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Self-Sufficiency in Style 

 reluctant partner?

 

 Dreaming of a very different life.

 Things don't always turn out as we expect. When this site was started some years ago, the writer expected the typical reader to be a 50something male Briton, early retired and bored.

The reality seems very different. 

Judging by incoming emails, woman self-sufficiency dreamers outnumber men by four to one and they are younger - mostly in their thirties, usually with children and in a stable relationship.

There are large and increasing numbers from all the English speaking countries, especially the US.

They are certainly busy and not in the least bored. They just have a dream.
It could be that men as less likely to email. Men do tend to keep their thoughts to themselves more.

It could be that modern lifestyles are less attractive to the working mother than the gurus would have us believe.

Anyway, the correspondence throws up a common situation: the reluctant partner: usually a husband, that says "that's a nice idea but not practical."

He may be right. But there is no harm in a little campaigning to test the objections.

He may just be beaten into the practice of conformity. Conforming is sometimes the only way to survive in a hard industrial or business world.

There is no harm in a little persuasion.

 Renovation Project?

 Self-sufficiency does seem to have something for everyone and it may just be a question of finding what will do the trick.

You can't drag someone into the backwoods, but you can spark their interest.

 There are four main groups of activities:

  Vegetable growing

  Animal husbandry

Engineering and building

Sports, hobbies and entertainment

we will take a look at each in turn.

 
Vegetable and fruit growing is a pretty obvious self-sufficiency activity.

It is a very worthwhile activity, providing a pleasant environment, exercise as well as produce.

Experience shows that it seems to appeal equally to men or women.

Plenty of people don't like gardening, especially mowing the lawns, and there is no reason why in a two person partnership, both have to do it.

 Encouragement to go veggie.

 Animal husbandry is the same. Possibly it appeals a little more to women than to men. They seem to be faster on their feet.

If neither are keen on livestock, or the place is unsuitable, then don't do it.

You can go vegetarian or buy your meat from the supermarket.

 The above is not just theory. The writer has little to do with animals, Mrs Pat rarely helps in the garden or orchards.

 From time to time, one or other of us will need a hand, but that's about it.

 She admired the fruit blossom: the writer patted the cow.

She cooks fresh produce, we share the job of preserving, sausage making and similar operations and storing.

Beer making and testing is a specialist field, creating much mess, and is a solo activity banned from the kitchen.
Engineering and building covers a huge range of activities. Almost all men take to it like a duck to water.

Space to store bits and pieces, that may come in useful, a huge range of exotic specialist tools, the idea that you are saving garage bills...

The attractions are endless...your own water and electricity supply, house heating system, and the reality of adding value to the property.

There is no doubt that many men who dislike gardening make a go of self-sufficiency in this way.

In Britain, the high cost of housing and the possibility of renovating an old dilapidated place, are a big incentive.

Your own tractor is a winner.

 Your own boat and endless tinkering.

 It is always hard to separate self-sufficient activities from hobbies and pastimes, but there is no doubt that the prospect of keeping a horse or a pony for the children is a big incentive for many women. It costs money, of course, but a little mental agility can disguise that.

Dressmaking, knitting and similar activities can be both money saving and enjoyable.

Men, generally get much from a country lifestyle, hunting, shooting and fishing of course, but space too to keep a boat.

...and to tinker happily and endlessly.
In a way, it is right to close with hobbies and pastimes.

If you have a job that you like and enjoy, you are lucky. The line between relaxation and work becomes blurred.

You suffer, perhaps, the jibe of being regarded a company man or woman, and there is little doubt that the workaholic, alleged or real, can be very unpopular at home.

However, it is just that kind of person that can make a success of self-sufficiency.

Self-sufficiency blurs the line between work and pleasure. That's unfashionable perhaps today, in a world where our "rights" to relaxation and our "duties" to the state and community have become sacrosanct, but it is a return to an older way of thinking.

 Blurring the line.

Time for my annual bath.

 Once, before the industrial revolution and the factory siren; before the timetable and diary, our forefathers lived in a timeless world.

There was no clock in the house and no watch on the wrist.

Sure, eventually there was the church clock and bells to summon them away from the fields or forge, and the squire's agent to stand over them, but the distinctions were less.

The world of work merged imperceptibly into the world of recreation.

Self-sufficiency gives us an opportunity to live the seasons without becoming a slave to the clock.

...selling self-sufficiency

- from the timeless Hangman's Cottage, just to the south of Misery Corner.

May,2006

 

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