Henry David Thoreau said “Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit and resign yourself to the influences of each.”
I wanted to live that simple life where the constant running and chasing “the dream” could be forgotten. Life isn’t perfect, but it’s mine. I live outside the city limits in a 1910 farmhouse on a triple suburban lot where I am working to convert the grounds into an edible paradise where the grandchildren, and I, can snack as they play and slowly eliminate the need to buy trucked in food from the grocery store.
While I had downsized my belongings enough to live comfortably in a 300 square foot studio apartment, renting wasn’t ideal. The life style of a minimalist was one that fit so while I increased my square footage minimalism continues to make me happy.
Here I will share not only the transformation of the property and house but all the little things that make life interesting and, well….comfortable.
Grab a cup of coffee or tea and visit with me, won’t you?
Life In A Minimalist Farmhouse 
Hello, thank you for
Visiting and following my blog. I love that quote above from thoreau, and what you said about the” constant running” and “chasing the dream” I too, aspire to a simpler lifestyle. Can’t wait to read more about that edible paradise for children you’re working on. What a wonderful idea!
~ katrina
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Thank you for visiting and following me too. 🙂
If I could have one wish it would be to go back and show the 18 year old about to embark on a career driven life and tell her to think twice and not waste so much time figuring things out. The gardens are slowly taking shape, I’ll have more to show this summer but what I started is to plan the garden beds in such a way that the children can run through them to different activities set up for them and snack along the way. I’ve used a lot of used materials to do this such as collecting old tires my grandson loves having set up to run through, a swing set that came with the house and a balance beam built using a 4 by 4 wood post found on the property and a rope swing hanging from a huge silver maple tree. The children also have their own garden beds where they get to select what they want to grow and take care of it themselves.
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Wow. I can imagine how wonderful it will be. Such a great idea! Can’t wait to read more about it and see the pictures in summer. I’m sure your grandkids would love it!
I don’t have much of a green thumb but last spring my daughter and i did a little fairy teacup “garden” using a couple of succulents. Maybe in summer i could start a little vegetable garden too:) thanks for the inspiration
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Your idea of teacup fairy gardens is adorable. I’m sure your daughter enjoys them very much. Yes, the children love exploring the property and all the things here just for them.
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😊yes, we
Had fun doing that.
Its fun to do something creative like that with the kids
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I’m glad. Kids do love to be creative especially when it involves dirt. 🙂
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Lois — do you still have the “Eco Grandma” site? I haven’t been in tune on the internet lately and have lost touch in some ways. But, I’ve noticed I haven’t seen you post on it lately. I know I’m missing a lot — hope to catch up. 🙂
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No, my site was hacked and I lost everything including the name and ability to restore the website. I almost gave up blogging after that but here I am. 🙂
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Wow! I suspected that’s what happened when I Googled it and it came up as being Hacked. I’ve had a couple of scares with malware but have been able to clear it up. Man! It must have been hard to recover from that.
I’m so glad I found you over here and that we’ve not lost touch, my friend. I’m glad you decided to keep blogging because you have so much to contribute. Thank You! 🙂
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I’m glad we didn’t lose each other too. I have no way of contacting many of the non-bloggers who followed my previous blog but as long as I remembered or was subscribed to blogs I enjoyed I had a way to get the word out on where I could be found. it was hard to walk away and start over as I did enjoy the freedom of having my own domain and was working to build a site I could be proud of. Oh well, content is what matters, right? I’ll just have to keep the content the focus and hope it brings like-minded readers I can learn from.
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Same with me, Lois. Do you have any of your old posts saved that you could bring back here? For the most part, I’ve saved most of my posts on Word before I publish them on my site. Guess I figure my site will go away someday when I’m gone but maybe the stories can still be captured and something done with them if they’re on Word. Just a thought. 🙂
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Nope, I didn’t write any of my posts in Word nor did I back them up. I’m glad you have yours backed up because you have a wealth of material that makes one think and could lead to a better world for all.
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That’s okay, Lois, because it’s all still within you to draw on for a newer version. Even if I have the majority of it saved on Word, there’s still no guarantees anyone will ever want to look at it no less use it.
Life is always changing and I’m learning to live in the moment because it’s all that we really have. Love and hugs, my friend. Have a great weekend. 🙂
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I think your daughters would be happy to have your file of your writing to hold a piece of you and pass down to future generations who you were. I have a cassette tape of my grandfather and great uncle sharing songs and stories of their military time in World War II, my boys have copies and value them for the history and because it’s a piece of their great grandfather, to hear his voice soothes them when they miss him the most.
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That’s nice, Lois. I’m glad you have that for your boys. Even more special to hear them telling the stories in their own voice. I would love to hear the voices again of my loved ones that have passed.
I hope my girls will hold onto the stories I’ve written and pass them along for future generations. I’ve lost a lot of my history and can only draw on the bits and pieces I remember. Something to be cherished, for sure. Take care, my friend. 🙂
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Maybe you could leave something like that behind for your children? Neither my boys or I listen to the tape regularly but when we do it brings a smile.
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I hope so but, like so many footprints, they are meant to fade over time. None of us can hold onto the past nor the future. What really matters is the present and only we can discover that for ourselves. It’s a gift when we realize it. 🙂
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Oh, what a pleasure to have you sign up to follow Learning from Dogs. Thank you so much. And please feel free to write a guest post for LfD from time to time. Details here: https://learningfromdogs.com/interaction/
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Paul, I had signed up to follow you a long time ago then something happened and I stopped getting notices and thought you had stopped blogging. Thanks to Sue, I have found you again. 🙂
I appreciate the offer to guest post and may take you up on it at some point when life settles down enough that I have the time to do justice to an article for you.
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I think my denims are about to fall apart as I wear that one pair all the time…
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Ha! I know what you mean. I have a denim barn coat I am patching because I can’t bear to let it go or replace it.
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