I see some of you have been here for years!

Wow...this post brought back some good memories! It was nice seeing some of the "old" names again. I'm another one that kinda comes and goes as life happens.

I was on here ALOT when I was single and trying to build my own homestead. Oh, you wouldn't believe all the silly questions I asked! Every "so, how do you...." you can imagine. And fellow homesteaders came to my rescue every single time. I couldn't have done it without their assistance and faith in me. They truly were family to me.

I sold my little farm about 3 years ago, and haven't been on as much. I still come back from time to time just to visit and dream again.

One of the changes (since you asked) is that there are A LOT more forums now than there used to be. There was only a handful at one time, and I kind of liked that. I could keep up with everything because it was all in one area. Seems like there was "general chat" (where I NEVER hung out....too wild for me! LOL), a general homesteaders, singletree, and maybe the family one or one with animals...can't remember. Now, I get brain overload trying to figure out which forum I want to visit. I'm like an opossum....I get overloaded and just have to quit and go take a nap. LOL.

Been here forever, it seems. I remember when there was the magazine connection (yes, it's still out there and I do still take it) and through Lusinet. And yes, people do come and go but some names have been here forever. I don't post a lot because I try not to say anything unless it's helpful or just begging to be said. A lot of the postings that are personal don't interest me, so I skip them but then, that's what makes this forum so good; there are all sorts of discussions. There are the ones where I just read and learn, those I quietly skip over, those I rush past and the ones where I go regularly because those have the people who are like-minded with me. And, like some others have said, I've left for awhile several times, but always come back.
Oh, welcome Wade. I thought you'd been here longer than that. It's always nice to see a fellow Hoosier. Some peoples' posts I always skip but yours I nearly always read because you usually have something interesting to say.

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This world is not my home; I'm just a'passin' through.

Wow! That's quite a compliment! Thank you! I have to assume then,to one degree or another,we are somewhat "like Minded"!


Wade

I'm old in all the ways that count and don't count. I don't usually have anything helpful to add but not too shy to try.

I hope you have a good experience in the years to come as a member here. It's a daily hangout for me, mute or not. This place saves me from boring myself silly.

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There are endless combinations of truth.

I enjoy this site for many reasons.. the knowledge available in all the forums, the many caring people, the sense of humor available, several folks have made me snort coffee through my nose on many a morning, the sense of belonging to something good and worthwhile... I have made some incredible friends through the years.. I'm so happy to be a part of Homesteading Today..!!

Wade you are doing a wonderful job.. thank you!!

I was thinking about this the other day. A google search on composting is what brought me here in the first place. Honestly haven't spent a lot of time reading that thread since but have found quite a bit of other stuff that I have read. The more I poke around the forum the more I find that interests me. Its nice to interact with people that have common interests.

Yes! I agree. It happened rather slowly, but I really noticed the difference after my last hiatus from Computer World. Almost too much of a good thing...

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Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

I don't come in often, but I do check in once in a while because of the tendentious amount of knowledge in HT... there is no bigger forum to glean information then here.

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LinderCroft

Thank you.

In short order I've lost my health, my husband, my horses, my ability to homestead, and will soon be without my home, so I'm kinda trying to figure out who I am now. Figured I'd be milking goats and gathering eggs 'til I dropped dead, so this is a major bump in the road. It's a miracle I'm even alive much less still walking and talking, so I'm not complaining...just having a bit of trouble adjusting to the new reality.

I remember you from way back when, and Bergere, and a few others.

Clovis...I remember when you fixed that truck!!! My short term memory is history but I do remember you fixing the truck with advice from the forum.

I don't know you but I am very sorry to hear that.

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LinderCroft

I was here under a different username starting around 2005. Didn't post much, just lurked and read and soaked up information for when we finally found a little farm to buy. Then when we did buy our place, I couldn't remember the password and didn't have the old email to retrieve it so I started a new account in 2010.

Sometimes I don't have time to read (let alone post) for months but I always come back eventually. I grew up with dairy goats and have a small herd of them now so I do have a small bit of knowledge to share. I don't mind answering the same questions because I know sometimes the search function just doesn't give you the results you need.

I still read and read and read to learn new information and get an idea of what is (or isn't) working for others. This is a forum where you can share your triumphs and tragedies and someone will have been there and done that and probably have advice on the situation. This is my homesteading "home on the 'Net" and I can't imagine not having it to read (when I have time to sit at the computer and do so).

-Sonja

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Wingnut Farms
Nubian Dairy Goats
New Market, Alabama

I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say but, your post brought me to tears.

-Sonja

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Wingnut Farms
Nubian Dairy Goats
New Market, Alabama

WHL, keep on the trail. You have a positive outlook.

Another Lusenet refugee here.

Mike

- First -

WildHorseLuvr,

As someone who lost my wife hours after the birth of my first child, and the only life I knew in the 80s, let me assure you, your life is not over yet. You still have more in you than you can see at the moment. I'm proof. Cyber hugs girlfriend.

- Second -

Thanks to Al Gore for inventing the internet. smile

It is places like this forum that have given me a new wonderful life. A few years ago I bought property. With the internet, I found places and people like HT to offer many years of experience to newbies like me. I know longer have to learn by years of trial and error of past. That is one of the wonders of modern technology. Places like this is why I have less time (or perhaps more time) for leisure activities. I can accomplish so much more and enjoy the journey so much more by cutting my learning curve. I know very few of you personally but have learned a lot from many.

I'm kind of a late comer to this place, just didn't find it any sooner. And I'm pretty busy so don't hang around a lot. Didn't get a puter till Y2K. But I grew up in the homesteading scene. My parents bought land with nothing on it but trees and some field when I was 3 (late 60's) and we moved into a tent. So I grew up with my mother growing just about all our food organically,(her dad was a farmer of fresh produce with cows ducks chickens geese and cats. so she grew up with it as well) and homeschooling us, (my sister brother and I, sis died in '73 of a strange illness) My dad worked a job and kept the bills paid. We lived without electricity for several years. (outhouse and hand well pump) Then we got goats when my brother needed the milk and I got strong hands by milking them. In early '80's town was getting too close so we sold and bought a lot more land a lot further out, I was just turning 20 and took up the job of cutting timber. I've tried all kinds of things and learned a lot about a bunch of stuff. Even tried driving a semi truck last summer. But I decided that just isn't my cup-a-tea. I'm tied to the land too much. My favorite occupations are growing good food and playing with horses. I've done a lot of mechanics, even to the level of some small scale foundry and machining. But I hate the modern computerized junk, cuz when something goes wrong I can't fix it. Now we're working on obtaining some land clearing equipment and plan on getting maybe 15-20 acres cleared for ag use. I plan on settling in on a regular schedule of growing crops and ridin a good horse. Paso fino is my favorate.

I have the same problem Wade does, words don't come fast enough to my brain to talk much live. Typin it out works much better. Being naturally exceedingly shy, and after growing up in the woods and field even a small crowd makes me uncomfortable. Maybe that's why driving a truck in city traffic is so stressful. I can handle the truck just fine, but the stress of the citys we kept having to go through started causing me ulcers, (controlled em with cayenne pepper) which is when I decided it was the wrong occupation for me. My brother is out driving it but we'll find another driver for it by spring so he can stay home and work the land as well.
Our parents are still here but getting quite aged and not able to do much. I am very thankful they had the wisdom to buy land and spent so much time and work getting it paid for. And then they raised me in such a way that I learned to enjoy living without convenience and working on the land with plants and animals.

Been with it long enough I don't very often have questions about things. What I do research is more advanced than anything this forum is good for. Like searching out the hidden details of nutrient dense soil fertility management. Or looking into advanced levels of light hands horse training. For years we searched out natural healing practices and even went and lived with an old natural healer for a few weeks. My brother took special interest in medicinal and edible wild plants and he's on a level with the university botany professors in that field. (greater actually because they don't delve into the use of the plants like he has, they are more fixated on just ID-ing them) My grandmother was a nurse for Dr Kellogg of the famous battle creek sanitarium, so we had a good start on that already. So I never go to a doctor any more, and hardly ever get ill because if something starts getting me down I know what to knock it out with. I studied electronics a lot between 13 and 20, so I end up making my own electronic gadgets on occasion. Studied steam power and started building a steam tractor but didn't finish, a someday project when I find time.
I'm getting quite intent on growing all my own food by nutrient dense/ high brix methods and eating as much of it raw as I can. I see age creeping up on me and don't like it. I wanna stay fit and hardworking till way past 100, I'm shootin fer 150.
And as a byproduct grow enough to sell a bunch and benefit others with it. And yah, someday I'll get married but not till I'm good and ready and not till the Good Lord tells me who. I've seen too many unhappy marriages, I ain't goin there. RT


Oh and to wild horse lover, I've adopted 6 wild horses in the last 21 years and still have 3. Got em to learn horse training on. They are wonderful for that, every one is different. One of my 3 is a kids horse. She's slow and easy with them. And sorry for your life difficulties. Take heart, it's the overcoming of difficult situations that develops excellent character, you might have to scale back, but always try to plant something and eat healthy.