…when I’m sixty four.

[Skiesblue]

I had my hair cut last week. It’s official I’m solid silver. ☺️

 

[Baymule]

I had my hair cut last week. It’s official I’m solid silver. ☺️

No pictures?

When I finally gave up the bottle, the grow out period was awful. Talk about feeling ugly! It didn’t help any when I saw a WalMartian with fliip flops, long dirty toenails, Filthy MacNasty all over and hair that matched mine. I wanted to shave my head! I got it cut short short short. It was white with red tips. A co-worker who was a cattle man, so y’all gotta understand this was a compliment, said, “You look like one of those cow birds, ya’ know, all white with reddish tips on their chest. They’re real purty.”

 

[Finnie]

You guys are my role models.

My age is no secret. I just turned 58. I really hope I am still capable of chores and whatnot when I am 64! I feel like I have been going downhill ever since I turned 40. I’m sure I have another 20-30 years left in me, but when I think of it that way, I start to feel really tired!

It has always been my dream to live way out in the country and have some kind of hobby farm. When the (5) kids were little, I dreamed of homeschooling them, teaching them to work hard, and using the land for science lessons. 20 years ago DH worked in Kalamazoo and affordable land with an ok commute would have made that possible. But his company got bought out and we had to relocate.

Indy is a much bigger city, so finding land with a big enough home that wasn’t an hour commute wasn’t possible. We looked for 6 months. We finally ended up compromising with a house on a 4 acre lot in soon-to-be suburbia with a 40 minute commute that DH has always hated (the commute, not the house )

We disagreed about homeschooling so that means we didn’t do it. Our suburban home is in one of the better school districts, so that meant no moving until youngest was out of high school. I began searching farmland his senior year, but then DH said he didn’t want to move until he retires 🙇‍♀️.

Well retirement is only a few years out now. Fingers crossed that I will finally have my dream for at least a few years. I know hard farm work is not what DH wants for his retirement years. I think he will indulge me for a little while, and then start talking about having an easier life. He has already said NO farm animals, NO new species, JUST my current poultry and maybe an LGD. I don’t know if I can agree to that, but since I want to add vegetable gardening to my workload, I will put off adding any other new stuff for at least a few years and then see how the land lays.

Ok, you know what? This got super long and looks more like the intro to a farm journal, so I am now inspired to copy and paste this and finally start one. Something about “when I am 64” really got me going.

 

[Mini Horses]

Are you still in the house with 4 acres? That's a huge garden and a couple animals may be possible 🤷? An "intro" into farm life may be more appealing than he thinks now. Not going to a job frees up a LOT of time -- you might both be surprised.🤣👍

 

[Finnie]

Are you still in the house with 4 acres? That's a huge garden and a couple animals may be possible 🤷? An "intro" into farm life may be more appealing than he thinks now. Not going to a job frees up a LOT of time -- you might both be surprised.🤣👍

Mini, I sure hope he is surprised about how much free time he has after he retires. He’s had a pretty good intro to farm life with all my poultry. I’m pretty sure I’ve scared him off! 🤣

He really loves to travel and I don’t. The other day he commented, “You really wouldn’t be happy without plants and animals, would you?” But it’s the plants and animals that make it hard to travel. All but one kid has moved out of state now, so I see lots of traveling in our future. 🤷🏼‍♀️

 

[SageHill]

Mini, I sure hope he is surprised about how much free time he has after he retires. He’s had a pretty good intro to farm life with all my poultry. I’m pretty sure I’ve scared him off! 🤣

He really loves to travel and I don’t. The other day he commented, “You really wouldn’t be happy without plants and animals, would you?” But it’s the plants and animals that make it hard to travel. All but one kid has moved out of state now, so I see lots of traveling in our future. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Ah yeah. I totally get it. We bought our land in '17 -- with the intention of building and setting up when DH retired. Some how, and thank God for that some how, we started the build the end of '18 and finished the house and moved in before the ****F. He knew when we first went out (eons ago) that he was in for something different - I had a horse and the going line was "If you want to see me, meet me at the barn". My family had dogs - sporting that hunted. I switched over to herding and because I had the "they were bred for x so they should do x" mentality from the sporting dogs (Vizslas) my herding dogs (Belg Tervuren at the time) and I learned to herd sheep. And that was eons before there were herding tests and trials (only BCs did that). Enter sheep into the equation (way back in 1980).
As for his retirement - it's now 13 months retired and he's finally starting to settle in. That work, work, go, go, go, we need YOU mentality / brainwashing is tough to crack.
You're on 4 acres so you've got a nice size chunk of land to work with! Especially if you don't have CC&Rs and a Homeowners Association. AND YAY you started a journal!! WTG!!
OH - and if you want to do this farm stuff (which you do ) you will definitely be up to the task!! If the rest of us with 64 in the rear view mirror can do it, you will! Besides, our "toys" are big like tractors and UTVs! And we play well with things like chainsaws - oh the fun we have!

 

[Devonviolet]

That was a great Beatles song! When I was 14, singing along, 64 sure sounded old. Now with 64 in my rear view mirror, I’m shooting for 104!

64 is so far behind me I don’t even remember it!

Actually, I was 64 when we moved to our little piece of heaven, out here in the middle of nowhere!

 

[farmerjan]

It's fading in the distance for me too.....

 

[Finnie]

I want to be like you guys when I grow up!

 

[Skiesblue]

I want to be like you guys when I grow up!

I think the secret is not to grow up too much. A sense of humor is critical. The past few years are teaching average citizens what we in the homesteading community have already learned, namely that life is unpredictable. Personally I hope it doesn’t get much more unpredictable or unprecedented. Bet I’m wrong about that though.