I was reading the second chapter of “At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream” when I came across this simple, yet profound, question: What would you do if you could not fail?
Living a Simple Life
About getting back to the basics of living a happy, simple life.
Archive for ‘Simple Thoughts’
I Deleted My Facebook Profile But We Still Have a Fan Page
I just deleted my Facebook profile because it was complicating my life. I’m all about technology, but we are also interested in simplifying our lives, whether that be through technology or the lack thereof. We try out different things and see if it makes our lives more simple or more complicated. For instance, pioneers didn’t have chain saws, but there is no way in hell I’d live without mine. I also make a living by telecommuting over the Internet, so our high-speed DSL connection is an absolute must-have. But Facebook?
Growing Accustomed to Life On a Farm
So, I’ve noticed lately that I’m becoming a little more accustomed to life here on the farm. For instance, I’ve given up on the idea that it is possible to stay clean and dry when I have 3 dogs and a creek. I’m on my second round of poison ivy. I’m not sure how I got it this time – probably from one of the dogs jumping on me or from picking up Smokey (our cat) who takes up residence under the pine trees where it grows like mad. But I’ve managed to stop having anxiety attacks when I see her trotting through there or when Clyde runs through patches of it here and there.
What Would You Do If You Could Not Fail?
Mrs. Simpleton’s First Post
Lately I’ve been working on a few sewing projects such as making curtains and pillows for our new place (I will post some pics when I’m all done) and I have been adjusting my craft room to make manipulating fabric a little more manageable.
I should be working but I’m so tired from working…
It is 11pm Friday night here. I promised myself that I would work on a freelance thing tonight. But that was before I tried to till in our garden area this afternoon. Usually I work until 5pm telecommuting, then do my farm work from 5pm until it gets dark (8-ish) and then come in and work on my own websites or client sites until around 10pm. That is during the week. My weekends have consisted of work on the property from 8am until 8pm with trips into town or into Floyd interspersed here and there. You know, “the simple life”. I’m “living the dream” and all that.
I hate this thing. I hate it. I want to destroy it like they destroyed the fax machine in Office Space!
Friday Night at the Floyd Country Store
Last Friday we went into Floyd for the evening. We had a nice dinner at Odd Fella’s Cantina and then went over to the Floyd Country Store to see some good ol’ fashioned bluegrass music. It was a banjo picken’, upright bass smackin’, guitar strummin’, harmonica blowing, sweet voice singin’ good time.
The Country: Where Sayings Come From
I am starting to realize just how many “sayings” come from the country. When you’re in the city and get the trash picked up every week you don’t think much about where that trash goes, except perhaps going so far as to separate your recycleables. I just posted on the Carroll County Freecycle website about some moving boxes that I’d like to give away. I found myself typing, “we’ll be taking them to the dump if nobody wants them, but I hate to see them go to waste.”
Reminder To My Future Self…
It is the end of a decade and the end of an era (The Denver Era) so I thought it would be an appropriate time to take a snapshot. Sometimes along the road of life we lose track of what was important to our earlier selves. Usually we’ve just grown into different priorities. Still, it is important to be reminded of our values and priorities as they were at a given point in time so that we might hold our older selves accountable to our earlier selves.
Giving & Receiving Useful Gifts
I got a Poulan Pro 18-inch 42cc gas-powered, chainsaw for Christmas. It’s the kind in this chainsaw comparison. Along with it I was given some stocking stuffers like work gloves, ear plugs and some smaller gifts like a book on chainsaw maintenance and helmet with a face shield for cutting wood. I gave my wife, among other things, several sewing and knitting books, some contraption that helps her ball up hand-spun yarn, some wool… Next year she might get an actual spinning wheel, but the darned things cost over $400 new so she’s fine with a drop spindle for now.
On Community
You can be surrounded by millions and still be alone.
Although I run an “urban” homesteading group at the moment (this one), I must confess that we have purchased a small farm in rural Virginia to which we plan on moving at some point in the not-so-distant future.
About Us
We're not technophobes or Luddites. We simply believe that people have lost some important things in the march toward progress. That is not to say progress and simplicity are mutually exclusive. We believe we can have both, and this site catalogs our journey as we try to do exactly that.