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Post by happyathome on Mar 29, 2008 2:32:27 GMT 10
I always wanted a simple life...it's just sometimes "I" got in the way and things got complicated. Well, the older one gets, the more one sees the simpler life is best.... I took the goats out for breakfast his morning..... left to right...Fancy, Matilda, Nellie and Miss Bea enjoying what USE to be the family garden (we've scaled WAY back!). This is from my view looking west...that little cabin is a "guesthouse", to the left is the chainlink that made up Mickie the Wonder-Dogs kennel and behind that is where my new Herb garden is, next to the kitchen patio, and then our small home. That's Nellie in the front with Miss Bea right behind her. And this is my view from the same spot looking north . ....at the bottom of this is the canyon road, which you can't see because of all the brush and trees...we look more secluded then we are. So this is my simple life....makes you wonder how I could I'd EVER forget that it's the best?!
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Post by braided-rug on Mar 29, 2008 8:55:00 GMT 10
Your goats are beautiful happyathome. I love the soft furred goats. My mother got some once, not long before we left the farm when I was 14, they were called bush goats, maybe they were semi wild? Anyway they were lovely but more black.
The one we see down the road near our new house is like your Nellie only all brown. That goat is mostly on a chain.
Are they elms out front? I could like anywhere with elms, as I did as a child.
I love the grass too, I love grass like that. Is it like that because it is spring, or is it like that during winter too?
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Post by violet on Mar 29, 2008 11:39:52 GMT 10
Oh, my, they are beautiful images happyathome. Absolutely beautiful. I wanted to move to the country when the kids were still little, but dh wasn't prepared to go then. I knew that as they grew up, their lives - and ours - would become entrenched in the city, which would make the move almost impossible, and it has. Still, there are advantages to both worlds. I suppose the important thing is to make the most of where we find ourselves. Mind you, our simple lifestyle does mean we're thought of as odd because we don't travel or go out to dinner or see the latest whatever. But that's fine by me. Many years ago, while visiting dh's parents in the country, we spent a night in a guest house not unlike yours, happyathome. It was basically a large shed, one room wide and three rooms long. There was a small bedroom at one end with two gorgeous old cast iron beds. They were really high off the ground. The next room was a tiny space with a little kitchen sink, a table and a tiny cane couch and TV. The last room was another bedroom, with a nice little bathroom. It was very small, but utterly charming. We sat on the front verandah watching the sun go down and saw a kangaroo hop by. The people who owned the place were lovely and took the kids on a tour of the property. It was really special.
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Post by braided-rug on Mar 29, 2008 12:04:01 GMT 10
I have felt some of my knowledge was cut short by leaving the farm at 14. I did lots of country things with dh and about 1992 or later we got involved in corporate life and stopped some things like hunting. We will have to make an effort, there are lots of great things to hunt here. We have got back into preserving. Your photo is deceiving as some of the house is behind the guest house. I don't think it is small by Australian standards. We did have lots of houses like violet described where I came from though the ones I am thinking of were not homes so much, they were seasonal homes I think. Off topic, here is one renovated, I can't see how it was a pickers hut once, but beleive them. Now a holiday place. www.ausgo.com/asp/show_property_new.asp?pid=6706&uid=mequqqsvwwpoapbuHappyathome you have helped, I have been thinking a lot about homes the last 24 hours. If I sell my current home, it will allow me to go back to my hometown into a cheaper house. We could live in our new house, buy the cheap one, then look for a job. Lots of ideas in our minds. Or live in the new house and brush up on my animal keeping skills, though dh not being from a farm makes it slightly harder. He thinks we can keep on top of our snake situation, and may be right, but my knowledge is limited. My cousins live in the city now, mostly they were raised there. My uncle is amazing though, I have heard of my cousins being involved in all sorts of country experiences during the holidays. I don't think he could stay away from those things if he tried.
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Post by braided-rug on Mar 29, 2008 14:29:49 GMT 10
I made the image larger by clicking and noticed your great cacti collection to the right.
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Post by violet on Mar 29, 2008 19:14:37 GMT 10
You probably know all of this, but I found this link about snakes Br that is Australian: www.snakehandler.com.au/?pid=main&p=32If you close your eyes and imagine your dream life, which house does it look more like?
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Post by braided-rug on Mar 29, 2008 20:05:23 GMT 10
Thanks violet, I will check it out.
The article was helpful, it says what size mesh we should have under the pickets, and what size holes we should block up. We had an idea, but weren't certain. Today we have been discussing snakes and wood piles, I didn't know to elevate them or use a proper shed with 4 walls. Though it doesn't pay to get trapped with a snake, maybe you need a very large shed?
It would be nice if those handlers lived closer for when dh is at work or away.
I guess in Australia these days everybody is trying to build large houses, so I guess I was referring to the traditional house.
That is the problem, I don't know what my dream is. Maybe I could try thinking about it more closely. There is the convenience and practical, which is our hometown, not sure how much value to place on those things.
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Post by braided-rug on Mar 29, 2008 21:57:17 GMT 10
Well, thanks violet, your thoughts have helped and I have been thinking about my current house and what I think of it, and will try to be very careful before letting it go. Rather make very sure it is the right decision if I decide to go down that path.
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Post by happyathome on Mar 30, 2008 1:55:39 GMT 10
So glad you liked our visit I'll follow the posts and try to answer each point: The trees are Scrub Oaks(they have pointy leaves like holly and are no fun to step opn with bare feet!), Valley Oaks with the rounded leafs, California Bay Laurel (Bay Leaf), Buckeye and Greaswood brush. The grass gets green around the end of February and then dries out about June (or earlier if we have a dry year). Tha Cacti are planted under the oak...not a great idea as the oaks drop leaves year around and I have to be VERY ambitious if I want to clean them out of the Cacti. I agree that we should "bloom where we are planted". I was raised in towns and cities and only moved to the country when I met DH in high school, 30 years ago (back when wheels were square ) All of the "country" knowledge I know has come from DH or by the school of hard knocks. The "guesthouse" is one room, about 12x12...our house is only 850 sq. feet. Tiny by California standards...actually to big for the two of us! It was a bit tight when there were five of us here....and one bathroom! Snakes...what kind do you have there? When the weather starts getting warmer, the Rattlesnakes begin to come around along with the Gopher and King snakes....the rattlers scare me into the house with a bad case of the heebie-jeebies and I can usually calm myself if I will realise it is a King or Gopher! We have lived here for 23 years..before that we lived just down the canyon in a rental and when we got married, we lived the first two years next to DH's folks' house in a 29 foot travel trailer...so to me this house is big! I can't imagine moving.....thisis as close to owning a house as we can ever get...they are too pricey here and way too big! This is my dream home.....God truely blessed me
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Post by braided-rug on Mar 30, 2008 14:26:37 GMT 10
Our snakes are red bellied black, copper, some kind of brown and tiger. Though there we have only seen the black and brown so far. The other snakes I mentioned are ones my Mum talks about. www.australianfauna.com/australiansnakes.php
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Post by violet on Mar 31, 2008 15:44:56 GMT 10
It is a beautiful property, happyathome. You can both keep your snakes though I didn't realise you were in California, happyathome. I was born there, and lived most of my first 14 years there. Which is kind of irrelevant now that I'm getting close to half way to 100! Anyhow, we didn't live anywhere near a lovely spot like yours.
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Post by braided-rug on Mar 31, 2008 15:59:57 GMT 10
My daughter said she wanted to live in California today, dd11. At least violet, you may not think oaks were elms like I did. I must sound very silly. Oh well. My dh went mostly to urban places when he went to the States, though there was a photo near Poughkeepsie and I think I thought a tree there was an elm too.
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Post by braided-rug on Apr 4, 2008 21:03:10 GMT 10
I should start a separate snake thread, but this is added information I found. "To minimise such presence in your garden keep: 1. grass mown. 2. garden debris to a minimum. 3. wood heaps away from the house, and/or elevated 0.5 m above ground level. 4. under the house well sealed or very clear and dry. 5. standing water and wet spots to a minimum. 6. seal cracks in concrete which may shelter lizards. Rockeries are a major attraction for lizards. 7. have a well maintained paling fence. If you like snakes and want to encourage them it is easy to create an attractive habitat." www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/webpages/sjon-52f4sg?openThere is a couple of issues there, dry under the house and rocks. We do have a paling fence.
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linda
Moderator
~Exuberant Seachanger~
Posts: 425
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Post by linda on Apr 12, 2008 22:33:26 GMT 10
I am all for living the simple life and we're in the process (although getting to the end....I hope) of simplifying our life. As I mentioned in another post, we used to live in Ontario about one hour outside of Toronto. I was born and raised there and back then it was a very small, town (mostly a farming community). Then the city started moving out wards and a lot of Toronto people moved there, which really changed the landscape. Tired of the long commutes to work (dh worked in Toronto), the rising housing costs, rising crime rate and all of the materialistic ways, we sold our house, packed everything up and moved half way across the country. We now have a couple of acres on the ocean. In Ontario, we had a large house and a large lot that was all grass. We had the place built for us and *thought* it was our dream house. Now, don't get me wrong, we did like the house, but not all of the work that came with it . It took a lot of time to clean, cut the grass and tend to the flower gardens. We now live in a house less than half the size of the one we had. Cleaning day is now a breeze! All of the time it used to take us to clean, cut grass etc. we now use to spend with our family or enjoying our new surroundings. The pace of life in this part of the country is much slower too, so easy to get used of. I'm afraid when we go back, it will be major culture shock. Like I said, we're still a work in progress, but our goal of living really simply is starting to take hold. Linda (oh.....and apparently there are no snakes here at all... ;D)
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Post by braided-rug on Apr 13, 2008 20:14:07 GMT 10
Very interesting post linda.
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