How in the HECK did I get here?
This is a question I get asked quite a lot by new people I meet. Those who have known me my whole life, however, just chuckle because they know I am right back where I started.
Let me back up.
When I was between the ages of about 3 to 5, I lived in the perfect house. We were on a few acres of green pasture in Georgia. We had a barn and a pool, along with goats and a few beef cows. My grandaddy kept a big garden out back, and If no one could find me, I was probably in the barn playing with the baby goats.
I had just rocked kindergarten like a boss when I found out we were moving.
According to my parents, the house was too small. I had never noticed a problem, but apparently it was time to move up in the world. The house and animals were all sold and we moved a few miles away to a subdivision.
My folks were quick to point out how lucky I was to have friends on my street to play with and bigger bathrooms. I just missed my goats. I missed my backyard pool. I missed working in the garden with my Grandaddy.
Fast forward 20-something years.
My husband, Eric, our three children and I were living in a house we hated in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama. We felt smothered by the city, but until we could afford to move on, we were stuck. Our backyard dropped off the side of Shades Mountain, preventing us from having any useful space back there at all.
We were “those people.”
You know the ones. The people with the swingset in the front yard and square foot gardening beds where ever we could tuck them. The people who pull out all the shrubbery and replace it with rosemary. The ones with a big blue rain barrel *affiliate link* in the front yard. Yep. That was us.
When it finally came time to move, we weren’t sure quite what we were looking for, but one request was non-negotiable.
I needed chickens.
When we saw this property online, it was a little farther out of town than we had planned, but we were in love.
We now have a few acres with a barn and a pool, goats, cows, chickens and more mischief than you can imagine. There is even a pond for my husband to fish in! We finally found the place we wanted to raise our three children. This was home.
We have embraced this land and this lifestyle with open arms, and it has loved us right back. It provides food for our table and work for our hands. It has helped us make new friends without losing the old. We stay very busy, and sometimes balancing everything can be very difficult, but we believe that we are right where we are supposed to be.
Where are you on your homestead journey? Have you considered homesteading in the future? Are you doing it now? Do you think we are crazy as loons? Leave me a comment and let me know!
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It would be my hearts desire to live in the country again. I would in a flash if it were possible. Our situation financially at this time does not allow for it. Land here is way too expensive. I want chickens and would love to be able to have goats and horses. Ah well………..I admire your spirit
Janice
I love your story and rather than thinking you’re “crazy as loons” I envy you! My husband, two children and I live in a regular neighborhood with regular neighbors and a small but usable space in the backyard. We’ve begun suburban chicken keeping, the sq footage of our garden grows each year, and we’re hoping to add bees this coming spring. We also heat our home with a woodstove all winter (complete with finding, chopping and seasoning our own wood!)
My husband and I laugh about it all the time, we never knew (about ourselves, much less each other) that we’d want a life like this, and now we can’t get enough! We’ve been looking for our “dream home” for about a month now and we always laugh that our dream home has more to do with the land around it than it does with the house itself.
We’ll get there one day! Thanks for your inspiration!
Sounds like you’ve set up a little suburban paradise! Good luck finding your dream home! Homesteading is certainly addictive and brings out things in a person we never knew we had! 🙂
As one if the aforementioned friends on the suburban street, I have to say…
HEY
I am far superior to a goat.
ROFL! This is the best way to find out your friends actually read your blog! 🙂 You were usually better than a goat! 😉