Hello Friend!
Long time no chat!
How are you? How’s your fall moving along? I do hope your transition from season to season has been a smooth one!
Things have continued to be rather quiet in this space, but it’s not for lack of activity, I promise.
Between the closing up of the season, busy work schedules, Kim’s continued recovery from her concussion, and planning for a big move, things have been rather overwhelming as of late.
Yep…you read that right…
We’re moving!
Not immediately, but very, very soon!
See, we’ve been given the amazing opportunity to caretake a farm about two hours away from our current farm (though only an hour away from our jobs, just in the opposite direction).
We’ll be trading our time, energy, and care for the ~10-acre property for a roof over our heads and a safe place for our animal menagerie, which means an incredible savings on rent.
Cold, hard cash in our pockets to help set us up, really and truly, to purchase our “forever farm” in just a few short years!
Oh, how we’ll miss the Village and the larger community out here, but this is really an opportunity we couldn’t pass up!
Just a few of the wonderful benefits of this caretaking gig include:
- The opportunity to learn about organic orchard management (there are 65 heirloom fruit trees on the property).
- The opportunity to learn about organic berry care (there are 450 feet of raspberries and blackberries on the property). Remember our recent raspberry picking adventure? Gorgeous, right?!
- Access to a tractor and a BCS with multiple attachments to use to cultivate two established fields for food production (neither of which we currently have which severely limits our ability to cultivate any of the field space we have on this current property).
- Additional pasture areas for the goats (and maybe a cow in the near future).
- Two acequias (at the top and bottom of the property) for flood irrigation of crops and watering of animals and an intesive drip system set up on a timer (wonder of wonders) for the berries and the orchard.
We’re in our lease here on this gorgeous 11-acre property we’ve lovingly called home for two-and-a-half years until the end of March (2018), though we have permission to move into the new place at any time. So, we’ve told our Landlady and will follow her lead. If she wants to advertise the property now and finds a new tenant, we’ll speed up our purging and packing. If she wants to maintain and wait to advertise, we’ll just take it all slowly.
Did you catch the “purging” I mentioned above?
Yeah…that’s because the new property includes 1/3 the house space as this one and it doesn’t have a garage (which is where our garden tools, regular tools, camping items, and food preservation items are currently housed).
And so, we’ve started with our clothes and a couple of cabinets and are slowly moving through the house discussing which items are absolutely necessary and which aren’t.
So far, and granted we’re at the very beginning stages here, it’s all been relatively easy! Though, if I had to guess, I’d bet that some items will be harder to let go of than others…like some of my craft items (painting supplies and yarn, fabric and buttons…oh my)!
And then there are all the books!
Oh, but the tradeoff is going to be so worth the effort and I can hardly wait to be in the new house, on the new property! Learning and growing and learning and prepping for our forever farm 🙂
But first, there are fences to fix and shelters to build for our menagerie of animals.
One step at a time, right? One step at a time!
Now it’s your turn! Oh, do tell!
How is November treating you?
Any big plans for the upcoming months?
Have you ever had to downsize? Choose between creative outlets?
What approaches have you taken to downsizing that worked wonders and didn’t leave a big fat hole in your heart? (I know it’s just stuff, and yet…)
Hope you have a lovely rest of your week!
xoxo,
M
Wow, good luck on your move. After 2 1/2 years, we’re moving back to the high desert from WV. It has been a mind-boggling experience with lots learned along the way. Shoot me an email if your current place isn’t rented yet. We haven’t found a place yet to settled down, but finding something that has already been loved and cared for by a fellow homesteader is a plus in my book!
Hello there! Long time, no chat! I will definitely let you know as soon as she decides whether to rent or sell 🙂 Wishing you a smooth re-entry! I can only imagine the adventures you’ve had! Are you still blogging?
How exciting! I look forward to reading about your new adventures. We downsized when we purchased this house 18 years ago going from a 3000sf house on almost 4 acres to just under 1000 sf house on .65 acre. I miss the land but there were valid reasons (health and finances) to make that change. It was a struggle to let go of so.many. things. Even though it is a small house we have a BIG garage. I always joke we have 9 tons of crap in a 2 ton house, lol
We are actually considering one final move. To a 1 level, move in ready house on 1 acre. Slightly bigger house (1500 sf) w/ full basement, less garage, slightly more land and way less projects. The hubbs is pushing 60 and I am 50. Maybe it is time for us to not be consumed with all work and projects of an 1881 farmhouse. I have already begun the process of sorting through all the stuff. Just in case we decide to follow through.
It amazes me how much stuff we have and how sentimentally attached we are to things.
I can’t wait to see pictures and updates. I live vicariously through your posts, haha. It does sound like an amazing opportunity. I admire your courage in pursuit of your dream.
Tonya recently posted…Preserving my harvest
Hi Tonya!
Thank you for your kind words! Sometimes I think we’re courageous and others I think we might just be a bit crazy. It varies by the day 😉
9 tons of crap in a 2-ton house is exactly what I don’t want to wind up with at the new house! We haven’t paired anything down in *years, so it’s past time, though quite stressful! Your potential move to a 1 level sounds perfect! I have thought about the exact details you speak of for our forever home. We’re only young for so long and there are days my body already hurts…minimizing physical challenges with a 1 level and being *very intentional about the property we purchase (eventually) will be imperative.
I look forward to following your new adventures, particularly in the orchard. I’ve done quite a lot of clearing out in the last few years, first of all emptying rooms in our York house for lodgers, then slimming down our possessions before moving our ‘forever home’ to Berwick. We moved a lot of unnecessary junk as I didn’t have time to sort thoroughly and recycle all the rejects so ‘spare’ items have been waiting in the barn until we notice that we needed them. I’ve already had several trips to take things to charity shops in our new locality. If you’re waiting a while before you move, make the most of your garage while you have it. Pack things you almost certainly don’t want or need away for a month or two and see if anyone misses them. Good luck!
Judith recently posted…Filtered Sunlight
Hi Judith! We *do have some time before the move (thankfully) to go through *everything! One project at a time, from closets to drawers to art supplies to files and photographs, everything will be gone through with a fine tooth comb. This is not something we did with our last two moves and so we’re left with a lot that isn’t necessary and a lot of work to pair it all down, but I trust it will be *so worth it in the end! Thank you for the garage tip! We will be doing just that! Hope you’re well and enjoying a lovely autumn!
How exciting! My husband and I are in a similar situation. We are moving three hours away from city life to the country with the opportunity to farm! There is a tremendous amount of work to be done on the new place and the old place will probably be sold as is. It means taking a big hit financially but everything has it’s price. We are downsizing a bit but we needed to edit belongings anyway. Seriously a lot of things I haven’t looked at in twenty years. I will donate furniture, books and clothing but I won’t part with my art supplies! My family members are not happy but this is something we’ve always wanted and we shouldn’t have waited so long. I look forward to following your adventure on IG.
Oh how exciting for you! Yes, there will be lots of work, but oh how it will be worth every last minute of it! I’m sorry to hear your family is not happy, but know that you must do what your soul calls for. Sometimes I think my dad thinks we’re a bit crazy in this farming lifestyle we’ve chosen, but he knows we love it so he’s come around 🙂 Best of luck with your next steps! Is there a place I can follow your adventures? Blog? Instagram? Let me know 🙂
Wow!! Big changes in your life! Wishing you all the best on your new adventures. 🙂
We had to downsize when we moved to where we are now, and it was easy in the beginning. Then, as you noted, you get to the stuff that it’s harder to give up. Books! Oh my. I (almost literally) had a library’s worth of books. I ended up donating them to the local library and they were able to open their new branch sooner because of all the books. Craft items were a problem for me, too. My husband, on the other hand, didn’t want to let go of furniture. We ended up bringing most of it, and have been slowly getting rid of it once he realized it would not fit no matter what he tried.
Thank you, Robin! And thank you for acknowledging that letting go of our stuff can be quite the process 😉 Furniture, remarkably, is not where we have a challenge! We were able to go through our house and decide rather quickly which items are of importance and which simply are not. The closets though? Oh boy!