[RUSTYME]

Hello cavendish , i have been living 'a bit differently' for 15 nearly now . So the post title is not quitet right really .
 But  i will try to explain what i do and why .
 As a kid i loved doing things the old way . From  11 years old i had 2 allotments , and grew all the veg for the family of 9 . I then worked for 20 years till i had a near fatal car smash that changed my life .
 I wanted adifferent way of life , free of all the control that is now accepted as the norm by 95% of people . Food free from all the poison that they now add to nearly everything . 
So i stepped off the insane merry go round . 
I mainly grow my own food , and was collecting my own seeds of old varieties .
 I will be growing my own hemp for string , rope , sacking and cloth . Linseed for the same things , they also give oil  for food , paint and preserving .
 The cloth will provide all my clothes along with some wool from the sheep i hope to get next year .
 My forge is now usable so i can now make all my own tools etc . Fuel to run the forge is charcoal that i make myself , from wood grown on my land .
I have now started to make my own timber framed house that will be thatched with wheat straw grown on the land.
 So i will be living off grid and as self relient as possible . More to follow when my thumb has recovered !

[RUSTYME]

I do these things as i believe there is an alternative to a system that we have no control of , and that is now in complete meltdown . I reject the control that they have over us , and that they increase on a daily basis . For those that are ok with that situation fine , i am not , so i live the  way i do .
  The system is very hard to break free from , as control is the only way it can continue , and people like me who refuse to follow like a sheep , are deemed a threat to it ,  and even the sheeple that do follow , attack , mock or ridicule ,those that want a different way of life .  So be it ! , i care not , i will continue to do what i do , as are more and more people now .
 My time is spent making what i need , and putting in place things i will need in future , such as willow , for firewood , charcoal and baskets etc . Growing a 150 year old wheat variety that grows almost 6 foot tall , for thatch and food . Barley for animal feed and some for me , oats for me and the animals , and rye for the same .
 I had to build up the seed stock slowly , as money is almost non existant , get hold of a handful of seed , sow , grow , harvest , and thus increase the base seed amount .
  I lost the barley ,oats and rye i had saved , to the thieves , but thankfully they missed the wheat ! 
 Living as i do is great . Things can and do go wrong , but the same as everyone else , you just carry on .
 I am not like a lot of people these days , that need everything . I mainly make what i need or want , and mostly i live a good life that doesn't harm others or the planet , anymore than i can help .
Thumb is falling off again .

[ser3dan]

Rus,
Am so impressed by how you're living your life - we moved from inner city North West to the West coast of Scotland to try to recapture the rural upbringing both my partner and I had. To this end we're currently chasing a few crofts in our area so although we're not quite at your level of self sufficiently, we're headed in the right direction.
Keep going forward, and although the loss of the seed and your tools must be a blow, as you rightly say, they didn't get everything 
Shout if there's anything we can do!

[Roxy]

Russ,

I am a great believer in doing what you what to do, not follow the crowd.  I do suspect sometimes that those who are mocking are lacking something in their lives, and secretly wish they could be different too ....but cannot step off that merry go round   If only more people could be brave enough to do what you are doing, eh?

I spend a lot of time on my own, round the farm, and am quite happy.  Relations are always on at my that this is not healthy, and I should join this and that, to meet more people .....I am quite happy thank you, and enjoy the life I lead.  I have actually had people from the village say they feel sorry for me, I am always slogging away, and have no life

I assume that means I am not off on foreign holidays, out at posh restaurants and the like!!.   

[SallyintNorth]

I get that too, Roxy - Mum is always asking, "Have you managed to have any time off?", "Shall you get a holiday?" and cannot understand that we don't want time off, we love the life that we have and find every day different, challenging, interesting, fulfilling.  It's not the same as someone who works in an office; they do need holidays and time off from the often meaningless toil.

Another one that gets me is the phrase 'and no running water' being used to mean beyond the pale, totally uncivilised, unacceptable living conditions. 

I lived for a while in an old static caravan with no mains services whatsoever.  I carried my water from a standpipe a hundred yards away, cooked on a Calor gas stove, had a hurricane lantern and candles for lighting the dark, a hot water bottle to warm my bed.

Because I carried my water I learned how to respect it and not waste it.  The water in my hottie was reheated every evening.  I was clean - I washed with warm water every day; it doesn't need much water if you're careful with it. 

People have different takes on being civilised.  Personally, being profligate with the planet's resources is not, to me, civilised behaviour.

Good on yer, Russ.

[northfifeduckling]

you're my hero, Russ!
I find all the other circus quite absurd - the one in the world and the one around personal economies. Just survive, have food, be happy! Difficult with children but I do my best to teach them to get by with less "stuff" but as it is their right to do they will probably want to live quite different lives from ours...At least they will have seen that our way is a possibility.

[feldar]

I'm not critising but it is just as well some of us do still stay in the circus just so that the economy and essential supplies stay functional. It's all very well to go off the beaten track but unfortunately the country can't sustain itself if we all did it.
I do admire you, i know i couldn't survive like that, i just try to strike a balance of producing my own meat and fuel for the fire.
In years to come when it's all blown up in our face you will probably be laughing at us but it is nice that you haven't let go of all technology after all you are still talking to us on this forum through a very modern internet!

[northfifeduckling]

feldar, I wasn't criticising either...we all do what we do because we love it and necessities can't be avoided for most of us. My bills don't pay themselves either, so the circus is still going for us, too.  Just the argument "if we all did it"... - "we" will never all do it  but millions of people all over the world do it as it is their way of doing it. The economy does not suffer because a few of us do it or aim for it! It's greed that kills everything, economies, the planet, dignity. So the benefits outweigh any damage "we" might cause on the grander scale, I would say

[Roxy]

Obvously, what Russ is doing, is not for everyone.  But more and more people are now realising that they want to step off the ladder and go back to basics.  I am surprised when chatting to viewers of our farm for sale, how many dream of stopping work, and living a simple life, and thats what they are striving to do.  And looks are deceiving - posh barbour boots and jackets (oooh, I could not take my eyes of that jacket and boots   they were gorgeous!!) more suited to following the local hunt, that someone wanting to buy a run down farm!!

[RUSTYME]

 I am connecting via mobile phone , the landline went , it was costing way to much . The mobile will go as well soon .
 No the country can't sustain itself ! Not the way we live now and that is the whole point .
 I have had to use a pc ,till a few months ago , as you can't Just go stand in a field and find a home , tools , animals , seeds etc etc  . Well you can if you live like a neandathal , i have done it , and if i had to i could again , but i don't want to live that way .   
 The way 95% of people live in this country , is unsustainable , and when the economy crashes and the system collapses , those who make it through , will have to learn the hard way to start again . I have just got a head start thats all .  Although i am now sure that it will all go tits up , that isn't the reason i live as i do . I do it because i want to and enjoy it, although i do think  "wtf am i doing ?"  sometimes  !

[Roxy]

I have no landline, just mobile broadband and a mobile phone.

Russ, won't you need  to keep your mobile phone for emergencies?  Like I said, I am on my own most of the time, and always carry the phone with me.  Having animals, things can happen, and I could be knocked over or stood on, and being accident prone, I do like to know I can summon help if need be.  Although the reception on our phone in these big hills, maybe its not really much of an asset!!!

[RUSTYME]

I only get reception here at the caravan , no signal at all on the land .
 I will most probably keep a mobile , but the money to keep it going will be hard to come by . No leccy down the land either , so no battery charging  , unless i can keep the lister genny going ,but that needs money spending ££££.

[feldar]

It would be a shame to loose touch with you Russ. I'm sure we could all benefit from your experiences and although we can be a crusty bunch we are generally a good lot on this forum, and a point of contact on a cold winters night.
Whatever you do, good luck

[lachlanandmarcus]

before you do disappear Rusty just to let you know I am packing up the seeds today so they should be with you by the end of the week :-)

[Sylvia]

"Modern technology" has had it's place in the world from the very beginning. The collecting of seeds, the breast plough, semaphore. Don't give up your mobile 'phone, Rusty. That little bit of technology will be as important to you as the spindle was to our ancestors