Homespun

This year, more than ever, our life feels very homespun. I have always been a big reader, I devour magazines and books. When we were younger, we went thru a very homesteading, homemade, homespun stage with some other families. We read all the Countryside magazines and we tried all the projects. We gave each other gift subscriptions to Mothering and then made and bought all natural toys for our children and we tried out all of the home remedies for sicknesses. We all began homeschooling. We read Mother Earth news and dreamed of DO-It-Yourself house building and repair, of compost and raised beds in our gardens. We started buying all Organic produce, or growing it ourselves. Then we started buying cow-shares and making butter and yogurt. Somehow, even though we had friends along on this trip, it still seemed like a struggle against the odds. Our families gave our children Barbies instead of wooden blocks and plastic toys made in China instead of books. The images on TV insulted our senses and convinced us to trade in "the Dish" for another horse. During this time, our children started growing up and stopped wearing skirts and started wearing makeup, and the latest jeans. Our marriages all went thru the "for better or for worse" at least a few times, some of the marriages survived and some did not and we get to this year. This year. For me it was a "for worse" year, loving each other through everything we have gone through this year has really grown us in new ways. This year. During this year we still had a garden, we grew mounds of garlic and gave a ton away, we had fresh greens all summer and we have squash put away for all winter. We made elderberry cough syrup, and tinctures and salves. We tried lots of new recipies like Foccacia bread and cornmuffins made from fresh greens. We still are making yogurt and butter and we are wearing makeup and the latest jeans! But being natural, trying out our homesteading, doesn't feel like a struggle anymore. People respect us for our difference, they call and ask for our natural recipies, they love our garlic, and they stop over late at night for help with an earache.

It's not a stage anymore, but we tried it on and it fits. The chickens and sheep are here to stay, the garden gets bigger every year, we are still homeschooling.

Homespun is now our way of life.