The Bacchus Homestead

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

I came across this quote a while back and it stuck with me. We have failed our homestead three years in a row and each spring return with the enthusiasm that we can do this. This year is no different. We are gun ho and ready to take it on. Ten months recovering from your medical emergency gave us a new lease on life, so to speak. Time is not on our side as most people do not start living “off grid” and starting a homestead in their sixties. But we are not most people.

First line up for business was to replace the out house. The original building had been there ten years, obviously not in the same spot. When the perfect spot was picked a hole was dug and we started assembling the new outhouse. Again, scrap wood was our best resource to turn to. Not being a carpenter it took us a bit to figure things out. It is simple and it is functional but it is by no means square! We can, however, guarantee you won’t fall through it! The other issue is we had no roofing material. Plastic was our go-to for this as it was only a temporary solution to get us through the season.

As I mentioned in the previouse year we built the out door shower house. It was a simple design. The pallet was the base. Adding 2″ strip boards reinforced the flooring. We built our walls out of used 2x4s and sided it with the leftover shiplap boards from the siding. The roof came from an old shed we tore down a few years back. We used the top trusses and cut them to fit the width. The roofing was an amazing find! One day at the dump, there were sheets of old clear roofing, the kind that lets daylight in. We asked if we could take it, and the answer was yes. Did it matter that there were pre-existing holes in it? Not at all. After all, it was for a shower!

The most proud addition was the outdoor propane water heater we found online. Let me tell you this was not an easy hookup for us. Like I had mentioned, we are not plumbers! After several days, hours, and trips to the local hardware store, we were able to have running water from the barrel to the heater and at last to the shower head! Water pressure was another thing. The small camping pump we had did not have the pressure we were accustomed to, but boy, did that first hot water shower feel great! All the blood, sweat, tears, and arguments went right out with the bathwater! With every hot shower came a sense of a new beginning, new energy and more hope to continue our dream. It’s an amazing invention to be greatly appreciated.

Land clearing was still a major project for us. We could only take down a tree at a time and that took weeks to get cut up and stacked. It isn’t easy when you have physical limitations. Going from working seven days a week to nothing takes it’s toll on a person’s mental stamina. Especially when that person was the main bread winner in the family. But we managed. We always do and this year we were not letting anything stop us this time.

So we hiked up our big people britches put on our boots and kept moving forward. Slow and steady. We will get to where we need to be and want to be.

As the season moved along we were blessed with some amazing freebees! Our son was able to get us a pallet of pine “cutoffs” from his work for free. These are boards ranging six-eight inch width’s and two-three feet long. At last flooring for the Bacchus! We did not pre treat these boards before we put them down. We wanted the full effect of flooring that looks like it has been there a hundred years.

Full size fridge and cookstove made it into our home. Both worked fine. The only thing wrong is they were white. But free is good so then white is good! More cleaning but it was free.

By the time fall came around we were feeling ready. Three cords of firewood were stacked. All propane tanks were full. The outhouse had a better temporary roof for the winter months. All the tools we needed were stored in our cargo trailer that we brought up. Things were looking good. Except for one thing. One of us was still living down south. The weekend spouse deal was not working. Fridays we were so excited to spend the weekend together and by Sunday, sadness, loneliness, and feelings of abandonment took us over. It was very hard not to cry when we left each other. At least we didn’t do it in front of each other.

It was middle October when I took the chance and applied for a job in the nearby town. Thinking I was didn’t have a chance because I was so far away, I decided to take the chance anyway. I got it! No more weekend spouse! I was settled in by Thanksgiving! What a feeling! There was no turning back now. We were committed and there was no safety net to fall back to. We Got This!

As always, stay positive, stay focused, and remember with challenge comes change and change is good!