Hillbilly Heaven....WV! :) Pics!

[Beekissed]

Gee, where to start.... I was raised on a homestead, in a two room log cabin we had built, with no electricity and no running water...the folks were real into Mother Earth News in those days! We were pretty self-sufficient back in those days, as you can imagine. I've been spending the rest of my life trying to get back to those days....

I now live in the Eastern Panhandle of WV, God's country...so called because only God knows where it is! Its rather beautiful here, with air like diamonds and mountain streams that break your heart. I rent an old farm house on 1+ acres, with a 16 tree apple orchard, a very large garden (permanent beds, no till, mulched) and am surrounded by hay fields on three sides. No near neighbors.....

I am a single mother with 3 boys: Joel, 22; Eli, 18; Jon, 16. I have 2 LGDs~ Lucy Lou and Chocolate Jake, 2 cats ~ Spike and Possum, and 10 assorted chickens with 26 chicks coming tomorrow! I plan to get bees next spring, as well as a Dorper ewe to keep the orchard and yard mowed down. I try to live as SS and frugal as possible and am pretty good at it. My name is Julie, I am Christian, a nurse, a massage therapist and a medical transcriber. Nice to meet you all!

The view from my front porch of an ice storm we had this winter...

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And other pics of the Rent-A-Farm:

View from the top of the pasture...Jon and Jake playing in the snow. Doesn't that mountain look like it belongs in The Hobbit?

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View from the top of the orchard:

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My LGD and some of my free ranging flock.

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And my big blue roo....Sweet Lou!

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My son, the 250 lb. linebacker, can give you some perspective on just how big that rooster really is!

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[BrookValley]

Amazing what duct tape can do!

Seriously, those are some beautiful views. WV is gorgeous. We were just talking earlier today about dropping it all and moving out that way, to the middle of nowhere....used to be we were in the middle of nowhere, but in the last several years seems like the rest of the world has found us. Unfortunately, we've got a lot of years left in the workforce and it's hard (especially for my husband) for us to find work in the places where we would like to be most!

We're in MD, so not too far from you. Hey neighbor!

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Beautiful!!! I have always loved the idea of living in one of the Virginaia's.

 

[Beekissed]

Amazing what duct tape can do!

Seriously, those are some beautiful views. WV is gorgeous. We were just talking earlier today about dropping it all and moving out that way, to the middle of nowhere....used to be we were in the middle of nowhere, but in the last several years seems like the rest of the world has found us. Unfortunately, we've got a lot of years left in the workforce and it's hard (especially for my husband) for us to find work in the places where we would like to be most!
We're in MD, so not too far from you. Hey neighbor!

Howdy, neighbor!!! You know, we're getting encroached upon here also....I was thinking about moving to Montana!!! Heard there are still places out there where they only get mail delivery twice a week! Now, THATS my kind of livin'!

Frozen, right across the state line from me is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been....Blue Grass, VA. I imagine heaven looks something like that! You all should come for a visit some time!!!

 

[Icu4dzs]

WV certainly is a beautiful place. What amazes me is that there are so many beautiful places in this country. Each has its specific qualities that draw the eye. What is different about all of them is people. I've been around the world in my profession and have seen many beautiful places. What I discovered was that no matter where you go, you can always deal with the place but you may not be able to deal with the people.

People who have lived in a particular place tend to avoid/dislike/shun (in many cases) new-commers. Whether they feel threatened or just plain jealous, you have to admit that it is true.

Following is what I call my "rules to adapt to a new home"

One of the things that helped me adapt to my new home and helped folks adapt to me was the fact that I brought a "useful skill" to the community. Even if you are new, if you have some particular ability that contributes to the community as a whole, folks do tend to warm up a little faster than if you come with your hand out and expect the community as a whole to support you. Be willing to work without pay not only on your own place but on the farms of your neighbors.

It is also really important to be a service to the community as well as to yourself. We, who wish to be self sufficient tend to think inside the fence because that is where we usually put most of our time. The SS life style doesn't afford a lot of outside interaction so you have to force yourself to go outside your own fence. (remember the old saying, "good fences make good neighbors" and this is certainly true, but it is also important to do something for others. Volunteer in some way; at church, or in the town. Make a reputation for being someone your neighbors can depend on for help if they need it...particulary if something adverse happens in the area (storms, tornado, etc.)

The other thing that helps integrate into a new environment is to be certain that you can tolerate the environmental conditions before you move there. For the entire first winter I was in South Dakota, folks kept asking me "how you doing with this winter?" I told them, "as long as you dress right for it, there is no big problem" which is true. If you can't hack the weather, you won't like it there and they will know it.

There is another thing that helps you integrate into a new place. That is "what you say and think of it". You would think it would be intuitive that if someone moves to a new place it is because they "want to be there" but that isn't always the case. Some folks follow the work because their employer sent them there and they don't like it. Folks who have lived there all their lives respond a lot better if you tell them you love it there and would never want to be any where else...assuming that is why you moved there. If you don't love it where you are, NEVER let them know it.

In addition, there is a rule about what you say. Once you move to a very small town or community, you will quickly find that you must NEVER "diss" anyone because you will invariably be talking to either 1) a relative of theirs; 2) their best friend in school or 3) an in-law with whom they get along well.

Learn to "speak the language" of the area as well. Many places have some interesting little idioms of language that distinguish the area. Here, things aren't expensive, they're "spendy". In the midwest, the pronoun "me" is often left off the end of the sentence as in "do you want to come with?" It appears to be midwestern because I never heard that used in the east.

You also want to know what people do and how they make THEIR living. If you live in a farming community and you don't know anything about farming, it is a great deal more difficult to integrate.

You'll find that you won't feel that you belong for a number of years primarily because you are an "outsider". Once they realize that you have invested yourself and your resources into their community and that you are interested in being "one of them" you will feel like an "outsider". After you learn names, you will begin to recognize the names and then derive an understanding of the relationships of "first degree relatives" but then you will begin (around the third year) to recognize the secondary and more "removed" relationships, either by marriage or by births.


Having said all that, I hope you find it easy to integrate into the new place, be it WV, SD, or anywhere else in the world.

Now I have one question for the group. Can anyone PLEASE define all the initial acronyms used here? I see DH, DS, DD, and a varity of others. Where I came from DH was department head so I know that can't be right. Please help
Warmest Regards,
Trim

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

DH - Dear Hubby, Dear Husband, Darling Husband...sometimes Dang Husband

DS - Dear Son

DD - Dear Daughter

SIL - Sister In Law

DB - Dear Brother

BIL - Brother in Law

FIL - Father in Law

INFH - In Laws from H e double tooth picks

There are others I just can't think of them right now.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Great advice, Icu4dzs.
This may help too

The largest database of Internet Acronyms , so it's called

More acronyms than you could ever possibly want to know.

 

[TanksHill]

Great link. I need to give that to my dh. He needs it!!

 

[Icu4dzs]

Great advice, Icu4dzs.
This may help too

The largest database of Internet Acronyms , so it's called

More acronyms than you could ever possibly want to know.

That certainly is a comprehensive collection of acronyms. More than I ever dreamed however, I thought a lot of them were "un-repeatable" if you get my drift?

 

[Henrietta23]

Great advice, Icu4dzs.
This may help too

The largest database of Internet Acronyms , so it's called

More acronyms than you could ever possibly want to know.

That certainly is a comprehensive collection of acronyms. More than I ever dreamed however, I thought a lot of them were "un-repeatable" if you get my drift?

Yeah, sometimes the D does not stand for Dear!