One of the perks about the roadsteading lifestyle is that we get to visit, help out and experience others’ homesteads without being tied down physically or financially ourselves.
Yak gets to clean stalls, groom and exercise horses for his sister. We went to a hay auction with them, and I got to observe (proudly) as my daughter and her husband carefully examined prospective stacks of hay and decided which ones to bid on and how high they would go. This is the girl who used to pout and stomp when Mom brought home anything less than the pretty green stuff. (Though I will admit to the occasional bad choice in hay….) We got to help load, unload and stack the hay, and this nomadic homesteader was glad she had her gear – boots, apron, gloves, respirator and scarf! You can laugh, but I didn’t have to take any allergy meds or use my inhaler, so there!
Another advantage is that although my container garden experiment is not going as well as I’d like (recent hail, in fact, destroyed my tomatoes), we visited another family member who provided us with fresh, organically grown produce from his garden. I don’t think I need to elaborate on the flavor difference between garden fresh red and yellow tomatoes, green beans and broccoli and that from the supermarket. Not to mention the chile rellenos I made with the fresh, home roasted chiles – mmm!
I’ll close this post with the joys of traveling with pets. Although we started off with two dogs and two cats, we are now down to one dog. This is much more manageable for us at this time. Susie is a confirmed ranch dog from birth. She refuses to get in cars or go into houses. With all the extra love and attention we’ve been able to give her, she is coming to enjoy sleeping in the trailer with us and being our constant companion. When we change locations, she’s coming to understand that the long car ride means a visit to another one of her canine friends. She’s a happy pup.
For more of our nomadic homesteading adventures, come join us at Around The Homestead.