[indigolilybear]

Hi all. I am glad to see this forum.

We have 20 acres in CO taht we are moving to in two weeks!!

We are off the grid, w/cisterns....
We have spent the past two summers out there, so at least it's not totally all new...but I've always lived in relative "city" surroundings....and now we will be pretty far from anyone. I'm really excited but also worried.

I am already hooked up w/a HS'ing group in a nearby town but our closest town is 15 minutes away and THIS town (where the HS'ers are) is an hour. I know it's a start but I am worried about the isolation, mostly for me. DH is pretty solitary and happy that way,and I've got the three kids but geez....dunno...guess I just would love to hear any tips or suggestions anyone has to throw my way if you've BTDT.

My current strategies are to get really involved in the country stuff i've been looking forward to....our garden (we're planning on doing the year-round garden stuff that Elliott COleman writes about), cooking more w/the kids, studying my interests, and in general doing stuff around the house. ALso to attend the weekly meetings w/the HS'ing group.

TIA country mamas!

 

[farmer mama]

What a great transition! I would like to hear more as you go. I think one of the best things would be to keep yourself busy with projects. It sounds like you will have plenty going on. Keep us updated on how it is going.

 

[stretchmark]

Are you going to have neighbors? Even if they are 20 acres away it can help with the isolation factor to just get out and talk with people.
You may find that a once a week homeschooling group is enough and you may find some of the kids want to come out to your place and hang out. Who knows?
Maybe you could offer your land as a place for the hsing group to be every so often and then you'd get to have company.
Good luck to you and keep us posted.

 

[Gunter]

Looks like it has been two weeks, so maybe you have moved by now? Would love to hear how you are doing!!! Please let us know so some of us can live vicariously through you!

 

[indigolilybear]

well, yup we're out here.

Thanks for asking.

It's going somewhat smoothly, though the move was hard, everyone got sick. TOday we installed our fancy-schmancy composting toilet!

We have got a decent start on the garden and have some transplants in as well as having thrown some seeds down today. Our growing season is short but unpredictable so we'll see what happens. We are trying to get some cold frames and a sort-of greenhouse (following Eliott Coleman's book) for the winter/spring. Kind of exciting. We have about 25 chickens of varying kinds that we just today transferred into their permanent homes, along w/15 turkeys warm in our bath house.

We also have a shipment of 30 guinea hens on the way....now mind you this is mostly DH"s idea, I would have been very content w/only chickens!

Tomorrow DH tries to get up our new solar system (bigger w/new batteries) so that we have a power system more attuned to our energy needs as well as not having to use the generator any more!!

I am actually feeling more of a sense of rightness than I anticipated. Our city life never quite fit or really expressed "us", KWIM? And it's fun to have so much land to play w/, especially after living in a townhouse!!! And since we're here for good, we are doing plants and stuff that make it quite a bit more homey!

As for our neighbors, they are great but very busy and none have young kids near us (we are all transplants about 15 minutes from our very small town) We'll see what happens but aside from regular freak-outs that I have silently and mentally, I am hanging in there and it seems to get better most days!

I will keep you all posted and also plan at some point to have pictures!

But as for now, until we get an income, our internet is dial up on cell phones which is very slow, especially since Ii'm used to the high speed thing!!

hugs mamas!