Starting Over at 49

Yeah, somedays I get all the social interaction I can handle around here.

But what I'm talking about is people who live "outside the wire", so to speak. Catch up on the local gossip, see how other people are doing, and expand the community.

Too much hermitage is a bad thing, even if it's being in a family of hermits.

You can live as simply as you want, no matter what genitalia God blessed you with.

Why cut wood? Pick up fallen sticks and limbs.

Food and shelter for her animals? Why does she need much? So long as she doesn't go horse crazy like so many single older women do, then I don't see a problem. Build a lean-to shelter in the bank of a hill and come winter let your goat sleep in there with you. Might get a little aromatic but the body heat of a big animal is a comfort. Most pleasant place I found to be in Illinois winters was in the barn with my cow and goats.

Food without money? There's these crazy concepts called "gardening" and "foraging". A single woman alone needs about 2,000 calories a day, less if she keeps her labor at a minimum. I imagine you can gather that many calories pretty easily within about 100' radius of a Missouri cabin in the woods.

There's a sliding scale somewhere between Swiss Family Robinson and John the Baptist for how a homesteader can get by. Most of us are much more comfortable closer to the Robinson end of the scale, but I hate to discourage those who want to live on the John the Baptist end.

Anyway, I don't know nothing about this woman or what her skills are or what her comfort level might be, but there's people in this world that can slide right up inside a hollow log and live happier than you or I could in a fancy Beverly Hills mansion. They'll subsist on whatever bugs crawl up inside that log and call it a feast while you and I grumble over our pork and beans.

Anything can be done if you have the Lord on your side and a willingness to persevere.

I'd like to add that if you do want to do this thing, you ought to see if you can find some existing farm out there that needs a caretaker and try that out first. In addition, have some sort of an exit strategy.

In general when I hear people say they're "starting over" it's because they've gone through some drama and much of it is due to life choices (one way or another). Before you go all Thoreau and head out to the woods, you need to get your head a little clear and make sure that you have the skills and willingness to do this. It can be done, and what a glorious life it might turn out for you, but make sure your head is screwed on tight before you jump in.

That is advice I'd give to anybody, male or female.

For some reason I feel I need to defend the OP without knowing her at all! Hope she comes back to post soon.

I'd like to point out that she has homesteaded off-grid before, she has spent the last few years soul-searching and she has a little money as she will be buying land, building a small cabin etc as in the original post. I suspect she knows how much physical work this takes and that she can do it, as could many woman I know.

I would be most concerned about having no income and emergencies. That is where having a community can help, having odd jobs here and there can make a big difference.

Lots of women doing something similar around here. Winters are mild and short (at least to me), firewood is plentiful and cheap even if you have to buy it, bartering is a way of life around here, we grow, raise or forage most of our own food, and our property taxes are so low for our small farm we could make the payment by spending half a day picking up and recycling pop cans.

Lots of folks have no phone around here, outhouses are common, AC is uncommon, and though I dont think getting a horse for transportation is a good idea there are plenty around for free. As for living in fear of men on the prowl and having to carry a gun all the time because your a woman...some of you must live in some pretty nasty places and I wonder why you dont move.

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www.salmonslayer-simplelife.blogspot.com

Maybe you haven't heard, but there are women who can do forestry work and construction.
I am one of them.
There is a single lady down the road who splits all her own wood with a splitting hammer, and she is older than I am.
These things can also be learned, and necessity is a fine teacher.
My house was built by a family of teenage boys AND GIRLS, working alongside their dad.
In case you haven't heard, there are 18 year old girls fighting overseas.
This lifestyle is not for everyone, it's hardships and rewards seem to come in equal measure.
For myself, paid work and a vehicle make the transition to homestead living much easier, but I can imagine a future of relying less on both.

Good on you, sweetie!

I certainly don't think women are less capable, and I despise the way society wants to put them in the backseat when it comes to all the tasks required for living simply.

What if the woman is relegated to a side role in all homesteading activities and then the husband later dies? Is she to abandon the life they chose together because she never learned how to do the things required for living?

Around here, everyone learns how to do everything. The boys learn how to do their own laundry and cook and the girls learn how to build fence, operate the solar power equipment, and fix the truck. Ain't no "man chores" or "woman chores". There's simply chores and everyone big enough to do 'em gets involved.

Otherwise if we're ever a man (or woman) down then we'd just cease to function as a homestead.

I live outside the same community as Alice does... there is LOTS of cheap (no down payment) type parcels of land here.. BUT>.... it attracts all sorts of folks (not all of them the nicest)...Just this last year.. there was a woman (she was 51 ) who lived alone here.. much like the OP is describing .... I will admit that she was more then a little eccentric (but aren't we all ?)... She was actually murdered (and dismembered with a hatchet) by a *neighbor* ...it was a very gruesome crime.. far enough out for no one to hear her screams (or to even know she was missing) I'm guessing it became common knowledge there was a woman alone out there and the two-legged predators moved in.. Her killer lived about 1/2 mile from her.. with his mommy & daddy. Killed her with a large rock.He left her body to lay for several days.. then went back, chopped her into pieces.. put some in trash bags and hid them (even some in a friend's shed!)...threw her torso into the bushes.
here's a link to the killing
http://crimesceneinvestigations.blog...th-murder.html

there are areas all around here that get sold in 5 to 10 acres lots at a time.. often with no true access to the land they have *bought* new folks end up having to cross other's land to get to theirs.. bad feelings start...things build

the area is beautiful and I can't think of a better place to homestead.. My hubby is an over the road trucker gone for months at a time.. hence my being alone here for months at a time, as well.. (I've been here 10 years now.. I was a lot thinner and friendly back then.. now I'm a lot fatter and a whole lot *MEANER* LOL).. even tho I rarely left my house.. never really spoke to anyone.. word got out I was here alone..folks in these parts LIVE to GOSSIP LOL...I had some*issues* which some of the local men wanting to come around and be *neighborly*... thankfully I had a large, protection trained DDR German Shepherd that I let answer the door.. (now a days.. I keep a loaded shotgun by the door and no longer live alone)..

as Alice pointed out it gets pretty cold here in the winter.. for me it's not the snow.. it's the never ending wind that wears me out... Summer is hot, sticky.. and ITCHY... Living out like you want.. I can't imagine the amount of chiggers & poison ivy you'll have to contend with..
don't want to be a debby downer..but...wanted you to go into this with your eyes wide open..

susie, mo ozarks

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"My darling girl, when are you going to understand that "normal" is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage."
http://www.agesagoacresnubians.com/

As I wrote that about carrying a gun I thought, I sound really paranoid! Overall where I live is full of people I could trust. But there's always a few, especially when you add in meth, alcohol and opiates that are so popular here. I also work in field where I am occasionally a target of someone wanting retribution. I think it's best to be friendly and gracious to people, but always listen to your instincts and it never hurts to be prepared.

It's just good sense. When I'm working around the farm during the day I never carry a pistol, but after dark if I'm going to go out and about I do. The dogs will alert me to someone creeping around, but I don't want to be caught between the house and the pasture with a vehicle coming down the drive after dark.

the Ozarks are not all just beautiful hills/rivers/woods... the movie Winter's Bones (with the meth head problems).. well it's maybe not quite that bad (everywhere, but many places are every bit that awful).. My close area (thankfully) at least.. on my road is pretty safe (we don't lock our doors.. we leave keys in the car ect)... but I don't live near the areas of cheap/small parcels of land for sale, either.. you really need to get to know an area before you commit to purchase.. (just a few miles one way or the other can make a BIG difference).. the woman I wrote about who was murdered.. she had a gun.. but this was her neighbor/someone she knew.. so she didn't have it on her.. (he went back and stole her gun-when he was there chopping her up)...

susie, mo ozarks

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"My darling girl, when are you going to understand that "normal" is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage."
http://www.agesagoacresnubians.com/

Thanks to everyone who took the time to post; your opinions and experience are very much appreciated. Having lived on my own for many years now, it is not the alone part that concerns me. That is what I seek. The barter would be for the most part but not the entire part. I saw the amount of no down payment type land offers and considered that it would attract a variety of personalities so I came here to ask about that. Sounds like I would need five bulldogs to live in the Ozarks too. I don't mind. I love dogs; just that they are quite expensive to care for properly. A bulldog saved me from rape on more than one occasion in the past 15 years. I don't own a gun and won't own one; but a few bulldogs will be just fine ...

Okay, I just remembered my original online name and password~! So It is me. I am back for a little while, while I have Internet access; before I go off to become a hermit again. I will log off of the Zamis3 name. Sorry for the confusion. It has been long enough that I couldn't remember who I used to be.

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

You could be describing me! I get cranky if I have to deal with two legged critters to much.

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Maggie

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My .22 longrifle is a valuable tool to me on my homestead, I would not want to live this life without it. Predators after my chickens, stray dogs after my goats, butchering time and mercy kills are best dealt with a gun. If you have animals, even a few, how will you deal with those situations without a gun?

I'm a 38yr old woman who was raised in the city by ex-hippy parents who believe guns are bad and all should be illegal.

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eat more kale

I'm a guy and I homestead full time. I did it alone for years before meeting my fiance who now lives w/me and shares the chores. I see no reason why a woman could not do it alone. It is physical work but there is more than one way to move a log, if you know what I mean.

My girl has been a country type girl her whole life and she generally can do whatever I can do but she does it different. I strain, and she builds little fulcrum and lever contraptions to do it easier, lol. I try to use my head more so that when I'm old I will still be able to do it all.

As far as all this fear of some man getting you....might not be so bad to slow your running down and let one catch you

On the gun issue, pretty silly to go into homesteading without the right tools. A gun is like a hammer, just a tool, forget all the political nonsense. It would be cruel to not able to put a wounded or dying animal down humanely. It is irresponsible to keep prey animals bound up without being able to protect them from predators. As their keeper you have a responsibility to those animals.

Just my .02 cents.

Ok - now you guys did it - when I open a nice cold bottle of Yuengling beer just taken from the frigerator and turn on my 55 inch flat screen TV and relax in my leather lazy boy I feel like a softy - and around 10 when I go to sleep in a nice comfortable bed instead of sleeping with a goat I feel pampered - what ever happened to me - must have been that crowd that I hung around when I was young - I think it happened right after I got out of the army - oh well - I do watch Alaska the Last Frontier - I hope that makes up for some of my weakness -

Heh. Sounds like a good life to me.

There's ups and there's downs in life. At times we're in the luxury seat with the cold beer and at other times we're in the hollow log with the goat. The important thing is that we do not let our circumstances dictate our character or have leverage upon our sympathies.

Nothing to do with weakness, just about realizing that not everyone's priorities are the same as yours or mine.

As a wise man once said 'there are many roads to happiness in life, just because someone is on a different road than you, doesn't mean they are lost.'

Thank you for the smiles and the thought-provoking replies. As for the gun, I can say I've been there, done that. I see it also as a tool but it is one that won't be found in my tool box anymore. I had a .22 long also and used it well enough but the last years of my last homesteading in Tennessee I stopped using it and found it was not missed in the least. Mercy finds many ways of embracing. Started looking toward the northeast again... upstate NY to Virginia but haven't given up on the Ozarks, just looking around.

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog