Are we living our dream?

Continued from once upon a time. So my dream became a nightmare for a while and eventually I got back on track. Married a farmer who doesn’t exactly do everything exactly like me but still manages to make it work and is king of the dumpster dive. I did have to go to work full time because of certain complicated family obligations but I was on such a good roll. I was almost totally done with all debts and then I could have eased into retirement planning but here came Hurricane Ida.
I still want freedom from debt, utilities, grocery stores to an extent but Ida has tested me greatly. This is kinda my intro but I will follow up with my game plan for making that lemonade with all those lemons I was sent.

Following to hear your plan and maybe find some wise advice

You were almost there. You will get there again and reach your dream. Hurricane Ida was a spoiler, but your determination will win in the long run.

Yesterday I harvested several sacks of satsuma but the little guys at the hardware stores that normally help me sell were afraid to set up my table without the bosses permission, even though they all know I have been selling for years but I filled an order for a box for one of my coworkers...also out of work. And today I started messaging all the people who normally buy privately with me so I got bites and hit one of the hardware stores. I think I can probably sell whatever the raccoons don’t eat. Tomorrow we need to make a peanut butter sandwich for the coons and place it in a trap. No...we will not be nicely relocating the coon to terrorize someone else’s farm. We will eat all the coons we catch.
I have been really depressed when I think about how my kids are staying with my oldest daughter when they could have been helping me. I could have forced the issue but I don’t want them to be disrespectful to me or DH and then a big stupid fight starts and there I am trying to neutralize it. Sometimes when that happens I just wanna be done. I want my kids all settled in their lives and I wanna be so very old and just done.
So after running around selling satsuma and dropping off at a hardware store we went further up the bayou to buy rabbits from a man we were supposed to go to yesterday. We like prepared for 12 new rabbits....I don’t know why , and the guy is gone until Sunday. So we go to eat at this Cajun seafood restaurant nearby and the old couple we just pulled the colony of bees out their house are there and want us to join them. Old man insisted on paying. My lucky day or at least blessed. Then I find out I can go to two other places with fruit so in the morning we gotta harvest, set traps and bring fruit to hardware stores and gas station. Oh and DH hit at least 3 piles of rubble that were on roadsides to collect studs and drums....only him. Y’all know how the price of lumber went up? Well if you want to make something and you up for a road trip bring a trailer to Lafourche Parish right now!! Three weeks ago would have been even better. People throwing away half their houses for the garbage truck. $300 exterior doors. Water fountain and chandeliers. DH actually took a chandelier he plans on hanging in my chicken coop. Seriously??

I'm with your husband on the scrounging. I took used lumber home, pulled nails and stacked lumber in our garage. My husband thought I was nuts. Then I hit the reject rack at Lowes and bought that at a very discounted rate. When we moved here, I brought all my treasures with me. Also had 22 power poles that I got for a mere $80. We hired the labor to build a 36'X36' barn. I had to buy 22, 20'2"X6" for rafters because I didn't have enough, plus the plywood decking for the roof. The R panel metal was all new too, to the tune of $4500. Barn got built for under $8,000. insurance appraised it for $34,000. So not too bad for a scrounger!

Now I'm not living my dream, my husband died of covid pneumonia in September. I'm putting the farm on the market in the spring, moving to a rent house my son has until I figure out where I want to be.

Omg. I am sorry for your loss. But I hope you don’t regret your decision. It’s just been 2 months and I wouldn’t want you to forfeit your lifestyle and later regret it. Is there not a way to downsize the chores to make it manageable? Like for me...well I am a nurse and my coworkers have questioned me about my farm. I told them I make my living as a nurse and then the farm pretty much supports itself and only feeds me but if I had to choose I would farm because if I can’t work in the future as a nurse the farm is bread, meat, vegetables, fruit, cabins, warmth, water, herbs....basically everything I need. If I don’t have my land then I’ll be just as dependent on the money economy as everyone else. I just don’t believe in hasty decisions. I hope you have a good plan because I remember communicating with you in the past and people like us just don’t see things like most people.
If I were left alone with too much land to manage and no farmer to lease to or sharecrop with and by all means selling as a working farm was in my best interest I really think I would sell it for the most possible money and then go RVing. Downsize and go places, while I still use some of my skills. I do have a used RV and Nature has already forced me to downsize but still with the land. But I trust you know what is best for you.

We moved here because our daughter and family was here. They moved to Odessa for better jobs, then moved to Corpus Christi this past summer. I had already been telling my husband that we ought to move a couple hours south to be closer to family. This is not a new rash decision. Without the love of my life, I have no family anywhere near. Moving to my son’s rent house on 2 acres will give me time to figure out where I want to be. I’m not giving up farming, keeping 12ewes and my ram. Plus my LGDs. I’m a firm believer in that when the time is right, God will show me where I need to be. I just know I don’t belong here anymore. Thank you for your love and concern.

Today I called the hardware stores that help me sell my oranges and found out one had 2 sacks left but were closing in 3.5 hours and opening Monday so I figure they will sell everything before the day is up. The other store had 2 sacks but had over 5 hours until closing and will be open tomorrow morning so I knew I had to harvest. I harvested 18 sacks and delivered, collected for 10 and left. I tried to visit my grandkids but both my daughter and daughter-in-law wanted me to wait until Sunday...today . DH is suffering from a new problem which is probably a direct result of Hurricane Ida. He has a fissure and is more than likely going to require surgery. I really just wish he would stop trying to do everything. He really needs to pick his battles better. He doesn’t need to kill himself working. He can paint pictures. Amen. Goodnight

I haven’t been sleeping well lately and DH has been waking up earlier than me. So I only half understood everything he was telling me but I am now understanding he went pick up MORE rabbits. So he is going put them on my farm. All things told to me by text from people I don’t know. I really hope he latched the cages. I might be responsible for a southeast, Louisiana rabbit explosion. So I also got a text from one of my coworkers that she has a few pumpkins she wants to donate to the animals. I found out they aren’t carved so I told her if she didn’t mind I would smother them. She also doesn’t like waste. I wish I could find a pale pumpkin. I might have to just order seeds .
The flies are crazy ever since a week after the storm. Making me crazy. I think I will put out another stinky trap.
This coffee is awesome but I best get dressed. Coworker in route and I don’t want her to see me this sexy....past coworker. I still tend to think of them as my work family.

I haven’t been sleeping well lately and DH has been waking up earlier than me. So I only half understood everything he was telling me but I am now understanding he went pick up MORE rabbits. So he is going put them on my farm. All things told to me by text from people I don’t know. I really hope he latched the cages. I might be responsible for a southeast, Louisiana rabbit explosion. So I also got a text from one of my coworkers that she has a few pumpkins she wants to donate to the animals. I found out they aren’t carved so I told her if she didn’t mind I would smother them. She also doesn’t like waste. I wish I could find a pale pumpkin. I might have to just order seeds .