It has been over five years since I moved from my Peaceful Forest Homestead. For years, I sold online. On various websites and wrote four different blogs. Not to mention all the physical work that had to be done living in an off grid house. I am thankful every day for the shower in my apartment. As well as the refrigerator with a large freezer that I have now. When I was living off-grid from 1999 to 2018, I presented in what I wrote and my photos, as if it was easy. It was not easy. Especially as the osteoarthritis in my knees worsened. I kept thinking it was caused by what I was doing. To make it even worse, my feet were swollen, red and hot. Sometimes I was so hot I could not stand it. The only relief I got was when I soaked my feet in cold water directly from the well. It wasn't long before that water would get hot from my feet! That turned out to be the beginning of Lymphedema. I now have it under control but back then I was afraid of what it might be.
Another thing that was difficult was not having any power after the energy system was turned off in the early evening. Imagine sitting for hours before bed time in the dark. In the first years that I lived there, the kerosene lamps were the only lights used. There were fourteen! They worked but they are not as bright as an electric light bulb. They have a smell that not all people can endure. I did because I think I got used to them. There was also the smell from the batteries that stored the power as they were charging. I knew they were highly dangerous, especially with the huge wood stove a few feet away! I had no way to change anything when living there. That is why I value my own independence now.
The smoke from the two wood stoves affected me also. A chimney needs to be cleaned often. Even more if you have a chimney inside the house that has elbows and goes through the floor to the upstairs. I loved cooking on the wood cook stove but I never felt safe with it going at night after we went to bed. If the weather was cool, but not cold it meant the wood stoves would heat the house to very high temperatures and I could barely stand it. Many times I would get so hot that I would go sit outside on the porch in the middle of the night. My cats loved them though! Their motto was the hotter the better!
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| Boom Box, Lamp, Television.......Bunny! |
I eventually started getting things on my own to improve my life. Like a small fan that I could use if there was enough power. Could not use it during the night though when I really needed it. Music always improves my life and puts me in a good mood. So I bought a boom box (that I finally wore out this year and had to throw it out). I would use batteries in it and always bought some at the store so I could keep it going. After that I got a MP3 player and an external speaker for it. I would play that at night when I was in bed. I had to go to bed early because it was dark. The Kindle Fire also helped me endure those dark nights. I read all the time. I even read out loud to others until they fall asleep.
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| My son doing laundry! |
When I mention to others that I used to live off the grid it gets all kinds of attention. People glamorize it. People think washing your laundry by hand and hanging it on a clothesline is great. It is not. I never felt that I could get my laundry really clean. I did not have enough strength to really scrub it clean. You have to scrub hard! Then carry more water from the well and rinse. After that I had to carry the laundry to the clothesline to hang. I have horrible problems with my shoulders and maybe that is how it started. Reaching up always hurts me now. Luckily I don't have to wash by hand anymore. I do hang my clothing on the shower rod to dry. Though I can use a dryer if I want to and I do for bedding and towels.
Yes, life is easier for me now. I am still active. I still clean my home and cook foods that I prepare myself. I now have friends I see in person almost daily. I can go to the store if I am out of something and not worry about whether I have enough gas to get there and back. No, I can't walk in the forest or work in my garden. Those are things I had to give up in order to improve my life. I do other things instead. As you get older maybe it is not such a good idea to live secluded with no friends or in charge of your own life. Being single has made my life easier to stick to a budget that I set up for my own needs. Not what someone else wants.
People think living in an apartment building is not a good idea because of having such close neighbors. For me, in the building I live in I can go a whole week-end and not see another person. I do my laundry and will be alone in the laundry room the whole time. If I want company I can invite some of my friends to my apartment for coffee or stop in their apartments to chat. We play Bingo downstairs in the Community Room. People seem to gather at various times in the lobby on the first floor. It depends on the building you move to. I honestly don't know how you could check it out before you moved in though. I didn't know what to expect.
Stores, restaurants, coffee shop, drug stores, 4 parks, the library and the county office building are all within walking distance of my apartment. I use a mobility chair for the times I have trouble walking or if I want to get somewhere fast. It is more like my vehicle since I do not own a car. I didn't need the expense or headaches owning one includes. There is a bus system here as well as taxi service. Grocery delivery has been an added improvement for me! I use it all the time. As I look back on these last five years, I think it was the right decision to move here.
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