I see some of you have been here for years!

Another since Lusenet days. I asked DH to post something for me when I took my Boy Scouts to summer camp in the NW Ontario and Manitoba High Adventure Canoe Bases in 1998 and 1999 since I came back from 3 weeks in BWAC with them in 1997 and found all my forums had forgotten me since I had been away so long- Had to reregister and hated losing seniority.

The biggest change that I've noticed since I signed up is that I've grown older and a lot grumpier.

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Less barking! More wagging!

It's the cats, Oggie.

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Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

I have been here for ever! I come here to share my views and ideas but the main reason is because I can always find several answers to any question. I take what I want and/or need and leave the rest. I have learned so much from here, it amazes me.. I love that there are so many people willing to share their lives with us... I may not post for weeks but I read everyday.. sometimes several times a day!

Flashbacks to the Lusenet days! I found this place last century just after I got my first computer. Huge Thanks to all the folks that answered all my newb questions. I had a lot! It's so nice to have so many experienced people to chat with about stuff I'm interested in! This thread reminded me of Carla Emery's book. It was the first homesteading book I bought.

Looks like I have been here a bit over 10 years, or so.......Give or take a few months.
I check in every day, or at least nearly so.. There is so much good information, to read & learn from, on the various Forums.

My Dear Wife & I went to one or two of the Hoosier Get-togethers. We met some really nice Folks. We look forward to getting out to visit a few more.
But like most Folks here, we have really busy lives. My dear Wife works a full time job, as well as being a Professional Artist, doing Oil Paintings, when she has time. And I help out around the House. I am Retired so I have the time.
With Christmas coming, she's doing Portraits, for a couple of Families.

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Be Intense, always. But always take the time to
Smell the Roses, give a Hug, Really Listen, or
Jump to Defend your Friends & What you Believe in.
'Til later, Have Fun,
Old John

I don't know if anyone remembers me but I've been a member since the old lusenet days (have had a couple different names due to getting locked out during forum moves). I remember Chuck sending me the first chapter of "A More Elite Soldier" and we emailed back and forth occasionally. He asked me if I knew any good publishers and I recommended the one I was working for at the time. Amazingly, he had just had contact with that same publisher and ended up flying out here to do business with them. We were able to meet up while he was here.

Haven't posted here for many years but I read most of the posts here at least twice a day. Life got pretty rough and I guess I just figured it took too much effort to keep posting. I sure miss old Hoot and some of the others that have either passed on or left the forum, but there are still many interesting posts.

There have been many changes here on the forum but that is life. Nothing ever really stays the same. I never really get tired of reading the "we've bought a place in the country and what do we do now?" posts because to me it just means more people have decided to become homesteaders and that's a good thing. I've had horses all my life but I can still remember first reading Countryside magazine at the library and the excitement of getting my first rabbits. A very long time ago!

unfortunately I'm no longer really a homesteader. Six cardiac arrests 2 years ago have left me unable to do much, and my husband of nearly 23 years was killed a few months ago, so I am likely going to have to sell out and move to town. :bawling:

It's hard to believe how much time has passed since the Lusenet days. I think newcomers keep revitalizing the place.

Oh, I do remember you - and I am so sorry that your husband died. {hug}

Are you taking care of yourself now?

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Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

Another one here from the Lusenet days, but I was so green, I used my real-life name to post! So that passed, but I return almost daily as no one in my world is interested in picking green beans the day before Thanksgiving, etc. It is truly a place to find friendly advice and gardening tricks (that WORK)!!!

I poked around here for a couple of years before joining. I love that this forum keeps changing, yet stays the same. I come for inspiration and information. I come here to see what and how some are doing. Every once in a while, I give a good eye roll at some of the threads - generally because this is the umpteenth time I've seen that subject. But it's all good. There's aways more to learn.

Ha, I know you roll your eyes whenever you've opened onna my posts, LOL BEFORE YA EVEN READ IT lol

I, too, was here back in the Lusenet days. Once I stumbled into the forum, I was hooked for life.

I am most thankful for the friends that I've made at HT meet-ups.

I am also thankful for the thousands of dollars and immense amount that people have helped me save over the years, mostly on repairs. I'll never forget working on my old beater truck, and someone here told me exactly what to replace. A trip to the shop would have cost $300, at minimum. With that poster's help, I was able to fix the truck for $15! I could share countless stories like that one...I am really thankful!

I love the new posters. I believe that most everyone brings added experience and life to the forum. The new guy that joins this week might have experience growing tomatoes indoors, or knows how to fix an old four bottom plow, and can help someone on the forum.

Yeah, the same questions do often get asked over and over. When I first got on this site I was trying to learn about sheep and goats. I worried those poor people to death with all my questions. Some are gone now, and I wonder if I was the proverbial “straw”. L

There also some people that have a "book" knowledge of things but it is obvious they have no practical experience. Between getting the same questions over and over again, one also has to deal with the situation where the people who have limited experience are giving bad advice, that they overheard some place, yet speaking like they are an authority. Usually it is people that want to be helpful, but their advice is something they heard and not based on practical experience.

I have done that myself once or twice until I started seeing how, when other people did it, it cause newbies to make poor choices.
A lot of the people on here who mentored me have either left, or are hiding in some remote corner of the site, not dispensing information anymore because they are burned out. As a new person inquiring about raising something, it is hard to know who is giving good information and who is giving poor information. To some of the people giving better advice, it is like fighting an uphill battle, and no matter how great their philanthropic intentions, they finally give up and realize that others must learn their own lessons.

Still, it is hard when faced with a post of someone wanting to give up their “rat-race” life and become a “off the grid dweller” or homesteader. Many of them are totally unequipped and their failure is 95% certain. Yet our own desire to accomplish the same prevents us from dashing their hopes and the possibilities for the other 5%.

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Moving to that big black hole in the night satellite photo. (also the hole in cell phone coverage )

I should add that I am no more a homesteader than I am a violinist.

Another Lusenet days folk here.

Stay, because of friends, people are friendly on the boards I hang out in.
Love meeting new folks excited to start farming, and willing to listen and learn from those that have been there done that.

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Shari

I was late to the party, having missed the Lusenet days. I lurked for months before joining, and am coming up on 10 years as a member. Seems like just yesterday when I found HT. I check in at a couple other sites occasionally, but HT is home. No matter what I'm interested in, there is a forum for it, so I can glean info from folks who are actually doing what I'm thinking of trying...why it may or may not work. I enjoy the daily journals and the tightwad thread, and those are where I post the most. I love the free exchange of ideas, sharing what I know and learning from others. It's a good bunch of people, for the most part, and I think the mods do a good job of keeping us playing nicely together, which I really appreciate, as some sites are not so civil.

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http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/manygoatsnmore

My posts and words remain my exclusive property and may not be used without my express written permission and proper credit given for authorship.

Been scarce in these parts since we sold the ranch in 2011, after fifteen years of ownership.

The reason, getting on in age. Once I passed sixty, the physical demands of operating a stocker operation became too much.

My advice to newcomers: Good genetic stock! Otherwise nature will forcefully remind you, "You ain't a kid anymore."

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Pezzo Novante Ranch
Atoka County, Oklahoma

I'm guilty!! I was away for months, just got caught up with the homestead and business. I enjoy seeing how other homesteads are doing helping out with answers to questions. I still have plenty of room for learning. All the goods folks come back. Not making excuses but I stay quite busy not only with the homestead but just answering folks back about earning from home, now come spring and summer with planting bush hogging, haying not to mention fencing and storing produce not much time left. Here is my blog check it out.

I'm so sorry to hear that, WildHorseLuvr. Remember that you have family here, and let us know what you need.