| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Patsy |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 09:26:44 AM
I posted this on another website I visit everyday and most of the answers were "no way" "never" "I am not a camper" "couldn't do it". Now I come to the farmgirl website and I expect very different responses to this.
I know we all COULD do without the modern luxuries of life but how hard would it be for you to do....
Without Electricity
Without Indoor plumbing
Walking or riding a horse and/or buggy instead of a car or bus
Growing your own food and canning
Sewing your clothes
Splitting wood for a wood heating or cookstove
Actually cooking on a woodstove
Taking care of chickens or other farm animals
Doing without most of things we now have?
Patsy
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| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Jeanna |
Posted - Nov 10 2010 : 1:17:38 PM
I think I would do fine. It would take some adjusting. I think it is the having and then not having that would be the hardest. If you were raised to never have these things I am sure it would be much easier.
Jeanna
Farmgirl Sister #41
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau |
| knittingmom |
Posted - Nov 10 2010 : 12:03:47 PM
It would be more work than we (I) are used to. I do love modern conveniences like on demand running water and flush toliets. But if I had to get used to life without modern amenities I could do it.
"There is no foot so small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world" |
| FieldsofThyme |
Posted - Nov 09 2010 : 06:31:29 AM
Forgot to note on the electricity -
One year, during winter, our meter blew up on the utility pole. The people before us never upgraded the box when they added onto the farm house. We were without any electricity for a few days, and my daughter had a 103°F temperature. We survived, and found ways to cook and of course we already had our wood stove. We did a lot of reading, writing, and talking around the fireplace, and TV wasn't missed that much. It was missed in running the water pump to provide water, but luckily I had stored water in empty tidy cat containers for flushing toilets, and had water for drinking in gallon jugs. To survive without is possible, you have to be creative, and find other ways to cook, etc. We had oil lamps and candles for lighting as well.
Farmgirl #800
http://momzonetakingtimeformom.blogspot.com/ |
| FieldsofThyme |
Posted - Nov 08 2010 : 1:18:39 PM
Without Electricity
Without Indoor plumbing *** spent many winter days without this and survived.
Walking or riding a horse and/or buggy instead of a car or bus ***would love to do this vs. a vehicle
Growing your own food and canning *** Already do this
Sewing your clothes *** sew many items, and could sew my own clothes for sure.
Splitting wood for a wood heating or cookstove *** Already do this for heating and plan to invest in a wood cookstove in the future
Actually cooking on a woodstove *** I plan to take a class on how to do this, and could live this way.
Taking care of chickens or other farm animals *** Already care for chickens, plan to add goats, jersey cow and horse
It's not rocket science to do these things. It takes time and very hard work that most people are not willing to do.
Farmgirl #800
http://momzonetakingtimeformom.blogspot.com/ |
| grace gerber |
Posted - Nov 08 2010 : 1:10:05 PM
I am loving this thread and has givening my great introspection.
Many times I am without electricty because of snow storms and such but I do very well because I know at some point it will return. Not that I do not know how to live without but my customers sure do not.
I store water for myself and animals so a hand pump would be needed but I would not mind that since I already carry water in buckets all around my 35 acreas to my sweet animals.
I would not mind outside potty and I can always boil water to get a nice warm wash. Laundry is the same and I again have done this without much worry.
I do not have cell phones, cabel tv and use my computer to do my business but it is dial up so I do not spend much time searching and wasting time.
During the winter I only go into town around once a month for feed and postage. I do not wish to be away from my farm and I sure would not mind riding a horse with a sled attached to bring the food home.
I love doing everything with my hands and so that is no problem - it is my joy and also my business.
I thank you so much for your thread and I will give myself permission to maybe let go of a few more things I think are "Must have's or do's" Really I am much happier when I am doing the simple things of life...
Grace Gerber
Larkspur Funny Farm and Fiber Art Studio
Where the spirits are high and the fiber is deep
http://www.larkspurfunnyfarm.etsy.com
http://larkspurfunnyfarm.blogspot.com
http://larkspurfunnyfarm.artfire.com
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| Cindy Lou |
Posted - Nov 06 2010 : 5:29:57 PM
Patsy, neat idea!
I know we all COULD do without the modern luxuries of life but how hard would it be for you to do....
Without Electricity - I could if I had to, but am pretty spoiled on this one, it wouldn't be by choice. Candles and lantern light are beautiful but even our cornburning stove needs electricity for the fan.
Without Indoor plumbing - Friends of ours did this. In Minnesota its a bit more challenging than farther south. All winter they carried a toilet seat out to the biffy and back in on each trip so it was warm. Not pleasant but possible, but the potty chairs for their little kids were worse.
Walking or riding a horse and/or buggy instead of a car or bus - I've been crazy about horses all my life and we seldom travel really far so I think I could enjoy this for the most part except one daughter is 300 miles away and that would make it tough.
Growing your own food and canning - We have a huge garden, do a lot of freezing and canning. I'd have trouble with wheat for flour and would have to barter for that.
Sewing your clothes - I'm pretty much OK with this one. I love sewing but its gotten pretty hard to find good durable fabric these days.
Splitting wood for a wood heating or cookstove - We have a wood burning furnace and a gas powered splitter so I could do this though I prefer to leave it to my son and husband.
Actually cooking on a woodstove - I'd need to learn. I think woodburning stoves are fascinating. It would take more time but I've heard its well worth the trouble, though I'd need to have it set up out of the kitchen for the hot summer days.
Taking care of chickens or other farm animals - I grew up on a farm so this is pretty familiar to me. When our kids were home they were in 4-H and did most of the animal care. We've gotten lazy though and know people who raise chickens, hogs and organic beef so we pay for them to do it.
Doing without most of things we now have? - I'd really miss my computer. I cherish good medical care after a bout with cancer so returing to the past in that way is not something I would want.
We try to live in an earth friendly way, avoiding toxic chemicals, oil based fertilizers, using passive solar for heat. I sometimes think I'd have fit in better in the "olden days" at least a hundred years ago but I couldn't have worked for all those years as a teacher and still have taken care of my family without the help of some modern conveniences.
I do believe that families were closer when it took everyone working together just for survival.
This is an interesting thread that makes one think.
Susan
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
Mary Oliver |
| pnickols |
Posted - Nov 06 2010 : 3:50:18 PM
I'd miss electricity and indoor plumbing, I sew my own clothes, have taken care of animals, could master cooking on a woodstove, cook from scratch a lot and would love to drive a horse and buggy instead of a gas guzzling car that just costs me money to keep running. |
| Okie Farm Girl |
Posted - Nov 06 2010 : 3:43:34 PM
I have done without all of those things, but can't say that I would want to do that forever! However, like many on here, I would adjust with peace and joy because it would be what it was. I think the hardest thing for me would be to do without my freezer. Also, so many of the things that would be required would be very difficult for me because of my back problems. I think that I would be in a world of hurt if I had to chop wood.
On a funny side, since I was a Girl Scout all through school and learned how to make a 'reflector oven', my family was camping a few years back and I baked biscuits in one that I had made out of a box. We were in tents pitched next to the most gorgeous and huge camper you ever saw. As I was cleaning up breakfast in my big pots of soapy water and rinse water, the man in the camper came over and said, "I couldn't help but notice that you had really pretty biscuits for breakfast. Where in the world did you cook them?" I pointed to my reflector oven and he yelled at the camper where his wife was looking out the window, "She cooked 'em in a box, honey! In a box!!" :-)
Mary Beth
www.OklahomaPastryCloth.com
The Sovereign Lord is my strength - Habakkuk 3:19 |
| LynnDinKY |
Posted - Nov 06 2010 : 2:29:47 PM
I don't post often, but I had to respond to this.
I would be totally lost. I've got some learning to do. ;D
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30 |
| KayB |
Posted - Nov 04 2010 : 8:32:53 PM
I'm with the majority - I could do most of it if I don't have to work outside of the home. Some of the stuff I already know how to do, but quite a bit of it I don't but I'm slowly but surely picking these art forms up.
I would be okay without all of that.
KayB
Life's a dance you learn as you go |
| Annab |
Posted - Nov 04 2010 : 03:39:40 AM
I sometimes do wish we had an outhouse!
When our only bathroom was being remodeled, I had no qualms about going outside. Aqnd if it rains hard for more than 2 days the toilet doesn't flush, so I'll go outside
Would LOVE to ride a horse to work. we have at times ridden bicycles from work, which is about 18 miles.
We continue to chop wood for our waterstove that heats our domestic water and also provides forced air heat in the winter.
And you just can't beat getting your eggs the same day, or sometimes the very second they are layed! We get our meat from a friend each year.
We maintain a garden for summer and winter crops. I like to can as a hobby, but could do it if it had to be done in order to survive just fine
Now if only I could sew.
So Patsy, you are right. I bet well over half of us on this site think nothing of the lifestyles we continue to live, which send the city slickers packing for another location when times get tough I bet! |
| Violets November |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 8:44:49 PM
I agree with CountryBorn, MJ.
I have lived all the things above, and I can do them all. Except for the horse and buggy. I rode a bicycle. And the thing I would least like is splitting wood. In fact, I have never split wood. My husband did that. But on all other counts, if we had to do it, we could. Maybe at a slower pace, but we would know what to do.
~Violet~
Farmgirl Sister #1669
My blog, http://hiddenacre.blogspot.com/
Our Organic Jewelry, http://www.etsy.com/shop/GaelicForge |
| prariehawk |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 5:04:31 PM
I couldn't do without a car. I need it to get to work and I wouldn't want to walk, since the place I work is in a bad part of town. I also need a car to take my dog to the vet. I seriously doubt that I could ever learn to sew my own clothes--I do some embroidery but I'm not good at sewing anything bigger than a breadbox.
Cindy
"There is more to life than increasing its speed". Mahatma Gandhi
Visit my blog at http://www.farmerinthebelle.blogspot.com/ |
| sue5901 |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 3:03:30 PM
Like many of you I have done all of them for short periods of time and would be OK to do it again as long as I didn't have to work outside the home at the same time.
The hardest would be laundry - I could do it by hand but it is a real chore and thats without having young children.
But I would definately miss having a hot shower avaliable all the time instantly the most.
Sue
Dance like nobody's watching! |
| CountryBorn |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 2:37:25 PM
Most of the things on the list I have done, some for long periods of time others for short periods of time. I will be honest most of the things I could do even at 62,but, do I want to, no. I like growing veggies and canning and freezing things. Love my woodstove and heat totally with it all winter.Cerainly don't mind lugging in the wood.But,I like the modern things too. I don't want to scrub on a washboard, love my dryer, love my electric,love hot water in a flash for a bath! All the things we can enjoy nowadays. I fully admit it. I think if you want to live like that wonderful! It can be very rewarding. Knowing I can do these things is a good feeling.But in my heart I also know how much really hard tedious and tiring work that doing these things day in and day out can be. I am very thankful we all have the choice to decide !!
MJ
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark |
| emsmommy5 |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 2:21:34 PM
Well... I could and would make do with out any of the things on the list. There are some things we'd obviously need to change around our home because right now we don't live that kind of lifestyle.
The hardest for me would be not having a car at this point. Of course, if I didn't have one, then I would have more time to stay home and do all the other things I'd need to do instead of racing off to the fire station when the tones go off.
I have ALWAYS wanted a homesteading off the grid lifestyle, but i married a city boy without the same goals. Of course he was agreeable to the concept until we had been married a few years and then announced he wasn't so hip on it after all. I guess he figured being agreeable was what I wanted to hear at the time. I wish he would have just been honest. WOuld have saved alot of tears over our marriage.
SO now I just do all the homemakingish stuff I can on our little spot in town and try to bloom where I am planted. But one of these days there WILL be a wood cookstove in my house. I just have to sneak it in when he's not looking. lol
Do what you love, love what you do. |
| dutchy |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 2:20:47 PM
Lol, as I said "over there":0) . I don't think I can do without the luxury of these things. Maybe raise chickens would not be bad. nor would growing my own veggies.
Hugs from Marian/Dutchy, a farmgirl from the Netherlands :)
http://pinkprincessdecorating.blogspot.com/
Almost daily updates on me, my home and my crafts
http://pinkprincesscreations.blogspot.com/ My Creations blog  |
| Alee |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 2:12:31 PM
I think it would be hard to adjust to doing laundry by hand but I think with practice it would become no big deal. We would certainly reduce the amount of dishes and clothes we have to only the bare minimum!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| natesgirl |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 12:19:38 PM
I would be so sad to see my freezers go, but I could handle it. I am learnin to can everything I can get my hands on already, so I guess the meat could be canned. I love havin my chickens, so other animals would probably not be too bad. I think the sewin my own clothes would be my downfall. Maybe I could trade for that with someone for doin their cannin! I am lovin the cannin right now!
Farmgirl Sister #1438
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
| Melina |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 11:38:19 AM
For me, the hardest part would be an unmentioned but related thing. Laundry, especially in the winter and with small children. I lived through 8 days of an ice storm with no electricity, made do quite well for most of that time, but the laundry sure piled up! I knew it was temporary, so I did not tackle that mound until the lights came back on. I can't imagine if I'd had a couple of wee ones in diapers.
The morning breeze has secrets to tell you. Do not go back to sleep.
Rumi |
| Alee |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 10:47:29 AM
I think I would love that lifestyle. If we had the land and the animals we wouldn't need to work outside the home- it would have to be a lifestyle where we were self sufficient and self sustaining. I would assume that we would probably barter or sell some produce/animals to get other things we would need/like such as cloth or different oils.
We would certainly have to have a house that would have a wood stove that had a cooking surface as well as an oven and I would get really good at banking the fire to give heat at night and not die- but I am sure I would wake up to a cold hearth a couple of times!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
| Fiddlehead Farm |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 10:47:14 AM
Isn't it funny that my goal when I was younger was not to do any of those things and now as I get older it is my goal to do most of those things. It all has to do with living a simpler life.
http://studiodiphotosite.shutterfly.com/
farmgirl sister #922
Happy to be a "Raggedy Ann" in a Barbie World!
I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.
- E. B. White |
| beekeepersgirl |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 10:46:07 AM
I have very dear Amish friends and spend a lot of time with them, so I can honestly say I could do without just about everything on the list. Like Jonni, I'd have to improve my sewing skills - I can sew seams without much trouble, but button holes and zippers drive me crazy!! I guess I would also miss having a telephone since my Mom lives 300 miles away and I don't get to see her often, but we talk on the phone several times a week.
Luanne
beekeepersgirl #691
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
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| lilwing |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 10:01:26 AM
I could do without most if not all, but the indoor plumbing part would be hard, as well as splitting wood for firewood because my health would give me problems with this! We went without alot of things when our last hurricane hit and it's amazing what you can "make do" with!
~~~~
Proud Farmgirl #775
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| Karrieann |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 09:59:16 AM
...if that was my only option, life would just go on and it'll be just fine because thats just the way it be.
Now in saying that...right now I have different option and it is what it is.
Karrieann ~ Farmgirl Sister #766 (29 Sept 2009)
My Blog: ...following my heart, dreams and Jesus
...http://karrieann-followingmyheartandjesus.blogspot.com/
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