The word “homestead” invokes in my mind a sense of a life filled with purpose and hard work as well as enjoyment of the simple things. Today, I want to point you toward some free resources that might be of interest if you want to have a little bit “homestead” in your home, and also tell you about my own little homestead.
NotebookingPages & His Homestead Originals have teamed up to offer a wonderful giveaway HERE! I really like both of these sites!
Merissa of Little House Living has an entire page dedicated to homesteading information that is applicable no matter where you live. Her site is definitely worth looking over!
Jam Labelizer is a FREE program that helps you create custom labels for your canning jars!
And don’t forget my 3 ingredient Homemade Cleaner that is all natural and oh so wonderful! It’s not free, but it’s close!
Now, a little bit about our new homestead…
My mother-in-law calls it the Big House on the Prairie. We are out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farmland! The wind blows like crazy here, and there are no trees near the house to block it. It’s also not real pretty from the outside. It truly is a big house plopped out in the middle of the prairie. Our landlord lives across the road on land that has been in his family for generations. This is his homestead, and we are blessed to live on a small piece of it.
I don’t have many photos yet, because I’m trying to be super thoughtful about how I decorate and coordinate things. The master bedroom is nearly complete though. All that is lacking is Emily’s quilt to be hung from the quilt shelf and paint on the walls (coming this Spring, we hope!)
A moment of honesty…
I was feeling very overwhelmed by everything when we first moved in. No real sense of direction – just chaos everywhere I turned. My husband told me to get the master bedroom in order so I had a retreat I could go to. He gave me the go ahead to purchase some bedding I had had my eye on for quite some time. (excuse the light from the window!)
I’ve started to have an affinity for quilts and homestead-related decor. I prefer the rustic look, and I felt this quilt captured all of that quite well.
The name of the quilt is Patriotic Patch. I purchased the bed skirt, shams, and valences. All of the items are extremely well made. (This company has a lot of lovely quilts, but this one made my heart sing!)
We’ve never had a headboard, so I used photos from our travels instead. These photos are all from Creede, Colorado: a couple of waterfalls and an abandoned mining camp.
In the corner is my hideous orangey-gold chair that so comfortable, I can’t part with it. I threw a quilt over it to keep it from sticking out like a sore thumb. (OK, who am I kidding? It still sticks out like a sore thumb, but this is MY retreat, so ole orangey stays. 😉 ) There is an end table and lamp next to my chair as well. Something about having soft lamp light in a bedroom makes the room seem so much more homey, don’t you think?
We do have our elliptical and weights in the bedroom – a huge no-no I am told, but it has actually been rather nice to have them in here, and it doesn’t mess with my sleep patterns one bit.
We also have many of Emily’s things and memories about the room. I’ve always kept these things in our bedroom because that’s where it feels right to have them.
You know, I’m not much of a homesteader in the sense of the word most people think of. I know how to sew, but my machine is broken, and I can’t seem to find the time to sew, let alone fix the machine. I plan to garden, but that has never been a very fruitful endeavor for us. I typically end up pregnant, and too sick and worn out to handle a garden. We don’t own any animals because we travel a lot and we move a lot, and that tends not to be a good mix.
In fact, most days I’m doing good to get the family fed and homeschooled with a few extra activities thrown in here and there. Milking cows and goats, raising chickens, making candles and soap, and tilling the land don’t seem to have a place in my life, and I can’t say they ever will.
Because that’s not where I am.
My little bit of homestead is such because this is where I have landed and I work hard in this little corner of the world. I work hard to school my children, care for my family, make the most of what we have, and make the most of what we do.
My husband doesn’t work from home, and we don’t grow most of what we eat, but my husband does provide for us and I am grateful for the money to purchase groceries I can turn into wholesome meals.
So, while I can’t claim true homesteading (even if I do have a Homesteading Pinterest board!), this is still my little bit of homestead. It is the place I work and live. It is the place I invest time and money and energy. This is where I raise my children, care for my husband, create a home. And I thank the Lord for it all!
Kari says
I LOVE your quilt! How beautiful is that set!? I have a heart for homesteading too but we haven’t gotten very far except that we have a rather large lot in our subdivision and hope to buy the lot behind us to expand further. I have dreams of a huge garden (like from my childhood) and spending hours canning and freezing food for the winter. I would love chickens but haven’t researched whether we can have them in the city limits or not. Maybe the Lord is preparing my heart for a life that will be necessary some day, even if that day is not now. Blessings on your week Amy!
Amy says
Thank you!
Jamie says
I recently found your blog and I am really enjoying it. Great post. Love the new quilt!
Blessings! Jamie
raisingcropsandbabies says
Your quilt is nice! We are a 6th generation farm family and our life isn’t always picture pretty (like you see with a lot of hobby farms/homesteads), but it’s how it has to be for us. I dream of a beautiful yard (one that doesn’t get trampled on by cows that bust through our fence) and of flower gardens, but it’s all I can do to raise a vegetable garden and my yard is always getting trampled on and is a disaster. Farmers don’t have a lot of time to deal with yards and because they spend all their time outside, the last thing they want to do when they come home tired and sore is to work outside more! I remind myself there are different seasons in life that bring different blessings. So even though I can our food, milk cows, raise chickens/cows/sheep, and sew (my hobby)… there is something that will always be outside our reach and it’s good to accept it and be happy with where you are at!
Amy says
Exactly!
shiloh says
Yes, we put an offer on a homestead with 33 acres last spring. We ended up not purchasing the house as we felt this was not God’s plan for us.
Michelle G says
Amy,
You’ll have to share with me how you find these fabulous homes out in the country for rent! I would love to move my family out into the country someday.
Amy says
God’s grace, Michelle! It was by word of mouth this time. Someone knew someone, who knew someone, who knew we needed a house QUICK! Just keep praying, Michelle!