Why we gave up on the country life
Vložit
- čas přidán 7. 09. 2018
- We moved out to the country last year, but it turns out it did not make us happy. While there is much to appreciate about a big property, between maintenance, kids, having to drive for everything, no family nearby, and tendonitis problems for me, we never actually got to enjoy the property.
- Jak na to + styl
“The workshop was way too big” said one person in history.
Yeah,probably too much light and too many electrical outlets also.
It reads like "I had way too many clamps" something I've literally never heard one woodworker say ever.
It's actually a big problem.
And too many tools...
Farming is a full time job. When my grandfather passed away non of his kids were able (or willing) to take care of his property without quitting their jobs. They ended up renting the property to other farmers.
Good luck with your arms. I'm sure your kids will have a lot of fun growing up wherever you move, with creative parents like you.
I'm struggling to comprehend the size of property, you can't get anything like that in the UK!
"My shop is too big", SAID NO ONE EVER!
Coming from a car guy who manages to lose every 10mm socket in a small 2 car garage, I can't imagine dealing with a shop that big lol.
It was the wrong shape. Too vertical.
Haha i always say: "now my shop is big enough" only until i buy more machines and cars and tractors hahahaha
Klaa2 thats was you build Roms inside
My son has taken over my shop. We clean it, he buys something else. He had been wanting a CNC Plasma Cutter. We cleaned the shop once. He said that it looked like a plasma cutter would fit. Boom, built a 4'x9' cnc plasma table. Cleaned it another time, lathe. Cleaned it another time, mill. Cleaned it another time, another mill. Cleaned it another time, another lathe. Cleaned it another time, skid steer. A couple of roll around welders showed up after a cleaning or two also.
That was a tough watch. That will be someone's dream property. Weeds and all
This is like watching someone else give up on MY dreams!
We went through exactly the same thing. Found a dream property and were in love with it for a year. Then realized it's too big a sacrifice with kids. Too far a drive to get anywhere, cools weren't as good, etc. We moved away and while I dearly miss my space it's way better for the family
Schools
You win this comment section
Yes, sadly, dreams only manifest in your mind, not on your hands and feet and back and unlike real cares dreams never nag you for your time and effort - the dream also has to be supportable/sustainable.
That was my exact feeling. Such an amazing property.
06:51 foraging meat goats would clear that up for you Matthias. But the bigger theme that comes through in your video here, "no time for that", It's really a matter of what quality of life you are seeking? With material wealth obviously satisfied, all that's left is the environment you choose. As a child, I would have loved roaming hundreds of acres owned by my family. I think it really boils down to is that you're not a nature lover, and that's ok. 19 years ago, I made a choice to live on a dirt road in the country, the trade-off was that I'm not earning a six-figure income and that suits me fine as my wants are simple. I hope you find your place in the world and continue to share your skills with us. Living away from people suits me very well. If everyone wanted to live in the country, it would just become a terrible place also. Goats, Chickens, and Honey Bees would have been a joy for your children.
Im with you man..i love a life the way u want to be..
Well said.
I like roaming around in nature occasionally, but it's not like I'm gonna do it every day. And land roaming opportunities exist on land you don't own. Really, it seems to me like the only reason to own that much land is if you are going to make your entire life revolve around that land. Which just isn't the case for most people.
Well put. I have lived in the city my entire life and now at 59 years young, we moved out to a rural area. My drive into work went from 15 minutes to an hour or more. I go to bed earlier and get up earlier. I put a ton of miles on my truck. Instead of spending 30 minutes mowing the lawn it takes 3 hours. Instead of shoveling a 30 foot driveway, I now have to clear a 900 foot driveway through the woods. The wife and I can't for the life of us figure why we didn't pull the trigger on this 20 years ago! Now I walk outside at night and can't even see my hand in front of my face, but i can see millions of stars (and the milky way), hear coyotes yipping, turkeys and deer crossing my yard. I wouldn't give this up for anything! As my buddy always said, "If it was easy to get to, everyone would live here"
This was my thought but written in a much more empathetic way than I would write. Nice comment dude.
Admit it, you moved too far away from the good dumpster...
🤣
He should have watched the movie "The Funny Farm" before he moved out to the country. ;)
Wes Canaday bwahahaha
got a 30ft deep hole for burning stuff so ..
Sounds like someone needs to work on their control freak tendencies. Let nature be nature and you go ahead and make some sawdust.
This gave me a Blair witch vibe.
Appreciate the honesty: it’s what keeps me watching ...
Thanks for the tour and wisdom Matthias. Been watching your videos for a long time and always worth watching.
Love your candor... imagine I’m not alone in romantizing country life from my smallish suburban lot.
Your channel is my favorite of all time because you acknowledge and discuss your occasional wrong turns. My wife and I searched about 5 years for acreage in Colorado but in the end made the same decision you recently made to settle for another house in the suburbs. Even in retirement a lot of land looked like too much to handle. At least you took the gamble.
Hey man, I'm really glad that you make these videos. The world needs more innovators like you. Thanks for doing what you do.
9:55 *Knew that was coming* :)) I admire your bravery and resolve to never give up chasing your dreams. I sincerly hope you find what you are looking for!
Sounds like a good change of pace. Thanks for all of the great videos over the years and I hope the best for you and your family!
We are at the compromise point between city living and a country property: Living in a little town outside a major city. I still have to commute in an hour every morning, but the mortgage is cheaper for a nicer house, and it's nice to be out in the quiet.
I hope your change works out well for you Matthias. Being out of time and frustrated is really hard... I have hardly been on my bike or in my workshop since my son was born. Seasons of our lives, I suppose.
Of course I like others started following you for your project builds, but I also enjoy this type of video. I'm happy to watch whatever you would like to share on the move.
Thanks for the tour of the property, the advantages of grandparents, daycare, activities vs. the disadvantages of maintaining this area is clear. I agree that as a kid that groove of cedars by the river would have been ideal, for me at least!
5/23/2019 USA Grandpa Bill: Matthias, thank you for the walk in the woods. My hips and spine have prevented me from walking through the fields and woods for several years. Your trip was about as real as it gets, falls and all, a woodworker in the woods.
This video has sparked a very interesting batch of comments.
For those contemplating a move this is a gold mine of information and suggestions from those who have done it. Thanks to all for sharing your thoughts and the best of luck to Matthias and his family.
Having grandparents are nice. You definitely doing the right thing. You should film your kids if you don’t have much time in the shop. We’re you’re fan.
I’m very impressed on how well you know your plants.
Thank you for the update. Great tour of the property. Can't wait to see the new place/workshop.
Thanks for the tour and sharing your life with us. Happy trails. Looking forward to future wood working videos.
Best of luck, Matthias! I had the same realization years ago. I now live in a city, I have a lawn service and a house cleaner. It is so liberating, weekends are ours to enjoy, not a laundry list of things that have to be done. The grocery store is 3 minutes away, the furthest I drive (unless going to visit someone) is 3 miles. I wouldn't change it for the world!!
Good to take a break at times. Take your time with the move. You deserve it
Good luck on the move. Looking forward to seeing your new workshop.
Thank you for sharing Matthias! Can't wait to see what your future beholds. Best regards from California!
Matthias you need to adjust the deinterlacing / resampling settings on your sped up sections of footage. This will remove the ghosting that occurs when you render out the final movie. Best of the luck with the move!
This video really highlights the effort that goes into keeping nature at bay. Certainly a full time job and too much for one man undoubtedly. Looking forward to future videos and seeing what your next work shop will be like. When you get there you owe yourself a chill out, perhaps a break in the country haha. All the best from the UK.
You are correct when you say that everything we have is only temporarily ours, including our time. And of all the things we "have", the most finite and important to manage, is our time. You are a wise man to make the best use of the time you have.
Matthias, It's great to hear about what you and Rachel are doing and deciding. Heal your body for the next chapter of your lives. It will be worth it.
I grew up on 150 acres. There were lots of “cool” spots where a young boy could go and let his imagination wander. The one thing I regret so far in my young life (39) is that financially I’m not able to provide that for my son.
You’re a good dad.
legendofman12 finally a nice internet comment. Cheers
While lots of land might be fun, when you think back what actually made your childhood great? I bet you think of your loving parents and spending time with them, your parents providing for you and supporting you.
Take your son to the forest, you don't have to own the land to have fun with him. I'm sure you're doing just fine dude.
samconroy in grew up in the country, and while I have many awesome memories of doing stuff with my parents, I also have many amazing memory of doing stuff with my brothers that we would never be able to do in the city. Building forts, playing in the creek, fishing in the river, tobogganing down the mountainside, setting shit in fire, laying out at night and seeing stars.
You have a really cool surname, I'm sure you'll be fine.
Ten? Three decades ago, kids used to be turned out and told not to come back until dinner when they were FIVE. For me the entire point of the country life would be being able to do that without nosybodies calling the cops when they witnessed children playing outside...
Thanks for the tour! Looks indeed to be a lot of maintenance for all that. Hope you find yourself with more time when you've settled down again.
Thanks for sharing, lovely spot but what a lot of work. Enjoyed this.
Miss your videos!!
Why do you think that just because you have 200 acres you have to work or maintain all of it?
Maintain and manage the areas you like to use (eg: around the house) and let the rest of it be natural. No need to tackle every noxious weed or manage every tree! Anyone would go crazy trying to do that.
If you rent portions of it for pasture, grazing or hay to local farmers/ranchers male it their responsibility to maintain the areas they're renting. Make it a written agreement as to how much maintenance would be considered acceptable for the cost/benifit both parties are getting.
I personally wouldn't leave it. Certainly wouldn't sell it. Maybe rent it and move for a pioriod of time but still maintain ownership. Chunks of land like that are hard to come by and will only increase in difficulty.
Someday you'll sit back when the kids are all grown and be heart sick to think how much that property is worth.
The problem with a laid back approach to land management is that any surrounding farmers get pissed off with your land releasing weed seeds and animal pests onto theirs on a regular basis. And, land which is neglected and unproductive is worth a fraction of what well managed land is worth. I much prefer your suggestion of letting someone rent the land who knows what to do with it.
Wrong, hunters pay big money for land that is untouched because it becomes habitat that holds animals. surrounding farmers get pissed because you have weeds? lol, okay. Random stuff guy is 100% correct.
For property value.... literally the exact same thing could be said for a city property. Except they usually go up in price must faster than country ones. My brothers place in ajax has doubled in less than 10 years... so that's kind of a silly thing to say. Then why ever sell any property?
EXACTLY !
My grandmother has been fine with 162 acres for the last 80 years.
All we do is mow the main prairie and the rest we rent out to tree farmers and hunters.
Yep, he could make a bundle on some of those trees.
Can’t wait for more inventions Matthias! I grew up in the city with a basement shop, and spent summers at our big property. Best of both worlds from a kids perspective. Friends in town and tractors in the summer
Thanks for the video, Matthias. Wishing you well in your new home.
Thank you for this tour around the property. With your comments and the "selling video" it was easy to follow your way on google maps.
Danke für den Rundgang! Hoffe der Umzug geht wie geschmiert :-) cheers from the UK
hello Mr. Matthias I have been watching your projects which motivated me a lot
Thanks for the update and tour of the property. I look forward to more projects once you get settled in your new home.
Ive been living in the country all my life and love it. I hate going into cities too many people that are rude, and too much traffic. The work that needs to be done around the ranch is what keeps me going, if not id just be another lazy fat guy on the couch binge watching Netflix or something.
Country living is a few acres not half a county unless you migrate both sides of your family onto the property. :) Its beatiful land for sure tho. Good luck going forward!
Thoroughly enjoyed this walk over! Thanks for sharing. Maybe in another day you can have a lovely property to share with the family when the kids are older to help with chores of course..
Interesting perspective, thanks for the video!
Hi Matthias, will you be doing an old house tour video like you did with your previous house? or maybe even a tour of the new house?
If you consider the amount of weed that can be grown there...
Really enjoyed the tour! Thanks Matthias!
We moved to our country place when our kids were 2 and < 1. They are now 11 and 13 and I'm just catching up on things since they've become more independent and can help quite a lot. Property is lots of work but for us I think it's worth it in the long run - still a lot goes undone from time to time. Though I completely understand your reasoning, I wanted a place like this BECAUSE it's a lot of work - for me the place is the project. Improving the house, raising animals, making hay, evolving the workshop and barns, planning a small smithy/foundry, plenty of woods, swamps, creeks, deer, fox, turkeys, mink, heron, cranes, etc. I can't think of a better place to raise kids and you couldn't drag me from here. I wish you well in your move. Cheers.
A tip for you Matthias...destroy this video and all others so that your kids never stumble on ‘what could have been...’.
My advice as well. Children will thrive in the environment you are leaving, or the new one, I prefer the rural choice, you will stay busy in either, I enjoy fighting poison ivy more than traffic
metamech Or you know don’t lie to your kids about their childhood. Change is just another part of life you can’t sugarcoat it.
Near us many "lifestyle blocks" are appearing - 5 acre non productive units. People run a horse and let the weeds grow while commuting to work. Then without fail they sell in 5 years as its become too much. "We thought farming would be so easy."
I assume its all covered in thick snow in the winter and you can't keep animals. I'd plant a forest of walnuts, for the next owner (in 50yrs) and make a suitable workshop.
Lol
spud pud we have lots here in NZ now too. Average turnover is closer to 3 years.
Thanks for sharing Matthias, it is an incredible property, but:
"Really, the ideal thing is to know somebody else who has a big property so you can enjoy it from time to time without maintaining it" - truer words have never been spoken.
I have one side of the family, my mom's, that grew up in farms... a good number of them, after moving to the city, working there their entire lives, decided to go with a small farm in retirement. Or just move to smaller cities where life is more... rural, let's say.
Almost all of them abandoned the idea, some after few years of actually owning one.
The other side of the family, my dad's, all grew up in the city... but they basically did the same, only for beach houses. xD By far easier to maintain than a farm, but it ends up being the same thing. They maintain, they spend a whole lot of time and money to keep things up, but they don't even enjoy the damn thing - other relatives and friends do.
I also have two kids, a time-consuming job and other responsibilities. Before, I used to find lots of time to tinker with stuff in my garage, but it started becoming more and more impossible. I've been wondering a lot about how do You manage raising kids with work, woodworking and making videos. Seems like running out of time is not only my problem, which is quite a relief. Keep up the good work man and best wishes!
YO! Including that timelapse of you to the river made it SO MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE. Thank you. Such a simple idea that most people would skip over. Now I have some context and a better idea of how the property looks.
"Coniferous" = cone bearing.
That might be the first time I've heard you curse. LOL!
Thank you for the tour . I hope that you and your family will be happy with your new home. And that you don’t regret leaving what seemed like A heaven on earth property . Good luck with your move and be safe lifting .
Can't wait for some new projects. This is the first channel that got me interested in even the idea of working with wood.
Priorities change through our lives. May you find peace, rest and blessing in your new home.
Good luck in the new house and life change...;-p
I am really excited for the next chapter in your videos, Matthias. Play to your strengths.
Good luck on your move. I used your gear program to design and build a hand crank forge blower. It works very well, a little noisy but a great conversation piece on my portable forge.
I did the same thing years ago. Property like that needs to be worked not maintained.I did livestock and boarded horses and grew hay on top of being a Homebuilding contractor. The property paid for itself but the amount of time it consumed was not worth it to me in the end. Now I live in a 1000 sqft home.
Yes, you have to love farming because it´s not just a place to live, a work to do, is a complete lifestyle, if you don´t like it then it will destroy you.
W Nij agreed I left farming because of that as well. No vacations, working holidays and the fact your work is never done.
Man, your tour has been exhausting .
WOW! What a beautiful place. Reminds me a little bit of my Uncles farm in Pennsylvania. Here is Florida a developer would purchase it and it would be full of condos. Glad you were able to enjoy it for a while. I currently own about 1 acre with a lot of giant water oaks. It is pretty but it takes some time to keep it nice. i.e. yard work.
Hope your new place has plenty of room for your work shop and you continue your CZcams Channel. I have enjoyed your Videos.
John
Good luck on your new life Matthias, I hope you'll be able to put more of your knowledge on youtube soon.
Thank you Matthias for the tour and insights to living on such a property. Your previous videos announcing that your selling the land seemed difficult to comprehend why you would leave such a beautiful property, but after watching you navigate through the huge landscape and pointing out maintenance work, hardships and stress associated for a daily basis, it has become crystal clear. This video certainly felt like a journey and I greatly appreciate that you have chosen to share it.
Yeah this video made it clear why it's not the idyll it seems from outside. I've just looked up on google maps how big 200 acres is - HOLY CRAP!
I hope you got to have a great workshop!
I really appreciate you taking your time of your busy schedule and filming this. It's really neat showing all the interesting aspects of your property. It's a shame you couldnt you really enjoy it. Onto another chapter then?
Thanks for the tour. I think a lot of commenters have romantic ideas of rural life and can't really understand the practical aspects involved. I've never lived rural but have some friends who do and can certainly appreciate the challenges they have. It really becomes a personal decision of what every person wants or needs in their life at that time, and we have to respect their decisions. I believe having the chance to spend more time with your children is something you will never regret. Thanks for taking us on the journey of property ownership and being honest about your experience. I look forward to following you in the next stage of your life. And of course selfishly hopefully to be seeing a few more build projects!
For a guy who likes to solve his own problems, I'm surprised you didn't just rig up a walkie talkie or intercom system between shop and house. But good luck to you.
T M cup on a string perhaps?
we used the phone. But even a walkie talkie or something like that isn't the same as being within earshot.
@@matthiaswandel my mom would always go outside and honk the car horn to get my dad to come to the house.
He also said the workshop was kind of miserable to be in.
And it's always different being able to hear and take action before you're called. A lot of times my wife won't need help so she won't ask. But if I hear her struggling with the kids I may go down to help without being asked and she always really appreciates it.
4k surveillance system via wifi!
Free water, Free Wood, INSANE Amount of Field and Resources, Free Fish and Complaining about Weeds which can be fixed with a tractor+slasher(or sprayer) less than a day. Seriously, it seems like you gave up the gold but i understand. Some people do not like outdoor and the works involved with it or do not like to do stuff.it is not like youtube sustainable-living vloggers show off. Even if i had multiple kids, i'd never give away a golden place like that. 4 in 1 Bucket Cheapo new tractor-slasher-wood chipper, A nice mini excavator and couple of other machinery with a couple live stock(Goats-Sheep etc) would easily clear all the wood&weeds. That kind of land in Australia goes easily over 2+Mil now...
Time to sell Austrailia and buy his farm.
some people are just not cut out for it. Condos and cubicles
I miss your projects. Good luck with the move. Take it easy!
Very interesting. Thanks for the tour.
Bitter sweet to leave but life is all about priorities and family is at the top. Love ya brother!
This property is huge! I totally agree about how you feel when the maintenance of it all becomes overwhelming.
About the wild parsnip, I got some in my face one summer; couldn't shave for 2 months until it healed...Nasty stuff.
Wild parsnip look identical to deadly water hemlock.
All the best to your new future! Really appreciate your creative videos
Good luck to you and the family with the move; I look forward to your next project video after thou settle in.
There might be a good solution to buy much smaller land.
And that will be cheaper where they are moving for later when their children are of the right age to properly benefit.
Sounds like you did no realize what you were getting into. Property selection is a long hard process. When I bought my farm years ago it took us over a year of looking at farms before we found what we needed. The correct tractor and impliments are key to efficient propery upkeep which most people do not factor into their buying desisions. It is to bad you did not get a smaller plot which would not have been so time consuming.
$50-75K in farm equipment would get this property in good shape in short order.
I agree
Even then, that video makes no sense. His property still looks pretty good. If you mute his comment it looks like a paradise. He keeps complaining about poison ivy, that makes no sense. It's a farm, it's not a garden.
Another option would be to sell parts of the land in order to make it a more managable size for him and his family.
i have a 2 week old and a 3 year old and a small size backyard and i have almost no time to keep up on it. so i totally understand your making a very smart move. that is a nice part of the country. and having family close is so helpful with kids.
Part of living on a property like this is to remember its the country. Leave it alone, don't insist on trying to treat it like the city. Fighting the weeds and such is a losing proposition. Enjoy the space and solitude and only work on or at the places close around your dwellings. Hope your move to the city works out for you. I love your videos
Totally conflicted by the imagery and the narration
Poison ivy rash is caused by a sticky oil. You can remove it and prevent rash same way you remove black motor oil. Just practice removing it with visible sticky oil.
I walked thru some with open sandals (before I realized). Washed up good straight after. No rash. Good advice.
I got it once and realised exacrly what it was and washed it off a few times with gasoline quickly and never got a rash from it. Of course it did it outside!
Some people are really allergic, like my sister. If someone says its nasty, i believe them ever time. some don't have as much of a issue.
White spirit wiped over the skin to remove the oil is good, too. The tick is realising you have been exposed to the oil immediately.
Rarely do I watch a 20+ minute YT video straight through, but I did in this case.
I have always enjoyed your project videos and the thoughtful, practical and sometimes unique approach you take. This video showed a different side of you - acknowledging a mistake or at at least a need to change, to extricate yourself and regroup. I appreciate you sharing this melancholy glimpse into your experience. Being close to family, balancing work and life and hobbies is something we all need to do.
I'm hoping that your future includes a nice 5+ acre plot of land with a small barn, a nice sized shop and the right home on the outskirts of suburbia.
Thanks for sharing this video and your adventure. Although a lot of comments are along the lines of "I would have stayed blah blah blah" I think the important thing is that it's YOUR decision (ok, sure - the wife too 😀) and it takes guts to make hard decisions and major changes in direction. A fool would plod along on the wrong course, lose his health, wealth and family and all the voyeurs would that now cry 'stay don't sell' would tuck their thumbs into their bib overalls, chew on a piece a grass and say 'wonder why the dummy stayed on so long? It was clear that this wasn't workin' out for him'.
You are doing the right thing for YOU and yours. Best of luck and thanks for sharing all the TIME you have with your videos for us!
Thanks for the walkabout.... I've heard how getting rid of poison ivy is really really hard. My wife has struggled to remove Buckthorn, which is another invasive, this one a shrub with a deep root. Taproots are great for plants, not so great for humans trying to remove them!
I knew it was a big property, but watching this vid really drove home how large a few hundred acres can be. I'm totally onboard with the basement shop idea; hope you enjoy your new one.
Goats
Amazing piece of property. Too bad you have to leave it, but your reasons are sound. You can make projects, but you can't make time. Best of luck on your next adventure.
@@Chefchaot You really have no idea how much work goes into not only making the videos, but also editing them. Not to mention writing a script so that you are forming coherent paragraphs, recording the audio for it, overlapping it on the correct piece of footage making sure it's not going over or is not long enough and end up nothing but silence for too long. The filming alone of the projects requires the right lighting, the right angle of the camera among many other things, these aren't things you can rush. Sure we end up with varying lengths of video, but also a blog post and a plan (from a lot of his video ideas, that can be purchased), we also don't see how much time he spends in his CAD software to build said plans (making corrections and everything). Hell not to mention all the interruptions he might get from his wife to help with the kids or from the kids themselves, but that's fine, because we see a 12 minute video of an entire build, that must mean it only took him two days to not only draw up plans, build and film the plans, but also edit the entire video.
Hell if you look at any of the older builds of his band saw, or table saw, or the other numerous videos tool videos he' done, those are in multiple parts, not just because wants to make more videos, but because he felt like each of those parts needed their own explanation on why something is done like this or because he found out that if you do it this way you'll find it more difficult and a full explanation on why (generally because he made the mistake and had to make the correction himself). It's as if you've never actually listened to his videos before and just watch the pretty pictures.
Western Australia's outer suburbs during the 1980's had a good system for "country living" called _special rural 5 acre blocks,_ which were serviced with good paved roads, telephone and electricity but relied on owner-installed water catchments or deep bores and used septic tanks.
This allowed folks like myself who were sick of paying big interest mortgages to build their own home (often a self-assembled kit home) as a _specially licensed owner-builder,_ and save a truck load of hard earned money.
Five acres is about right for a family with 2 or 3 kids at school age, and the trip to town for shopping/school/medical needs was reasonably close by. It was a great arrangement and thousands of families benefitted from the non-suburban environment allowing kids to have close contact with their animals (chickens, geese, sheep, horses etc, as one would expect on a small holding) and nature, yet have the infrastructure needed for a satisfying life.
Maybe the outer environs of Canada's great cities offer similar opportunities, since you guys have a similarly huge country to Australia, but with a colder climate.
dav snow still have em in rural Victoria (Aus, not Canada). Zoned 'rural lifestyle', minimum 5 acres, even have 'town' water. We have the perfect mix, mostly box/ironwood regrowth with about 3/4 of an acre cleared
I live on a 5 acre lot just like that on WA state. It's really nice, privacy, nature, still close to town and jobs. Have had all sorts of animals live here. The only inconvenience was being 5 years behind the newest internet speed... (5 acre lots have dirt roads to the paved road that are too long to afford the ditch to run the cable). Renters life is crazy, 5 acre rural plots are so much nicer than giving your money away to live in a cube next to a cube.
I would love to see a tool kit you would leave available for the move while the rest is packed up.
We did the same thing. It's been a wonderful decision so far...lots more time for the important stuff and way less driving and maintenance activities. Also you're headed my way (I'm in NS)! Good luck with the moves and your wrists...
We never really “own” anything. We just have the privilege of using it while we are here. And no matter how you re-shape things, Mother Nature will take it back. One can always acquire more money or possessions, but once time is spent, it is gone forever.
*YES!*
The land is great but people should spend their time the way they want. Time doesn't *slip* into the future, it *careens* into the future.
You appear to be the only commentator who picked up on one of the most salient, perceptive points Mr. Wandel made in this video. We are only stewards of property, which eventually passes on to someone else to manage and maintain; whether it is land, a house, a vehicle, money, tools, or anything else. I once stood at the humble grave site of one of the world's richest men and realized that everything he once "owned" was now in other hands. Everything is temporary, including the most important things we will ever have; health, and time.
We don't own it. We pay the state to live on it. If we don't pay, the state will auction it to some one else willing to rent it from the state. If we make money off the land, the state as well as the feds will want more money in addition to the property tax. If the state feels the property increases in value they assess more taxes. That being said, the land could be a valuable education resource for the kids now as well as going forward. Hard to put a price on that. In this case if possible I would work into the deed a clause that,would allow me to bring my kids out for camping and exploring. Good luck , I am not criticising your decision. You and Rach know what is best for your family.
unless you use plastic
Maybe the tendinitis was a blessing in disguise. It forced you to realize the property was just too much work now instead of later when you were more entrenched and before your kids grew attached to it. Some time off from woodworking will give you the much-needed time to settle into your new home. Then you'll have a support network (grandparents) that'll make childcare so much easier.
We'll all stay subscribed. When you come back with a fresh arm and a new workshop we'll all be here ready to watch more!
Thanks for the update.
Good luck with your move and new home. Can’t wait to see the next workshop.
I can understand how much work this land must be. Kids and life and property, how can you balance?
C Lopez I can’t say what is a mistake for him. Every man needs to decide what is best for his family.
It sure is a lot of work if you have some kind of wild wood/wilderness on YOUR propertry and are planning to ged rid of stuff like "Wild Parsnip"...but who the hell does? I would go there if i want to enjoy it on a nice weekend or let the kids play there...apart from that i woul dleave it the f... alone lol.
I imagine there are other pieces of property they can buy once the kids get older if they want to. Canada has plenty of land.
It's easy to look at that beautiful land and say it's a mistake to leave. But until you actually try to manage acreage you don't know what a time drain it is. You literally could spend 40 hours a week.
I get it you’re a woodworker not a farmer. I have 1 acre and that at times is too much - Good luck !
We moved out of the city, raised family in the country, and never looked back. It depends on your ability and willingness to adapt, I guess. You certainly cannot expect to control every weed and plant you dislike! You get a big mower, mow the parts you need to, and move on. You learn not to tangle with the poison ivy and nettles. We have no patience with the time we waste in city traffic. That takes as long as our drive into town. It all comes down to what bugs you and what you rationalize. Moving near Rachel’s family is reason enough, of course, and needs no further justification, but the little gripes about the farm were all soluble.
I once had a colleague who lived in a controlled subdivision. He spent more time mowing than I do on my rural acreage. He was so obsessed that he trimmed individual blades of grass with scissors. Yes, he did.
I live in a subdivision and spend like 30 minutes a week mowing and trimming my lawn. Someone who is cutting their grass by hand is obviously obsessive. I spend hardly any time in traffic as work is relatively close (10 minute drive). I grew up in the country, having to drive an hour each way to go to karate, or anything in the city must have been tough for my parents. Now that I'm grown up I don't wanna spend my eveneings and weekends driving into the city or driving 30 minutes just to get grocceries or just to pick up milk and eggs if we need it.
Both have advantages but everyone here seems to think living in the country is the only way to live...
I happened to observe my neighbour in her totally coordinated spotless garden..
She went straight across the newly lawned grass, picked up 3 leaves (!) and with all signs of disgust threw them back to her neighbours garden, from where a breeze accidentally had mowed them onto her property .. 🙈
Even that walk around seemed tiring and time consuming! Sounds good, less stress and more time is important
That's a beautiful property. I grew up in the city and always longed for a country life. Even more so now than before.