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Hi from south Oxfordshire

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Hi from south Oxfordshire

Mon 17-Oct-11
12:51 pm

Rosesandtea

South Oxfordshire

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Mon 3-Oct-11

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Hi, wave mutley medicine told me about this forum so I had a look and thought I would join. I don't own a smallholding but would love to someday - bit of a dream since I was a child.

I'm from the US, but have lived here for 21 years. I have 5 children whom we home educate (d). Ages 20 - 9. My oldest is currently hoping to join the Army. My husband is a scientist.

I've long been interested in self-sufficiency in all sorts of ways. Not acheived much, but am learning and doing as I can.

We have a small back garden (long and narrow) and it in we have 9 chickens (in a run during gardening months), several raised beds, a couple of planting patches, 2 apple trees and the general paraphanalia that families have in back gardens. It's all pretty condensed!

I've taken a beekeeping course a couple of years ago and learned that I really couldn't keep bees at the moment. I hope the information will come back to me though when and if I can manage having some though.

Dh and I took a radio course last year, still waiting on a radio (!) but that was another bit of our self-sufficient-y plan. I'm M6RTK and we're hoping to borrow a radio from our club, if you are on the air please let me know - I need a friendly voice to practice on!!

I think dh smooch is really hankering after solar panels but we can't do that as of now.

I am pretty heavily into food preservation - dehydrating, canning (jarring/bottling etc) with both water bath canning and pressure canning methods. We buy wheat from a local farmer and use it both for bread but also for things like wheat pudding (much like rice pudding) and I want to sprout it but so far haven't gotten around to it.

I am interested in all sorts of things - basketmaking (just learning), all sorts of fiber arts, gardening (still with L plates) and some day I would like to have a house cow or two. I want to learn cheesemaking - have a few supplies already but aside from Labneh made from yogurt have not done anything.

I hope that is enough to get to know me a little bit - I'm not always this wordy!! 🙂

rose tea

Mon 17-Oct-11
1:08 pm

Toffeeapple

North Bucks

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Tue 22-Sep-09

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wave Hello and welcome Karen! Any friend of Mutley is a friend of ours and it seems that you have all the qualifications needed to belong here anyway. Yours sounds like a busy lifestyle.

I'll try that again!

Mon 17-Oct-11
1:18 pm

Hannah

Suffolk

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Busy life I see, I can sympathise with that- just retired early and have kept myself busy dawn to dusk with stuff in the garden and house- hopefully most of the really time consuming stuff will be done by next growing season.

That's an eclectic mix of potential outlets for your energies though, so you shouldn't get bored.

Are we having fun yet? I am!

Mon 17-Oct-11
1:45 pm

Aly

Normandy France

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Sun 2-Oct-11

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I'm also an early retiree and busier now than I have ever been but loving my new life style. surprised I am working at being self sufficient but had to move to France to achieve it. Still lots to learn smile

Trying to enjoy life as it is

http://www.letertregites.com

Mon 17-Oct-11
1:49 pm

Hannah

Suffolk

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We used to keep an allotment and gace our back garden over to veg and fruit- but that was before the children grew and needed the space, and we spent more time being taxi of mum and dad, then international work scuppered the opportunity to concentrate on the garden etc. but beginning to reverse that now.

Are we having fun yet? I am!

Mon 17-Oct-11
8:34 pm

JoannaS

Latvia

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Mon 21-Sep-09

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Hi ya Karen wave we have many similarities. I used to home educate my three children and I still work for an organisation that supports home educators up to exam level. We also used to have a long thin garden behind our terraced house in Derbyshire but we now have around 33 acres in Latvia, so a bit of a change on that front. We used to have three hens in Derbyshire but none since, hopefully next year as I am sick of supermarket chicken and that is only when we can get it.

Blog: thejourneytosomewhere.blogspot.com

Sun 23-Oct-11
8:07 pm

devongarden

Devon, UK

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Thu 7-Jan-10

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Hi Karen! I too am from the US, and have lived here a long time--over 40 years now. I lived in Oxford for a couple of years ages ago. You sound really busy!

wave

blog: Devon Garden

Mon 24-Oct-11
5:03 pm

Rosesandtea

South Oxfordshire

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hi Devongarden " your area is one of the ones I'd like to move to " in fact was just looking on the net at smallholdings in Cornwall and Devon last night. Not that I can afford any, but still¦

Fri 4-Nov-11
8:07 pm

mutley

Didcot/uk

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Hi R&t good to see you cheers this lady is who i get my corn for milling from and comes in food grade buckets she dose lots of videos to but dont have the credit to play them cry lol.

A bird in the hand makes a nice meal

Fri 4-Nov-11
8:11 pm

Toffeeapple

North Bucks

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Tue 22-Sep-09

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Hey Mutley, how are you?

I'll try that again!

Fri 4-Nov-11
8:13 pm

MOS

Cannock Chase

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Hi Mutley good to see you around Hows things with you and the nipper

MOS

sit down with a cupa and the urge will subside

Fri 4-Nov-11
8:14 pm

mutley

Didcot/uk

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very well thanks just so busy,s these days, whot with sleeping lol and careing for my friends here big_laugh hope you are well too love nigel and jade.

A bird in the hand makes a nice meal

Fri 4-Nov-11
8:21 pm

mutley

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she is growing up so fast, and she said the other day , dad i love you lots even if you are ugly lol harse but fair.

did a deal with her the other week and said if you keep the bedroom tidy i wil stop smoking ( dam ) she asks me for the hove now so i have to go out side for a sneekey one, that back fired aargh