10/09/10, 09:20 AM

Thank you for all the great laughs!! My daughter was wondering what was going on as I haven't laughed that long and hard in a long time.... to the point of tears!!! What a great feeling. I just gave myself into it. Now my sides hurt.... in a good way. I'll definitely be sharing them all with DH when he comes in. He's always been there to help me when I get that "I can do it myself" attitude.

I still remember the time my brother took apart his carbureator (sp?). He cleaned it all up and then couldn't remember how to put it back together. I'm great at puzzles, so it was a breeze!!

Catherine

HomeOnTheFarm · #25 10/09/10, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kazahleenah

This should give you another chuckle...

Oh mercy Kaza! I laughed so hard!!!!! Glad to know that you finally conquered that roll, but oh boy!

@salmonslayer: Thanks, but it's just basic information I picked up from a field guide (my newest obsession).

Timberline · #26 10/09/10, 11:48 AM

Great stories! I love to meet other capable women and men (I've met enough of those who are not).

I am so thankful to my parents who raised their one son and two daughters the same. There were no gender roles or boundaries in our house. My Dad worked at home, he restored antique cars for a living (still does in his retirement). He usually had 5 -7 full time employees and the shop was always busy. Even with that going on, he still wanted his children to spend time in the shop. He taught us to use the tools correctly, how to do design and make things, how to make things work with what you had available.

My dh and I do all we can for ourselves. He works full time at his business, so usually it's just me to keep the home place running. I work our small herd of cattle by myself, irrigation, fencing, gardening, home repairs, my cabin restoration project, and so on. You just do what you have to, you know?

I think anyone can accomplish just about anything they set their mind to. I do all I can here because I don't want to ask dh for help after he's worked all day. But, when he offers, I'm not turning it down! Getting help with a big job (whether it's a man or woman wanting some help) is a smart thing to do. Extra hands make a job faster, easier, and often safer.

motdaugrnds · #27 10/09/10, 05:07 PM

I took a walk outdoors today just basking in the natural forestry only a loving Creator can provide. I stood at our garden fence and was actually awed by the structures David and I had managed to put up without any prior experience. Oh sure, we researched and designed and researched and designed some more taking into account the lay of our land, the soil, the water flow, etc. Yet, as I stood there at that fence letting my eyes fall on various aspects of our homestead, I found myself wondering, "How on earth did we accomplish all this?" Then, once again it became obvious that we had help from forces unseen.

ronbre · #28 10/09/10, 07:39 PM

I am married but my husband has been mentally and physically disabled since 1985..so I do most everything on my own including buildling garages and sheds all but the roofs on my own, totally remodeling a 1900 victorian farmhouse, putting in all the gardens, building the decks, fences, arbors..planting hundreds of trees, and shrubs..etc..

my son now lives next door but only since the end of 2006..before that I basically did it on my own..with some occasional help..even took care of the inlaws until they died

Sheripoms · #29 10/09/10, 09:33 PM

ronbre I have followed some of your posts and I have to tell you that I think the world of you.
My husband is also disabled and I know how hard it can be to have it all land on your shoulders. But you handle it wonderfully.

Keep up the good work.
Wow,, remodeling a victorian house? I would love to see some pics!

Backfourty,MI. · #30 10/10/10, 11:52 AM

I'm not near as talented as alot of you ladies & have never built a house. Dh & I do alot of our work around the farm together like building any of the livestock buildings, rabbits hutches, etc.

I did re-roof the rabbit grow out pen's this a.m. & some of the hutches, do most of the plumbing that needs to be done around the house, all the gardening & preserving of everything that's home canned here. I hunt & fish & dh say's I can do as well as any many he know's(I think he's complementing me), cut down tree's when needs to be done, do all the cooking, cleaning & laundry as well.
Also I help butcher our rabbits, help clean the deer we shoot & the fish we catch.

Wow, Brenda what a load you carry & I'm sure everything around your place is beautiful!

ErinP · #31 10/10/10, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheripoms

Now if I could just put some new ball joints in! But alas I think you need a certain tool.

You do.
It's one of these things:
Ball/U-joint press
There are higher priced versions available, but all DH's ever used is the $40 one from Harbor Freight.

I CAN mechanic, but I'm happy to let DH do it if he wants.

Saves me the broken nails and skinned knuckles.

To the original question, I guess I've never put a whole lot of thought into it. I just do what needs done.

Construction on our house, for example is mostly my project. Number one because while my husband is an excellent shadetree mechanic, a magician with a torch and welder, a decent eletrician and even plumber, he's an absolute disaster in motion with a construction project.
And number two because I'm not the one who works a 60 hour per week job.

**Terri** · #32 10/10/10, 12:54 PM

To put up a fence by yourself, set the roll on end next to the first fence post. Fasten it at the top ONLY.

Gently inch and scootch the roll along, and let it be rather loose.

Once you have it out a bit, you can fasten the rest of the end of the fence: if you try to do it all before you get some slack it will NOT be straght! Then, inch the roll along and put up the rest of the fence. It is slower that way, but working alone usually IS slower, so whatever!

I was lucky: I learned what not to do with a roll of fence on a tiny 18 inch roll of chicken wire, so I escaped with scratches!!!!!!

DH and I built-but mostly it was me- a 3' by 4' by4' chicken house that lasted for some years. I also buil a 12 foot by 16 foot plastic covered greenhouse that was a bear and I got help making it straighter. But, there is NOTHING like looking up during a rain and knowing that you built that!

I am older and slower, and we PAID to have the tuff shed/ chicken house put in. Though, with help on the ceiling (lots of help) I did insulate it. I no longer have the energy to build AND keep the place up. When I spoke to DH about that he laughed and said "Yes you will"! I think not, but we will see!

Sheripoms · #33 10/10/10, 01:55 PM

Erinp: Thanks, I will look into that tool.

ErinP · #34 10/10/10, 05:07 PM

I forgot! You'll also need a pickle fork.

sdnapier · #35 10/10/10, 06:07 PM

[QUOTE=Kazahleenah;4684146]

So, there I was. Standing beside a 330' roll of field fence, (the SAME roll I couldn't bring home the other day because I forgot I drove the car) a pile of posts, a post pounder, a fair amount of ambition and a roll of twine. Everything a gal needs to start putting up a fence, right??

Sorry but I just had to laugh. I didn't have the length you did but it was 5 feet tall and just as ornery. Everytime I have had to "play" with fencing it wins and I have the scars to prove it.

Jokarva · #36 10/10/10, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hillbillygal

http://www.dorothyainsworth.com/

A big inspiration for me. Dorothy is one of the most awesome DIY women ever. I'm still working on my stories, lol

Good grief, how unbelievable is she??? I just spent a good hour going over her site, she really is an inspiration. Maybe I can use her pictures/story to shame DH into helping me get some jobs done around here

**Terri** · #37 10/10/10, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jokarva

Good grief, how unbelievable is she??? I just spent a good hour going over her site, she really is an inspiration. Maybe I can use her pictures/story to shame DH into helping me get some jobs done around here

Um, he would probably say to knock yourself out? After all, DOROTHY was doing it?:banana02:

motdaugrnds · #38 10/10/10, 11:11 PM

I will share a story that inspired me. It did not occur to me; but did to my aunt (the one who was like a 2nd mother to me). She is only 5' tall and weighed less than 100 lbs. She lived alone on 40 acres of sand loaded with rattlers and copperheads when she had to move so as to survive. She wanted to take an old wagon wheel with her that was 4 acres from her drive. The sand was difficult to walk in. The men who would be loading all her things onto the truck would be there in 3 days and they had already let her know she had to have everything to load out in the front yard waiting for them. Thus, each day she would make several attempts to get that wheel moved up to her driveway. No matter what she did, it would not budge! The last evening before the men were to be there the next morning she walked down again determined to make another effort to get that hugh wagon wheel moved up to where the men could load it onto their truck. She reached down with both her arms, picked that hugh wheel up and carried it on her back across several acres of sand, setting it down in her drive. The following morning it took all 3 men to load it onto her truck. (Where there's a will; there's a way!)

badlander · #39 10/11/10, 10:40 AM

Yep, done the fencing thing, put up as well as taken down. Spent yesterday removing about 100 feet of woven fabric/barbed wire fence. Pulled posts, sank posts, walked fence lines, stacked firewood that DH has chained. Helped split wood. (blew friends minds when they were over for coffee and donuts last winter and I excused myself to go out back and split a few chunks of wood for the fire). My husband laughed and told them he had me well trained. I actually enjoy splitting firewood as long as it is on the smaller sized logs.

Helped tear down and stack the lumber from a huge corral that my husband pulled down with his tractor. Sorted that oak lumber as some of it is going to be firewood and the rest that is straight and in one piece is going to be turned into wainscot barn paneling for our bathroom.

I've taken care of livestock in the middle of winter, done drenchings and inoculations on sheep during downpours of rain. Fished and clean said catches for dinner, as the old saying goes, I can bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan....

My husband and I work side by side on our homestead. We help one another and tackle the big jobs as a team. I go to bed at night with sore muscles and wake up in the morning feeling like I've been hit by a truck but it's a good feeling when I look around at all that we have accomplished in the year that we have been at BaDland Farm.

My only regret is that we got into this in our late middle years where our bodies are telling us on a daily basis that we are no longer in our prime 30's. The way I see it though is homesteading is helping me stave off old age...at least for a while!

Can I recommend this lifestyle for women? YES! Absolutely! Can all women do it? Yes, if they want to, unfortunately today's society has softened many both male and female. It's a lot easier to go to the store for dinner than catch, butcher and prepare it yourself.

I think we are a special breed of ladies. If we were borne 200 years ago, we would be pioneers, setting out in our covered wagons with our menfolk to settle the frontier.

I really respect those women!

Jokarva · #40 10/11/10, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terri

Um, he would probably say to knock yourself out? After all, DOROTHY was doing it?:banana02:

LOL! - you've met my DH apparently...