Getting acclimated to country

[Country homesteader]

I've lived in the country ever since the end of 2015 but before that I lived in a city ( Syracuse to be exact). I can't really say it's my place seeing how it belongs to an Uncle of mine but he drives tractor trailer for a living so I tend to it including the animals (4 steers and around 50 chickens) while he isn't here.
I'm slowly getting aquainted with country living and how to become self-sufficient. Plus also the machinery especially the tractors ( Bolens) seeing how I've never used one before. During Sapping (Maple and Birch) I used the Bolens 20 to go gather the sap from the trees in the woods. I may have driven slow but I wanted to be able to control the machine not have the machine control me.
It sure is different than living in the city but the air here is so much better especially when the wind blows just right get that nice sniff of "fresh country air" into the lungs.
So far my attempts at helping this farm become self-sufficient have been not my ideas but I somehow get talked into doing them .
So frustrating, maybe it's because my family knows that I'm trying my best to learn new things and I'm more helpful than others (because of my love for animals which isn't always the best thing).
Yup, I used to live in the country when I was a teen but I wasn't interested in it at that time- just a typical teen (thought I knew it all and would be better off in a city- was I wrong). I'm glad though that I was finally able to get out of the city and back to the country where my roots first began- grew up in small country towns here in NY State.

 

[lcertuche]

I agree with the sage advice of the other ladies. I would like to take a small engine repair class given the opportunity. DH does not know how to fix anything and wants to hire things done so usually things don't get fixed unless I can do it. I once had to put in window panes of a house I moved into because I couldn't find anyone to do it. I broke a few panes putting them in and got a cut on my hand but it brought me great satisfaction to know I could do it if I had to. I also liked that my young daughters (at the time) saw their mama could do things like that. I once apologized to my daughter for something I didn't buy for her when she was little and she told me, "Mama the only thing I remember about you was that you worked your a$$ off taking care of things".

 

[Chic Rustler]

Hope springs eternal....

Men who are willing to do chores on the land and around the house are born, not made...you'll be able to spot those kind and they are as rare as hen's teeth. They are the ones doing work like that BEFORE you ask...they see what needs to be done and they just go and do it. They don't slowly grow into good workers with time....I've never seen it happen and my dear ol' Ma, 82 yrs young in this world, has never seen it happen.

I didnt know i was such a catch. I better show this to the wife.

 

[tortoise]

I snagged one of them too! He makes me look lazy. (That's super annoying!).

 

[Beekissed]

Hope springs eternal....

I'm going to give you a little nibble of wisdom, as a woman of older years....never wait on a man to do anything or get around to anything or learn to WANT to do anything. ANY man...brother, cousin, uncle, dad or husband.

You'll be waiting a very long time while the place falls down around you. Men who are willing to do chores on the land and around the house are born, not made...you'll be able to spot those kind and they are as rare as hen's teeth. They are the ones doing work like that BEFORE you ask...they see what needs to be done and they just go and do it. They don't slowly grow into good workers with time....I've never seen it happen and my dear ol' Ma, 82 yrs young in this world, has never seen it happen.

My advice to you is to learn how to do everything yourself and then just do everything yourself. It gets done that way, it gets done properly and it gets done when YOU want it done, not when they get around to helping you or doing it. You'll experience a lot less anxiety and stress over the years if you stop expecting a man who is not already jumping to it before you ask to help you, to do it, or even WANT to do it....it will never happen.

Roll up your sleeves and get busy on what you want to accomplish, learn how to use the equipment...trust me, if they can learn it and use it, so can you, and roll on with your bad self.

 

[Denim Deb]

Bee has some good advice. I've gotten tired of waiting for hubby to do stuff, and am learning how to do it myself. Some things I already knew, like how to drive a tractor, back a trailer, how to use tools, etc. So I'm now putting them to use. I still want to learn how to do simple electrical work, welding and small engine repair.

 

[baymule]

Amen to what @Beekissed and @Denim Deb said! I am married and my husband thinks he knows stuff, but he really doesn't. Oh well, he makes up for it with enthusiasm. But when there's a project, it's me that plans and executes it. The tractor is mine!

 

[Country homesteader]

That's my EE,Boo, eating a treat off from my leg.

 

[Country homesteader]

Here's pics of what the small pond by the house looks like now. You can say these are the before pics:

 

[Beekissed]

That's called "bucket love" and is all a part of tending animals...never ends. Every single day of my life I go out that door and am followed by many creatures, some quietly dogging my steps, some yelling loudly for attention, but they all follow me everywhere I go until the food is doled out.

Later on, when I go out, they will follow me in HOPES of food being doled out.