It is truly awful how many people from all over the macrocosm need to slow down , simplify and get back to the fundamentals of a meaningful lifestyle . Maybe that means embed their first garden . Maybe it intend learn how to can or conserve some of their own food to contract out preservative . Perhaps it might even be learn to raise a few chickens , keep bees , or even make their own furniture .
The book binding of our Christian Bible , Growing SImple
But no matter what the individual reason or reasons may be , one thing is for certain – people want to get rid of the mare’s nest and the craziness to live simple and live better !
The cover of our book, Growing SImple
I have intercourse for a fact that is on the dot what both Mary and I want in the fall of 2010 when we start out our own journey . We wanted to grow our own food and make a minuscule space where we could live with less , and yet , have a life full of so much more .
When we started the website to document the summons , we did n’t realize at the time just how many others wanted that as well . But as we begin to share a few of our personal stories of the journey – more and more people wanting to simplify their own lifespan began to observe . And with now over 25,000,000 visitors and 100,000 + followers from 232 countries – it ’s pretty apparent to us that people really do desire to get back to living simple !
And so , without ever really signify to do so , we began share our life week by week . Even though it is hard for us to conceive – it led to the publishing this retiring week ofGrowing Simple , our first ever book of account sharing the integral story . We thought for today , we would partake a little piece of Chapter 1 with everyone below . you may actually preview the first three chapters straight on Amazon here : spring up Simple / Amazon
As for the book , I have to say it was really quite a tingle to actually receive our first advance promotional copy this past Friday ! The ebook variant is actually up and now available for leverage at Amazon.com , Barnes & Noble.com , Ibooks , Bookbaby and about 15 other online retail merchant around the country . For anyone wanting to enjoin the forcible leger , they will become useable for order sometime around the 15th of May on Amazon , Barnes & Noble and other retailer as well .
Thanks again and Happy Gardening to All ! Jim and Mary
CHAPTER 1
Bats In The Belfry
There we were , just the two of us together on a live , swelter summertime twenty-four hour period in the middle of July , attempt to tear down a hundred - year - old barn – piece by piece . The year was 2011 . It was just the previous fall that we had started the journeying to create our little farm and homestead . We had n’t bear to make our farm ’s barn until at least the quaternary or fifth full summertime , but opportunity had bump in the anatomy of a Craigslist ad . The offer was simple and straightforward – a duo was in need of someone to tear down their old barn to make way for a new driveway and whoever do the call was more than welcome to hale aside all of the precious wooden beams , boards and metal roofing for complimentary ! That someone , of class , became Mary and me . It really did n’t matter that we had no clue how to tear it down or where to start , we just bang that all of that beautiful sure-enough barn wood would be just what we needed to build up our own farm ’s b – and it was free!We had spent the better part of the first few days removing the barn siding and flooring and by now the b had been reduce to a beautiful timbre frame - corresponding social organization . Now it was clip to tackle the job we both had put off as long as we could – removing the quondam metal ceiling . The design hatched was childlike enough – I would climb up the deucedly slippy 30 or so foot to the blossom of the old ceiling , range the ceiling ancestry and remove the top roofing nails . Mary , meanwhile , would remove the bottom set of nails by endure on the highest stride of a rickety old wooden stepladder grade safely , of course , on a bed of a borrow 24 ’ flatbed motortruck so she could make the bottom of the panels . Hopefully , if all went well , the 28 x 16 ’ farsighted panel would slide down easy one at a time . That was the plan anyway . After what seemed like an eternity to simply exercise the nails of the first panel slack , I yell down to Mary to give a wrench , to the full gestate to see that first sheet of roofing alloy slide easy down to the earth below . But after a easy pull , followed by a strong tugboat , the instrument panel was n’t budging . It seems that people really did build thing better and stronger in the sure-enough days !
The “ new ” barn as it tolerate today
So with that we decided that if we perhaps gave a hardening of really strong perpetrate together , it would do innocent and that ’s when the tangible fun begin . Okay , I stated , on the count of three….one , two , three ! , and we both get down to draw . After about 2 second of hard pulling I quickly recognize I was in big trouble ! Stooppp!!!!I bellowed out to Mary below above the crashing noise of corrugate alloy bending and twisting . Stoooppppp ! ! ! ! ! ! I screamed again – this time much louder and with a much more convincing fire . The entire barn was moving , and it was n’t from a rarified Ohio earthquake . As the swaying slowly stop – I looked down at Mary , clearly show a little fear in my optic and lower my interpreter from my prior screeching , and mildly murmur Did you not palpate the entire barn moving?Not really , she said laughing . I think she was somewhat lofty that she might just have the military posture to bring the whole barn down . I , on the other hand , was a small more implicated rest up on top . So I tardily tugged on the metallic element and the b once again swayed … ͟wow … that ’s not expert , she enjoin in a very calm matter . Unfortunately , it seemed that our removing the walls and floorboards did nothing to loosen the metal cap panels but did wonder in wee the entire b structure unsound . Sensing the entire structure would descend down with me on top of it if we continued the hard pulling effort we went to plan B. I would cut the panels free of the board below with a reciprocate saw . It seemed plausible enough and , after Mary had reach up the saw to me , the penetrative twist leaf blade on the power saw made ready work of the erstwhile nails and panel 1 slid to the solid ground . For a brief moment – and I do mean very brief – we had that fugitive , ego - congratulating , pat - on - the - back thought of success . We had overtake the job and were on our way ! And then it all changed … .
The “new” barn as it stands today
