We don’t homestead yet, but I want to. I grew flowers many years afraid to try growing food. I thought it would be so hard. It terrified me. Then my health got worse and worse. So I started wanting a change because I couldn’t manage the body pain and the feeling that I somehow must be failing to be so overweight. Last year I dug my heels in and decided our whole family was going to change how we eat, and to afford the veggies and fruit we eat we would need to grow it ourselves. So last year I started the desire to be self sufficient in produce. So I began non flower gardening. I love it. It’s healing me. I’ve lost 75 pounds in one year. And I can’t wait until we are almost 100 % self sufficient in produce.
I've been, not in any particular order, a Waitress/Cook, a Food Market Clerk/Shelf Stoker, worked in a Commercial Laundry (Ugg), work at a Canning Company processing Corn, an Insurance Clerk, Worked in several different Print Shops, was a Cake Decorator, Graduated College with a Degree in Quantity Foods (Cooking for Large Groups or in a Restaurant), was a Baker, a Mother, Elder Care Giver, Telephone Operator & Systems Supervisor, 25 Years as an Administrative Assistant to a Department Head at a University, now a Farmsteader of 52 Acres. As life changed I changed!
Hi Liz, it's so refreshing to hear you talk so positive about your turbulent life! You truly deserve your happiness with Mr. J and your wonderful homestead. I've had many different jobs over the last 30 years and multiple times moved between the US and Germany but always stayed in my field of special ed and psychiatric nursing which I absolutely love!
Liz, thanks so much for sharing this - I worked as a medical assistant in a physicians office for 25 years, and then after leaving there I returned to college to study activities for Alzheimer's disease patients . I became so involved with my patients and the work with Alzheimer's that I found myself being completely burned out. So I made the decision to leave because I felt I was becoming depressed from it. I have always loved gardening , canning , and the love of animals so I jumped right back into what brought me the most happiness at age 60! I also paint some acrylics and have started painting barn quilts for people to hang on their barns or chicken houses .. I don't have a RUclips channel , and my family has asked me to consider it. I love and respect all that you and Mr Jay do and others as I follow their journeys, maybe one day you will see me, as for now - have a great day ! 💗
First time I've seen this video and fascinated to see you had the same training as me- Institutional Management. Then into catering, for industry running test labs, teaching etc but in the background always a lingering desire to follow my childhood enjoyment of gardening, probably sparked by spending Sunday mornings with my uncle on his allotment. I devoured gardening books ( this was the time of John Seymour) and only now after a divorce and my children being off hand for many years have I had the chance to put my dreams into practice.On a much smaller scale than you but with two allotments and so agree that contact with the soil is a life changer. Now at 80 with arthritis I'm determined to keep going for as long as I can.
Two different careers. I was an opera singer for about fifteen years and then hung up my traveling shoes and became a teacher. I currently teach music in a very large urban district to 120 three year olds a week but have been teaching from home during the pandemic - which gave me the opportunity to build a garden from scratch! 😍
Thanks so much for sharing your story I loved it I have been a hairdresser for 36 years and salon owner for 18 years mother for 30 years and Grandmother for 9 years
You are such a wise woman. We all make the decisions we make for whatever reasons. The adult part is accepting the consequences and realizing the paths we are on. I married right out of high school at 18 and was a stay at home mom to 3 children while my husband was in military, until they were all in school. Then I worked in a greenhouse/floral shop designing mostly for weddings and funerals. Absolutely loved it, my dream job. When they offered to sell to me, my husband said no, he wouldn’t back me in it. I went back to college and taught English (American version-smile) for several years until I discovered the fun of computers. My husband and I divorced. Married too young, grew into different adults. For awhile, I taught computer languages and programming, which may explain why I’m rather weird. Remarried and traveled quite a bit which was so enjoyable. I learned the art of stained glass and worked for a shop building up my reputation and then sold commission work only as we traveled so much. After my husband was killed in a traffic accident, six weeks following his mother’s death, I was lost for a bit. Had been working on a church window when the highway patrol officers came to inform me and simply couldn’t do it anymore. Cutting glass, stretching the came, soldering, all too painful, so I left it behind. My children asked me to move closer to them and I have never regretted it. We are a very close knit bunch. Being bored at home, I went to work in a word processing center as a technician, first-line supervisor. Turned out I didn’t like assigning jobs and coping with their whining. Transferred to a different position there teaching computer software. Became so tired it was a chore to continue as it required so much traveling to the different branches, staying in hotels, and grew to dislike the driving though I loved the teaching part. Retired very early but first I took a look around to see what I wanted next in life. Set up a small workshop in backyard with my pottery wheel, ceramic molds, lots of clay. Love gardening, so my daughter and I built a 14’ x20’ greenhouse from ground up to her design, also in backyard, and raised beds. Got a treadmill for the winter months. Seems I’ve been learning things and retiring from them all my life. So far my life has been full of very happy times and very sad times, but it has never been dull. If you made it this far, I’m guessing you’ve begun to regret asking us to share how we got where we are now. Actually where I am right now is preparing to go to Seattle, Washington, USA, and then on to Canada for the first time. So looking forward to it. Greenhouse and cold frames are full of seedlings, raised beds are planted, and I’m preparing for my next adventure. I agree with you, we got where we are by simply living and accepting our choices. Attitude has so much to do with it. For me, it’s always pointing forward. The past is the past. I learn from it, take it into my being and look forward to what’s next.
Thank you for sharing this, have a fantastic time in Seattle and Canada and please, tell me all about it when you get back - I can travel via the friends I'm making on social media!
Thank you so much for sharing your life story with all your various jobs. I'm so thrilled that you finally found your happy place as a homesteader. I've been a farmer's wife since I was 19 years old. Like you I've been very ill and bed bound many times with depression. You need to have had it to know how truly terrible that place is. I was three months in psychiatric hospital. It was some 9 years after our baby had died as a result of sudden unexplained cot death when I suffered a massive breakdown when I just couldn't try any longer. Fifteen years under the duvet followed and a lifetime of up's and down's always struggling to maintain an equilibrium, often failing. So pleased to have found you here, such an inspiration to me, I love your honesty and openness. Your beautiful spirit shines through. My Cptsd has resulted in me just being at home but fortunately I live in a beautiful spot too. Loving your journey and so happy to see you settling so quickly into your new home. I've not moved in almost 44 years!
Thank you for sharing Liz. Like you I ve had many a change in jobs. I studies and became a nurse. I done this for 10 years but after a divorce and having 2 young children I had to give up. I moved well away from Scotland as my ex husbands family were a nasty bunch. Married again. I moved to Wales totally by chance. I helped my friend in schools meals as they were short, loved it trained as a cook. Worked various places. Said I d never come back to Scotland. However my mum became rather ill so we moved back. My other half had a massive heart attack. My youngest was 6 months old. My thyroid packed in which knocked me for 6 Then my mother passed as well. My dad became seriously ill. Thought we were going to lose him too. However he bounced back. God was good and he married a lovely lady. I got his house, which I grew up in. I now have my chickens. Which I love. I help run a free food kitchen alongside the food bank which I so look forward to. Life is a struggle 4 kids but I now also have 3 grand children.
Wow! what an amazing life, everything to get you where you are today. I left home at 17, joined the Army to see the world. Met my wife in the Army after 4 years. I heard her voice and knew right away. I waited a couple of months before i asked to marry me. I was in 12 years, after the first gulf war i was told my time was up. I did odd jobs until i found a job driving a truck of the road. did that 5 years, missed my wife and kids. Worked as a Glazier for a number of years until i had a heart attack at age 51. I have not been able to work since. We lost everything, we live with our children now. Starting over, and starting a simpler homesteading life.
This comes long after your video posted, but it struck a chord with me. My mom died in August 2012, having been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer six months earlier. Even now I'll hear a joke or read something interesting and think, "Mom will get a kick out of that" or "Oh, I'll have to tell Mom about that". I graduated high school at 18 (birthday comes after the cut-off, so I had to wait a year to start school) and went to work. First job part time, was supposed to become full time, two years later it still wasn't. Went to an industrial job, full time & tons of overtime, the company reimbursed tuition if you maintained a C average or higher, attended the local community college part time while I continued to work full time, rotating shifts - sometimes skipping a term at school if the work schedule couldn't be worked out, I completed a 2-yr degree in Business after eight years. Held, I think, five more jobs - never had what I would call a career - anything from assembly work to forklift driving to receptionist to accounting. Because I'm alone I always needed to work, for the income & for insurance. Once I retired, at age 61, my REAL life began. Spent that autumn straightening up my outdoor area, winter watching RUclips, spring/ summer/fall 2021 had a small veg garden, but mostly focused on planting perennial foods (fruit, berries, asparagus). This winter I'm watching more RUclips, growing season 2022 I'll expand the veg garden & strawberry bed, but main focus will be herbs and bird/bee/butterfly plantings. I've slowly acquired canning jars, pressure canner, stand mixer, high quality blender, battery powered lawn tools - still hope to get a high-quality food dehydrator, grain mill, containers for root cellar storage, sun oven, trellising, netting - the list goes on & on. Currently living on my company pension & savings, in a few years I'll start to draw my social security, but am trying to come up with ideas and prepare for other small income streams. Being older, and alone, with some minor health issues, I feel the need to remain in, or on the outskirts of a town - with limited finances I need to be cautious in choosing, so that is likely not in the near future - but I definitely want to move somewhere that allows chickens/ducks/rabbits, none of which are allowed where I currently live. Sorry to have written a book, but I identify so strongly with you - being older, having health issues (thankfully, mine are less severe than you've dealt with), strong desire to provide my own food. I only wish your growing zone was more similar to mine, as I'm unable to grow many of the things you say are your favorites - but, one can't have everything. God bless.
There's no place like home! I love being here working, but I do clean a home for an elderly lady now and then. It still gives me the much needed time to get my hands dirty!
Oh Liz, your such a strong lady, I love your videos! I myself have homesteaded all my life, it's just how we were raised here in the hills of Arkansas, I'm 54, I have worked in the public school system, 21 years, I have 7 years and I can retire, with full benefits, I'm so ready! To get out, and enjoy my homestead more, and to feel satisfied too, my thyroid quit me totally, and had to be removed about 10 years ago, I have never been so sick in my life, I thought I was going to die, I went from healthy as a horse, to being so sick and depressed, I take med everyday to stay alive, I feel better, but will never be the same, thyroid conditions are more common here in United States, they say than any where else, I had a good doctor, My family has a lot of thyroid issues, my husband just had to start Taking med for his, he was feeling tired all the time, they tested him, and discovered his thyroid was messed up, geeze! I'm so happy you found your happy place!
Gosh, you've achieved so much.I went against my parents expectations of going to uni and left school at 16, my last exam was on the Friday, on the Sunday I left home and started work on a dairy farm, milking .For a short spell between two farm jobs I worked as an au pair in Germany. I married at 20 and had my first son 11 months later. I trained as a nursery nurse and registered as a childminder so I could work and bring in an income while caring for my by then 3 children. All the time we grew veg, fruit etc and kept poultry, sheep and pigs.As the children got older I gave up childminding, did a little gardening, house decorating and farm sitting and now concentrate mostly on the poultry. We've been married 37 years
Had over 20 jobs also a single parent in South Africa. When I couldn't cope when I became ill, I came back to UK. I worked for a church for several years, but even that was too stressful in the end. Hubby is on state pension and I am on disability, but we own our house and have a huge garden which we absolutely adore. We rented out this place and lived in tiny houses in tiny villages in Cornwall for 7 years and walked and walked and walked. In the end my mental issues were finally diagnosed and we came back to Dudley a year ago to be closer to medical support. Getting a bus pass was bliss but I had to work to get confident on the buses. Our house and garden were pretty wrecked by the tenants when we returned and I had a very bad year. But this spring has been so much better. I watch you and Huw avidly and am so inspired to do exciting, unusual things with the garden. Thank you.
Hi Liz, thank you for sharing that with us. Sometimes we look at other people and think they're lives were always top notch. I guess we all have a story. Those ups and downs are what make us who we are today. I have worn many "hats" in my day. I worked for a photography company as a printer, in quality control, then to the computer department and finally to human resources. I also painted murals in posh homes on the side. I re-married and moved to a rural town and became a Chiropractic Assistant. Now I'm retired and trying to learn how to grow a garden on one acre of sand filled with pine trees. Life is constantly changing!
Interesting path you've followed. I'm glad for you that you are satisfied with where you are at this point. I hope the future continues through the future. Old Guy and i have done tons of different things. Real estate, painting, remodeling, house flipping, landlording, farming, animal husbandry, parenting, dog kennel owning, hog farming. We haven't led a boring life. Trying sometimes, but not boring. - Janette
How interesting to learn more about how you got here! Thank you for being an inspiration and example of what a strong woman is. This is a great topic! It could be a collab topic!
Your Mr. J reminds me of my Josh. I was in a terrible job, hurting my back, and he gave the support I needed. That was brave and I’m sure very cathartic for you to share. Everyone has a twisty road to travel, but thank the Lord we eventually see a light down every dark tunnel! I’m proud of you Liz, and enjoy you and Mr. J so much. Bless you and keep on harvesting! We don’t homestead, but are avid gardeners. So it gives inspiration to see what you do.
I just found this video. So lovely. I love knowing other's stories. Thank you. I went to school for theater, ended up as a personal trainer, then a nanny, then had my three kids. When my little one was born I went to school to become a Health Coach which then led to the last 13 years of a career in coaching and leading women's circles and writing programs based on what is most present in my life. Three years ago we began to homestead when I knew I was becoming a bit burned out from the hustle and was hoping to find ways to NEED to make less money. Three years ago I also got sober and the garden has helped deeply with my anxiety.
I try so hard to "homestead" when I get home from work and on the weekends. I love to garden and can food the most. I have had several jobs over the years, but have been at the current one for over 25 years. I wish I could stay home and do these things full time, but maybe in a couple of years. I want to thank you for the very personal story. It makes watching your videos even better, because we know the person behind them. I hope your day is a good one!
I have been on the couch for the last few days due to my own health issues and watching your videos to learn and help pass the time. Thankyou for making the videos you do. What you do is a dream for us at this point but you inspire me to keep going with what we can and to keep putting one wobbly foot forward after the other. Reminding myself that 2 steps forward and 1 step back isn't failing, its a Foxtrot :) Thankyou so much.
🇨🇦 You're an inspiration. I started out studying at a Secretarial College because my dear Mom felt that was what I should do for I was not a strong student. I always knew in my heart I wanted to work with children and really all I ever longed for was to be a wife and Mother. Not something young women are encouraged to aspire to today. I got many "just a stay at home Mom" comments and as I look back now I wish I had the confidence I have now to not allow those comments to affect me, but with age comes wisdom. I did what Mom wanted but wasn't happy, so after a few years I went to University and got a degree in Child Studies and at the same time I met my love! I got married, graduated, worked as a pre-school and kindergarten teacher and then left teaching to stay home and raise our 2 amazing boys. We have a very happy life and I am so grateful everyday. I know how fortunate we are. 😀
Yay, that's great to read, a happy life is a blessing. My daughter wanted to have children (she was 15 when she first said it to me!). I told her to get her education and then go for it! She chose a degree in Child Studies too. The week after she graduated, she conceived my grandson number 1. She works as a nanny and loves it. (Grandson number 2 has also arrived).
Liz Zorab -Congratulations! Two grandsons, how wonderful. Child Studies is a great degree to have. It helped me get many volunteer jobs in our boys' schools and in the community. Enjoy those little grandsons! As you know all too well I am sure, life passes us by far too quickly. A happy life truly is a blessing. Have a nice evening!
I am very much like you, I have chopped and changed careers several times. All of them have lead me to where I am today. We are debt free and living a life lots of people would dream of. Thank you for sharing, you are an inspiration. 💕
Liz, I am both touched by this and inspired by you. Thank you for sharing this...Still working my way through your videos and learning so much from you.
Thank you for sharing! I am a surgery nurse, working at the same hospital 38 yrs. I hope to retire in 3 years. My family has a farm in West Virginia. I put in a big garden and help my Mom can and preserve the produce. My dream is to one day have a milk cow, goats and chickens. You are a true inspiration to me.. Drema
Hi Drema, what kind of surgery do you cover? My father was an anaesthetist (perhaps you call them anesthesiologists) specialising in infant neuro and plastics. It's a tough job to be in theatre all day long. Thank you for your service to the community :-)
I do ENT, OBGYN, General, Ortho, Catracts, all... I planted a Mulberry tree at the farm this year and I though it would be fun to see how it compares to the one I sent you. Happy Gardening!
It's hard to know when to jump out of an employment situation when you know it's affecting your mental health. Long story short I'm now working for myself and making a meager living but am a lot more centred. Take care and enjoy =-)
Wow liz what an amazing video. You've done so much and now a homesteader wow, that's inspirational. All that hard work and studying you've done the charity work and refuge work, wow. 😊About 15 years ago I was in a refuge for a few months with at the time my four very young children and the staff there were absolutely amazing angels. I would love to go back to college and get some qualifications. I've been honeschooling my son for a while and hopefully he will be going back to upper school very soon. Thank you for this brilliant video Liz xxx 💟
Lovely story, all things must happen in order, now your happy! I retired after 29 yrs with the lab, that i worked for. Didn't know if social security would get me thru... I struggled for 2 years, but it was a desired struggle. Love being home and tending to all my little putz jobs. My gardens and my chickens and my doggie...make each day a beautiful good day.
My main career has been as a mom for the last 30 years, but before that and at times, during my main "mom hood," I was also a cook and a restaurant manager, which served me well as a mom of 6 with an army to feed, LOL! Thanks for that look into your background, I enjoy getting to know you better through your videos and as one who also suffers from depression and thyroid disease, I get it!! Thank you! ~~Leslie
Hi Liz, I love finding out people's previous lives! Some would say I'm nosey, but I'm just interested in people's lives. How they got to where they are now. The journey to finding yourself is so important to the person you become. I've had lots of different jobs; I left school at fifteen and my first job was a carpet mender, then a waitress, a bar maid, factory worker, supermarket assistant, an aerobic/gym instructor/personal trainer, aromatherapist, reflexoliogist and finally I became a nurse in 2006! So my journey to where I am now has shown me I'm definitely a people person... maybe that's why I'm so nosey! Hahaha 😂
I went through something very similar to your second divorce, and in tha split up from my partner I lost my house, life and business as she disappeared. At that point the trauma and life also revealed the fact that my mental health wasn't in the best shape to allow me to work office jobs anymore either. RUclips in all of this was my side hobby to still do stuff and not feel completely useless, and then last year I felt it became to me something very similar to what homesteading is to you in terms of having control over my time, life, and ability to commit on a daily basis :) Sending you all my love
Always great to know the backstory to how people have arrived where they are now. Like you, I've hopped around, career to career - Army, restaurants, event planning, real estate, now local government work and owning a winery, as well as homesteading.
just starting out on the path you were already well on , Two years ago... pretty much the same reason as yours.. as always an Inspiration Liz... I wish you lived Next door..😉
Liz, I really enjoyed your bio. Thanks for sharing. I too worked different jobs, in my case I loved being in the kitchen, and really enjoyed baking. I did get to run the golf course kitchen for the Air Force. The was amazing job.
I feel so honored to hear your learning process through life. You inspire me. Thank you for sharing your life with us. I have chopped and changed as you. I live in Canton Ohio in the USA. I don't live to far from Cleveland Ohio if that helps at all. I about an acre altogether. Pretty much on my own.My children have grown and doing their life process with my lovely grandchildren. My youngest son and family don't live far from me. But, unfortunately, children are "Citified" my term.hahaha I am working on my youngest son for living a natural life. Since I was raised on farms. I know the beauty and work to live a farm life. I do have large gardens behind my house with compost heaps. I love watching and remembering all the time on my Grands (Grandfather and Grandmothers) farm. I have used a lot of their ways doing my life. But now, using more and enjoying more Again thank you so much for sharing. Have a great day. Miss Jeri
Hi Miss Jerri, thank you for sharing your story too. It's lovely to have at least one child nearby (I like them close enough to help them in an emergency, but not so close that they constantly call in for coffee!).
I just recently found your channel. I love the two of you laughing in the beginning!! I watch sometimes just for a laugh myself 😂 As for me I have suffered for years from undiagnosed thyroid issues, and now thyroid cancer. I have never been able to keep a job because of my health, so we have moved back to my home place to start a homestead. We built our house last year, now we are working on the gardens. Love your gardens! Truly an inspiration!!!
Hello, I hope you are enjoying getting to know our tiny homestead. I have a video listed that is called Goodbye Is The Hardest Thing To Say (or some a similar title) - it may give you a smile! Sorry to read about the thyroid issue, it makes me sad that doctors will leave thyroid issues until they are so bad. But, nice that you've been able to move and start a homestead. :-)
New to your channel. Brilliant transparency of how you got here. Thank you for sharing. I will be sharing this with my online community for Women 50+☺️
Hello Susan and welcome. I'm glad that you enjoyed this video and thank you so much for sharing the video with your online community. I also made a video about starting again on my own (aged 50 plus) which you may find interesting. ruclips.net/video/bV_w09NhcNg/видео.html
Thanks liz ,it's lovely getting to know you. I have lupus and had to stop working 14 yrs ago. I raised my son on my own pretty much and balanced everything I did move my son and I to another state and homesteader. It was the happiest time of my life. I had to move back to Sydney due to lupus .i miss living off the land but that would not be practical for me now. I watch you because you remind me of my better days. Thanks again xoxo
I am in the process of changing careers again. After working as a supervisor for a grocery store for a long time I took a job as an office manager for company that works here in Maine in the fishing industry. It was a rough year last year and I am down to 1 1/2 days a week. So, off on another job change search. The upside is that I have had the time to be able to decide that what ever I do it will be because it inspires me. :) Have a great day. Thanks for the video!
Oh Liz! Thank you for sharing your story- I really do have to watch your video about your thyroid (as I haven't seen it yet) I am in a career right now- and we also have a farm in New York -not NYC. I have had my thyroid removed due to Thyroid Cancer that was 3 1/2 years ago and the struggle continues to find energy to get through the day.
I was a mature student too, at the age of 40, having piffled around as a legal clerk for years. I studied Psychology and am now, at almost 53, a lecturer. However, I moved out to the country a year or so ago to be with Mr P, started keeping chickens, got an allotment, and fell in love with it all. Circumstances don't currently permit a smallholding but if I could, I would! We're hoping to be able to buy a small house with a bit of land at some point, hopefully before I become too decrepit :) Who knows what the future holds - my fingers are crossed!
Thanks for sharing Liz. I've been in two career paths, farm market/nursery, and geology. Now I'm doing both plus a few other things only on my own terms.
Thank you for sharing your back story--so interesting! You and I have some things in common (besides chickens and plants ;) ). I'm so glad you came to homesteading and are sharing it with us!
It was lovely to hear about your background, thank you for sharing that personal info with us all, it's great to find out that while our lives are quite different, we all have so much in common. So many of the same experiences, good & bad which helped define the different people we became. I've tried several times to write about those shared experiences, but it sounds like I'm whinging. Suffice to say that I made it thru them & although I had to retire 20yrs earlier than planned, I'm grateful for my illness in some ways; I'm no longer trapped in an office job that sucked the life out of me & I'm learning to turn my tiny block of dust & rubble into something that can sustain, nurture & improve life.
Hi Joanne, I was going to say sorry that you had to retire early, but it sounds like you are making the best of it, so perhaps a sorry is inappropriate. I hope you'll enjoy transforming your space in nurturing place.
This is a lovely vlog Liz, very interesting. Sometimes I think that there are no wrong decisions in life (as long as no one is being hurt), just different life experiences. You have definitely had a plenty of those :-) My 30 years of working life has mostly been administration work for organisations that work with young people. I've also worked for charities doing advocacy with disabled people and set up a mentoring project for young disabled people which was very rewarding. I've also organised work experience for students still at school whilst working for a careers service. I only chose to leave one of my jobs, all the rest finished with redundancy, but that was good for me and kept me moving forwards, although it did not feel like it at the time. :-)
Liz, I have always been a stay at home mom but have an interesting time. After a divorce ( did work then) married John who was in the Coast Guard and we (son and daughter and the two of us) lived in Texas and Maryland before he retired from Coast Guard. Then moved to Michigan for 12 years. Was involved in my church and volunteered at a pregnancy center. Then moved to Indiana and once again volunteered at two Pregnancy centers. The last several years have been not working/volunteering, but there always seems to be a friend or neighbor that needs help in some way. It sounds like you have been involved in a variety of careers and think currently suits you.
Hello Liz thank you for sharing! I love listening & watching you! Sorry about my grammar & if I ramble on- I have always had an "end" career in my mind, from as far back as I could remember. I wanted to be an army medic, little did I know how my career would change only 18months after signing up w the local army office. I was training as a medic & was a 2nd Lt. When I became pregnant w my fiancées child- since we weren't married as of yet- I was given a leave of active duty until after I 1st became married & 2nd had the child and was able to return. Well the marriage never happened, but the child did! So as a now single mom I was given an honorable medical discharge. I then took classes at my local college & had some financial assistance to help us live, but I needed a job like very fast! So a friend referred me to her foster mother- her foster mom hired me on the spot as a New Jersey State Trooper an officer. I took the job & was thrilled! I trained hard n became 1 of 4 female state troopers (at the time) all along still going to college & raising my son. I took care of my mom & lost her just after a graduated from Nursing school. So I then worked as a nurse for a few shifts & an officer for 36 hrs a week. I took on an odd job here and there to support my sons extra needs ( he required extra support due to an unfortunate accident while at the babysitters) of those odd jobs I was a driver, florist helper, a florist, an assistant manager, landscape designer, wedding planer w a florist I co - owned! Whew! Not all at the same time! lol I learned many things.. I sold my portion of the business. I retired at 40 yr old from the state troopers career -22 years n a back injury. So I went full time to my nursing career, supervised a Hospice Center part time. I took on a home care nursing position & traveled a lot! I just loved it, moved to a different state ( my son was a fully grown young adult) he still needed my financial support, but I was happy to help him. Found a full time nursing position in a rehabilitation & trauma center. I worked there 8 years until I was struck with another injury- which led me into being unable to work for a time, returned after 8 months of recovering only to realize I needed more surgery, had 2 strokes 1 during the surgery & 1 in the recovery room. I recouped n thought I would return to work, had too much damage to be able to be a "safe" nurse on the job... I had 2 more smaller strokes since I last worked & have multiple different diagnosis ! I've moved in with my son, last year he sold his house & bought a house near where I was living. currently- I homestead/ garden on a very personal level, just enough for our needs. So that is it in a nutshell! 🙃🙂😉 much love, always Vicky F. Xoxo
Hi Liz & Mr J, love your channel, thank you for the insight as to your homesteading lifestyle, I have always chopped and changed as well, most of my jobs have been in sales, even though I hate sales I am extremely good in it often getting top sales preformences, and yes I hate it too, I started my own homesteading journey 6 years ago when my last company closed down leaving me in debt and owed heaps in backwages that never eventuated and a husband with cancer and the bills to go with it, so instead of moaning about my own health issues and money worries I turned my urban home into an organic permaculture garden and our lives are now very different, no longer in massive debt and my husband is now cancer free (which I attribute to a chemical free diet & healthy lifestyle ) and I just love my new "job" too. Keep up the great work!
I love your vids Liz, but the music is a distracting (and it’s hard to hear you when the music volume is loud). I just want you to know that for me at least, just hearing you talk is good enough for me :-)
Massive respect for anyone that goes back to education. Depression is a monster. Particularly when you are a parent.
Life is an adventure sometimes hard sometimes easy but an adventure no less we just do our best to navigate it with grace and joy.
Yes!
We don’t homestead yet, but I want to. I grew flowers many years afraid to try growing food. I thought it would be so hard. It terrified me. Then my health got worse and worse. So I started wanting a change because I couldn’t manage the body pain and the feeling that I somehow must be failing to be so overweight. Last year I dug my heels in and decided our whole family was going to change how we eat, and to afford the veggies and fruit we eat we would need to grow it ourselves. So last year I started the desire to be self sufficient in produce. So I began non flower gardening. I love it. It’s healing me. I’ve lost 75 pounds in one year. And I can’t wait until we are almost 100 % self sufficient in produce.
I've been, not in any particular order, a Waitress/Cook, a Food Market Clerk/Shelf Stoker, worked in a Commercial Laundry (Ugg), work at a Canning Company processing Corn, an Insurance Clerk, Worked in several different Print Shops, was a Cake Decorator, Graduated College with a Degree in Quantity Foods (Cooking for Large Groups or in a Restaurant), was a Baker, a Mother, Elder Care Giver, Telephone Operator & Systems Supervisor, 25 Years as an Administrative Assistant to a Department Head at a University, now a Farmsteader of 52 Acres. As life changed I changed!
That's it precisely, we change as life changes!
you are very brave with you honesty we love you more for ir
Thank you Colin!
You are amazing! Wow I'm just blown away at all you've accomplished! Way to go girlfriend!!
Thank you for sharing your back story. Very helpful to learn the struggles and how they made the decision to change their life.
Hi Liz, it's so refreshing to hear you talk so positive about your turbulent life! You truly deserve your happiness with Mr. J and your wonderful homestead.
I've had many different jobs over the last 30 years and multiple times moved between the US and Germany but always stayed in my field of special ed and psychiatric nursing which I absolutely love!
Liz, thanks so much for sharing this - I worked as a medical assistant in a physicians office for 25 years, and then after leaving there I returned to college to study activities for Alzheimer's disease patients . I became so involved with my patients and the work with Alzheimer's that I found myself being completely burned out. So I made the decision to leave because I felt I was becoming depressed from it. I have always loved gardening , canning , and the love of animals so I jumped right back into what brought me the most happiness at age 60! I also paint some acrylics and have started painting barn quilts for people to hang on their barns or chicken houses .. I don't have a RUclips channel , and my family has asked me to consider it. I love and respect all that you and Mr Jay do and others as I follow their journeys, maybe one day you will see me, as for now - have a great day ! 💗
I am fascinated by the idea of a barn quilt, do you have a place where there are photos of them? Is there a link to somewhere I can see them?
First time I've seen this video and fascinated to see you had the same training as me- Institutional Management. Then into catering, for industry running test labs, teaching etc but in the background always a lingering desire to follow my childhood enjoyment of gardening, probably sparked by spending Sunday mornings with my uncle on his allotment. I devoured gardening books ( this was the time of John Seymour) and only now after a divorce and my children being off hand for many years have I had the chance to put my dreams into practice.On a much smaller scale than you but with two allotments and so agree that contact with the soil is a life changer. Now at 80 with arthritis I'm determined to keep going for as long as I can.
Two different careers. I was an opera singer for about fifteen years and then hung up my traveling shoes and became a teacher. I currently teach music in a very large urban district to 120 three year olds a week but have been teaching from home during the pandemic - which gave me the opportunity to build a garden from scratch! 😍
Thanks so much for sharing your story I loved it I have been a hairdresser for 36 years and salon owner for 18 years mother for 30 years and Grandmother for 9 years
Being a grandma is so lovely - all the love, all the fun, so little of the responsibility!
Inspiring!
Great Video!!! I too have had a bunch of different careers, but finally settled into homesteading about 5 years ago.... :)
You are such a wise woman. We all make the decisions we make for whatever reasons. The adult part is accepting the consequences and realizing the paths we are on. I married right out of high school at 18 and was a stay at home mom to 3 children while my husband was in military, until they were all in school. Then I worked in a greenhouse/floral shop designing mostly for weddings and funerals. Absolutely loved it, my dream job. When they offered to sell to me, my husband said no, he wouldn’t back me in it. I went back to college and taught English (American version-smile) for several years until I discovered the fun of computers. My husband and I divorced. Married too young, grew into different adults. For awhile, I taught computer languages and programming, which may explain why I’m rather weird. Remarried and traveled quite a bit which was so enjoyable. I learned the art of stained glass and worked for a shop building up my reputation and then sold commission work only as we traveled so much. After my husband was killed in a traffic accident, six weeks following his mother’s death, I was lost for a bit. Had been working on a church window when the highway patrol officers came to inform me and simply couldn’t do it anymore. Cutting glass, stretching the came, soldering, all too painful, so I left it behind. My children asked me to move closer to them and I have never regretted it. We are a very close knit bunch. Being bored at home, I went to work in a word processing center as a technician, first-line supervisor. Turned out I didn’t like assigning jobs and coping with their whining. Transferred to a different position there teaching computer software. Became so tired it was a chore to continue as it required so much traveling to the different branches, staying in hotels, and grew to dislike the driving though I loved the teaching part. Retired very early but first I took a look around to see what I wanted next in life. Set up a small workshop in backyard with my pottery wheel, ceramic molds, lots of clay. Love gardening, so my daughter and I built a 14’ x20’ greenhouse from ground up to her design, also in backyard, and raised beds. Got a treadmill for the winter months. Seems I’ve been learning things and retiring from them all my life. So far my life has been full of very happy times and very sad times, but it has never been dull. If you made it this far, I’m guessing you’ve begun to regret asking us to share how we got where we are now. Actually where I am right now is preparing to go to Seattle, Washington, USA, and then on to Canada for the first time. So looking forward to it. Greenhouse and cold frames are full of seedlings, raised beds are planted, and I’m preparing for my next adventure. I agree with you, we got where we are by simply living and accepting our choices. Attitude has so much to do with it. For me, it’s always pointing forward. The past is the past. I learn from it, take it into my being and look forward to what’s next.
Thank you for sharing this, have a fantastic time in Seattle and Canada and please, tell me all about it when you get back - I can travel via the friends I'm making on social media!
Thank you so much for sharing your life story with all your various jobs. I'm so thrilled that you finally found your happy place as a homesteader. I've been a farmer's wife since I was 19 years old. Like you I've been very ill and bed bound many times with depression. You need to have had it to know how truly terrible that place is. I was three months in psychiatric hospital. It was some 9 years after our baby had died as a result of sudden unexplained cot death when I suffered a massive breakdown when I just couldn't try any longer. Fifteen years under the duvet followed and a lifetime of up's and down's always struggling to maintain an equilibrium, often failing. So pleased to have found you here, such an inspiration to me, I love your honesty and openness. Your beautiful spirit shines through. My Cptsd has resulted in me just being at home but fortunately I live in a beautiful spot too. Loving your journey and so happy to see you settling so quickly into your new home. I've not moved in almost 44 years!
Liz you are such a lovely person and I am glad that all is well with you cheers from the US.😊
Thank you Carole!
Thank you for sharing Liz. Like you I ve had many a change in jobs. I studies and became a nurse. I done this for 10 years but after a divorce and having 2 young children I had to give up. I moved well away from Scotland as my ex husbands family were a nasty bunch. Married again. I moved to Wales totally by chance. I helped my friend in schools meals as they were short, loved it trained as a cook. Worked various places.
Said I d never come back to Scotland. However my mum became rather ill so we moved back. My other half had a massive heart attack. My youngest was 6 months old. My thyroid packed in which knocked me for 6 Then my mother passed as well.
My dad became seriously ill. Thought we were going to lose him too. However he bounced back. God was good and he married a lovely lady. I got his house, which I grew up in. I now have my chickens. Which I love. I help run a free food kitchen alongside the food bank which I so look forward to. Life is a struggle 4 kids but I now also have 3 grand children.
Wow! what an amazing life, everything to get you where you are today. I left home at 17, joined the Army to see the world. Met my wife in the Army after 4 years. I heard her voice and knew right away. I waited a couple of months before i asked to marry me. I was in 12 years, after the first gulf war i was told my time was up. I did odd jobs until i found a job driving a truck of the road. did that 5 years, missed my wife and kids. Worked as a Glazier for a number of years until i had a heart attack at age 51. I have not been able to work since. We lost everything, we live with our children now. Starting over, and starting a simpler homesteading life.
Thank you for sharing your story, I wish you every happiness and every success on your homestead.
Very inspiring , thank you for sharing with us
Thank you for sharing yourself.
This comes long after your video posted, but it struck a chord with me. My mom died in August 2012, having been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer six months earlier. Even now I'll hear a joke or read something interesting and think, "Mom will get a kick out of that" or "Oh, I'll have to tell Mom about that". I graduated high school at 18 (birthday comes after the cut-off, so I had to wait a year to start school) and went to work. First job part time, was supposed to become full time, two years later it still wasn't. Went to an industrial job, full time & tons of overtime, the company reimbursed tuition if you maintained a C average or higher, attended the local community college part time while I continued to work full time, rotating shifts - sometimes skipping a term at school if the work schedule couldn't be worked out, I completed a 2-yr degree in Business after eight years. Held, I think, five more jobs - never had what I would call a career - anything from assembly work to forklift driving to receptionist to accounting. Because I'm alone I always needed to work, for the income & for insurance. Once I retired, at age 61, my REAL life began. Spent that autumn straightening up my outdoor area, winter watching RUclips, spring/ summer/fall 2021 had a small veg garden, but mostly focused on planting perennial foods (fruit, berries, asparagus). This winter I'm watching more RUclips, growing season 2022 I'll expand the veg garden & strawberry bed, but main focus will be herbs and bird/bee/butterfly plantings. I've slowly acquired canning jars, pressure canner, stand mixer, high quality blender, battery powered lawn tools - still hope to get a high-quality food dehydrator, grain mill, containers for root cellar storage, sun oven, trellising, netting - the list goes on & on. Currently living on my company pension & savings, in a few years I'll start to draw my social security, but am trying to come up with ideas and prepare for other small income streams. Being older, and alone, with some minor health issues, I feel the need to remain in, or on the outskirts of a town - with limited finances I need to be cautious in choosing, so that is likely not in the near future - but I definitely want to move somewhere that allows chickens/ducks/rabbits, none of which are allowed where I currently live. Sorry to have written a book, but I identify so strongly with you - being older, having health issues (thankfully, mine are less severe than you've dealt with), strong desire to provide my own food. I only wish your growing zone was more similar to mine, as I'm unable to grow many of the things you say are your favorites - but, one can't have everything. God bless.
There's no place like home! I love being here working, but I do clean a home for an elderly lady now and then. It still gives me the much needed time to get my hands dirty!
Oh Liz, your such a strong lady, I love your videos! I myself have homesteaded all my life, it's just how we were raised here in the hills of Arkansas, I'm 54, I have worked in the public school system, 21 years, I have 7 years and I can retire, with full benefits, I'm so ready! To get out, and enjoy my homestead more, and to feel satisfied too, my thyroid quit me totally, and had to be removed about 10 years ago, I have never been so sick in my life, I thought I was going to die, I went from healthy as a horse, to being so sick and depressed, I take med everyday to stay alive, I feel better, but will never be the same, thyroid conditions are more common here in United States, they say than any where else, I had a good doctor, My family has a lot of thyroid issues, my husband just had to start Taking med for his, he was feeling tired all the time, they tested him, and discovered his thyroid was messed up, geeze! I'm so happy you found your happy place!
Very insightful & inspiring! Thank you.
Gosh, you've achieved so much.I went against my parents expectations of going to uni and left school at 16, my last exam was on the Friday, on the Sunday I left home and started work on a dairy farm, milking .For a short spell between two farm jobs I worked as an au pair in Germany. I married at 20 and had my first son 11 months later. I trained as a nursery nurse and registered as a childminder so I could work and bring in an income while caring for my by then 3 children. All the time we grew veg, fruit etc and kept poultry, sheep and pigs.As the children got older I gave up childminding, did a little gardening, house decorating and farm sitting and now concentrate mostly on the poultry. We've been married 37 years
37 years is a pretty awesome length of time (and I mean I'm in awe!) :-)
Good on u Liz,so proud of u,take care
Thank you Rachel!
Thanks for sharing this video. You are awesome.
Thank you!
Had over 20 jobs also a single parent in South Africa. When I couldn't cope when I became ill, I came back to UK. I worked for a church for several years, but even that was too stressful in the end. Hubby is on state pension and I am on disability, but we own our house and have a huge garden which we absolutely adore. We rented out this place and lived in tiny houses in tiny villages in Cornwall for 7 years and walked and walked and walked. In the end my mental issues were finally diagnosed and we came back to Dudley a year ago to be closer to medical support. Getting a bus pass was bliss but I had to work to get confident on the buses. Our house and garden were pretty wrecked by the tenants when we returned and I had a very bad year. But this spring has been so much better. I watch you and Huw avidly and am so inspired to do exciting, unusual things with the garden. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing Liz, I may do a video response to this if I get a chance - I of course, will be sure to tag you if I do :)
Hi Liz, thank you for sharing that with us. Sometimes we look at other people and think they're lives were always top notch. I guess we all have a story. Those ups and downs are what make us who we are today. I have worn many "hats" in my day. I worked for a photography company as a printer, in quality control, then to the computer department and finally to human resources. I also painted murals in posh homes on the side. I re-married and moved to a rural town and became a Chiropractic Assistant. Now I'm retired and trying to learn how to grow a garden on one acre of sand filled with pine trees. Life is constantly changing!
Aha, hence the name! Gardening on pine filled sand will be interesting!
Interesting path you've followed. I'm glad for you that you are satisfied with where you are at this point. I hope the future continues through the future. Old Guy and i have done tons of different things. Real estate, painting, remodeling, house flipping, landlording, farming, animal husbandry, parenting, dog kennel owning, hog farming. We haven't led a boring life. Trying sometimes, but not boring. - Janette
How interesting to learn more about how you got here! Thank you for being an inspiration and example of what a strong woman is. This is a great topic! It could be a collab topic!
I had a major change in life - brought on by a tough time! Who I am now is a completely different person than then....and I LOVE it! :)
Your Mr. J reminds me of my Josh. I was in a terrible job, hurting my back, and he gave the support I needed. That was brave and I’m sure very cathartic for you to share. Everyone has a twisty road to travel, but thank the Lord we eventually see a light down every dark tunnel! I’m proud of you Liz, and enjoy you and Mr. J so much. Bless you and keep on harvesting! We don’t homestead, but are avid gardeners. So it gives inspiration to see what you do.
I just found this video. So lovely. I love knowing other's stories. Thank you. I went to school for theater, ended up as a personal trainer, then a nanny, then had my three kids. When my little one was born I went to school to become a Health Coach which then led to the last 13 years of a career in coaching and leading women's circles and writing programs based on what is most present in my life. Three years ago we began to homestead when I knew I was becoming a bit burned out from the hustle and was hoping to find ways to NEED to make less money. Three years ago I also got sober and the garden has helped deeply with my anxiety.
Thank you for sharing your story. Congrats for your sobriety and yes I agree, the garden is a wonderful healer.
@@LizZorab Thank you Liz!
What wonderful skill set and life you have developed. I have been in the same profession since graduating from University.
I try so hard to "homestead" when I get home from work and on the weekends. I love to garden and can food the most. I have had several jobs over the years, but have been at the current one for over 25 years. I wish I could stay home and do these things full time, but maybe in a couple of years. I want to thank you for the very personal story. It makes watching your videos even better, because we know the person behind them. I hope your day is a good one!
I have been on the couch for the last few days due to my own health issues and watching your videos to learn and help pass the time. Thankyou for making the videos you do. What you do is a dream for us at this point but you inspire me to keep going with what we can and to keep putting one wobbly foot forward after the other. Reminding myself that 2 steps forward and 1 step back isn't failing, its a Foxtrot :) Thankyou so much.
🇨🇦 You're an inspiration. I started out studying at a Secretarial College because my dear Mom felt that was what I should do for I was not a strong student. I always knew in my heart I wanted to work with children and really all I ever longed for was to be a wife and Mother. Not something young women are encouraged to aspire to today. I got many "just a stay at home Mom" comments and as I look back now I wish I had the confidence I have now to not allow those comments to affect me, but with age comes wisdom. I did what Mom wanted but wasn't happy, so after a few years I went to University and got a degree in Child Studies and at the same time I met my love! I got married, graduated, worked as a pre-school and kindergarten teacher and then left teaching to stay home and raise our 2 amazing boys. We have a very happy life and I am so grateful everyday. I know how fortunate we are. 😀
Yay, that's great to read, a happy life is a blessing. My daughter wanted to have children (she was 15 when she first said it to me!). I told her to get her education and then go for it! She chose a degree in Child Studies too. The week after she graduated, she conceived my grandson number 1. She works as a nanny and loves it. (Grandson number 2 has also arrived).
Liz Zorab -Congratulations! Two grandsons, how wonderful. Child Studies is a great degree to have. It helped me get many volunteer jobs in our boys' schools and in the community. Enjoy those little grandsons! As you know all too well I am sure, life passes us by far too quickly. A happy life truly is a blessing. Have a nice evening!
Very interesting! Nice to hear more of your background. I so struggled with depression for years. I completely identify with losing years.
I am very much like you, I have chopped and changed careers several times. All of them have lead me to where I am today. We are debt free and living a life lots of people would dream of. Thank you for sharing, you are an inspiration. 💕
Liz, I am both touched by this and inspired by you. Thank you for sharing this...Still working my way through your videos and learning so much from you.
Hi Cherie, so pleased to read that you are enjoying the videos! Thank you for watching them.
Thank you for sharing! I am a surgery nurse, working at the same hospital 38 yrs. I hope to retire in 3 years. My family has a farm in West Virginia. I put in a big garden and help my Mom can and preserve the produce. My dream is to one day have a milk cow, goats and chickens. You are a true inspiration to me.. Drema
Hi Drema, what kind of surgery do you cover? My father was an anaesthetist (perhaps you call them anesthesiologists) specialising in infant neuro and plastics. It's a tough job to be in theatre all day long. Thank you for your service to the community :-)
I do ENT, OBGYN, General, Ortho, Catracts, all... I planted a Mulberry tree at the farm this year and I though it would be fun to see how it compares to the one I sent you. Happy Gardening!
It's hard to know when to jump out of an employment situation when you know it's affecting your mental health. Long story short I'm now working for myself and making a meager living but am a lot more centred. Take care and enjoy =-)
Wow liz what an amazing video. You've done so much and now a homesteader wow, that's inspirational. All that hard work and studying you've done the charity work and refuge work, wow. 😊About 15 years ago I was in a refuge for a few months with at the time my four very young children and the staff there were absolutely amazing angels. I would love to go back to college and get some qualifications. I've been honeschooling my son for a while and hopefully he will be going back to upper school very soon.
Thank you for this brilliant video Liz xxx 💟
Lovely story, all things must happen in order, now your happy! I retired after 29 yrs with the lab, that i worked for. Didn't know if social security would get me thru... I struggled for 2 years, but it was a desired struggle. Love being home and tending to all my little putz jobs. My gardens and my chickens and my doggie...make each day a beautiful good day.
I LOVE TODAY SHOW.
Thank you!
Thanks Liz, that was interesting x
you have never gave up and that is what counts..thank you
My main career has been as a mom for the last 30 years, but before that and at times, during my main "mom hood," I was also a cook and a restaurant manager, which served me well as a mom of 6 with an army to feed, LOL! Thanks for that look into your background, I enjoy getting to know you better through your videos and as one who also suffers from depression and thyroid disease, I get it!! Thank you! ~~Leslie
Hi Liz,
I love finding out people's previous lives! Some would say I'm nosey, but I'm just interested in people's lives. How they got to where they are now. The journey to finding yourself is so important to the person you become. I've had lots of different jobs; I left school at fifteen and my first job was a carpet mender, then a waitress, a bar maid, factory worker, supermarket assistant, an aerobic/gym instructor/personal trainer, aromatherapist, reflexoliogist and finally I became a nurse in 2006! So my journey to where I am now has shown me I'm definitely a people person... maybe that's why I'm so nosey! Hahaha 😂
I went through something very similar to your second divorce, and in tha split up from my partner I lost my house, life and business as she disappeared. At that point the trauma and life also revealed the fact that my mental health wasn't in the best shape to allow me to work office jobs anymore either. RUclips in all of this was my side hobby to still do stuff and not feel completely useless, and then last year I felt it became to me something very similar to what homesteading is to you in terms of having control over my time, life, and ability to commit on a daily basis :) Sending you all my love
They are tough times indeed, but we're out the other side of it now - and that's a good thing!
Always great to know the backstory to how people have arrived where they are now.
Like you, I've hopped around, career to career - Army, restaurants, event planning, real estate, now local government work and owning a winery, as well as homesteading.
With three jobs on the go, how on earth do you find time to watch and make video? Hats off to you Rick!
Liz Zorab - Byther Farm I watch most videos during my day job which is a mindless, data entry job.
just starting out on the path you were already well on , Two years ago... pretty much the same reason as yours.. as always an Inspiration Liz... I wish you lived Next door..😉
Liz, I really enjoyed your bio. Thanks for sharing. I too worked different jobs, in my case I loved being in the kitchen, and really enjoyed baking. I did get to run the golf course kitchen for the Air Force. The was amazing job.
I loved this, Liz! It was so neat to learn more about you, and it was really encouraging as well. Thank you so much for sharing!
I loved your storey . It helps to understand you better.
♥️
I feel so honored to hear your learning process through life. You inspire me. Thank you for sharing your life with us. I have chopped and changed as you. I live in Canton Ohio in the USA. I don't live to far from Cleveland Ohio if that helps at all. I about an acre altogether. Pretty much on my own.My children have grown and doing their life process with my lovely grandchildren. My youngest son and family don't live far from me.
But, unfortunately, children are "Citified" my term.hahaha I am working on my youngest son for living a natural life. Since I was raised on farms. I know the beauty and work to live a farm life.
I do have large gardens behind my house with compost heaps.
I love watching and remembering all the time on my Grands (Grandfather and Grandmothers) farm. I have used a lot of their ways doing my life. But now, using more and enjoying more
Again thank you so much for sharing. Have a great day. Miss Jeri
Hi Miss Jerri, thank you for sharing your story too. It's lovely to have at least one child nearby (I like them close enough to help them in an emergency, but not so close that they constantly call in for coffee!).
Liz, I really enjoyed your video thank you for sharing God Bless
I just recently found your channel. I love the two of you laughing in the beginning!! I watch sometimes just for a laugh myself 😂
As for me I have suffered for years from undiagnosed thyroid issues, and now thyroid cancer. I have never been able to keep a job because of my health, so we have moved back to my home place to start a homestead. We built our house last year, now we are working on the gardens. Love your gardens! Truly an inspiration!!!
Hello, I hope you are enjoying getting to know our tiny homestead. I have a video listed that is called Goodbye Is The Hardest Thing To Say (or some a similar title) - it may give you a smile! Sorry to read about the thyroid issue, it makes me sad that doctors will leave thyroid issues until they are so bad. But, nice that you've been able to move and start a homestead. :-)
New to your channel. Brilliant transparency of how you got here. Thank you for sharing.
I will be sharing this with my online community for Women 50+☺️
Hello Susan and welcome. I'm glad that you enjoyed this video and thank you so much for sharing the video with your online community. I also made a video about starting again on my own (aged 50 plus) which you may find interesting. ruclips.net/video/bV_w09NhcNg/видео.html
Thanks liz ,it's lovely getting to know you. I have lupus and had to stop working 14 yrs ago. I raised my son on my own pretty much and balanced everything I did move my son and I to another state and homesteader. It was the happiest time of my life. I had to move back to Sydney due to lupus .i miss living off the land but that would not be practical for me now. I watch you because you remind me of my better days. Thanks again xoxo
Hi Molly, lupus is a pain in the proverbial!
I am in the process of changing careers again. After working as a supervisor for a grocery store for a long time I took a job as an office manager for company that works here in Maine in the fishing industry. It was a rough year last year and I am down to 1 1/2 days a week. So, off on another job change search. The upside is that I have had the time to be able to decide that what ever I do it will be because it inspires me. :) Have a great day. Thanks for the video!
Oh Liz! Thank you for sharing your story- I really do have to watch your video about your thyroid (as I haven't seen it yet) I am in a career right now- and we also have a farm in New York -not NYC. I have had my thyroid removed due to Thyroid Cancer that was 3 1/2 years ago and the struggle continues to find energy to get through the day.
I was a mature student too, at the age of 40, having piffled around as a legal clerk for years. I studied Psychology and am now, at almost 53, a lecturer. However, I moved out to the country a year or so ago to be with Mr P, started keeping chickens, got an allotment, and fell in love with it all. Circumstances don't currently permit a smallholding but if I could, I would! We're hoping to be able to buy a small house with a bit of land at some point, hopefully before I become too decrepit :) Who knows what the future holds - my fingers are crossed!
Thanks for sharing Liz. I've been in two career paths, farm market/nursery, and geology. Now I'm doing both plus a few other things only on my own terms.
Thank you for sharing your back story--so interesting! You and I have some things in common (besides chickens and plants ;) ). I'm so glad you came to homesteading and are sharing it with us!
Thank you for watching!
It was lovely to hear about your background, thank you for sharing that personal info with us all, it's great to find out that while our lives are quite different, we all have so much in common. So many of the same experiences, good & bad which helped define the different people we became. I've tried several times to write about those shared experiences, but it sounds like I'm whinging. Suffice to say that I made it thru them & although I had to retire 20yrs earlier than planned, I'm grateful for my illness in some ways; I'm no longer trapped in an office job that sucked the life out of me & I'm learning to turn my tiny block of dust & rubble into something that can sustain, nurture & improve life.
Hi Joanne, I was going to say sorry that you had to retire early, but it sounds like you are making the best of it, so perhaps a sorry is inappropriate. I hope you'll enjoy transforming your space in nurturing place.
Thanks for sharing! I have often wondered what you did before. My husband and I both had long careers in manufacturing (40+years) before we retired.
This is a lovely vlog Liz, very interesting. Sometimes I think that there are no wrong decisions in life (as long as no one is being hurt), just different life experiences. You have definitely had a plenty of those :-)
My 30 years of working life has mostly been administration work for organisations that work with young people. I've also worked for charities doing advocacy with disabled people and set up a mentoring project for young disabled people which was very rewarding. I've also organised work experience for students still at school whilst working for a careers service. I only chose to leave one of my jobs, all the rest finished with redundancy, but that was good for me and kept me moving forwards, although it did not feel like it at the time. :-)
Liz, I have always been a stay at home mom but have an interesting time. After a divorce ( did work then) married John who was in the Coast Guard and we (son and daughter and the two of us) lived in Texas and Maryland before he retired from Coast Guard. Then moved to Michigan for 12 years. Was involved in my church and volunteered at a pregnancy center. Then moved to Indiana and once again volunteered at two
Pregnancy centers. The last several years have been not working/volunteering, but there always seems to be a friend or neighbor that needs help in some way. It sounds like you have been involved in a variety of careers and think currently suits you.
Hi Charlotte, being a stay at home mother has never been given the value that it should. Nurturing the next generation is vital!
Hello Liz thank you for sharing! I love listening & watching you! Sorry about my grammar & if I ramble on- I have always had an "end" career in my mind, from as far back as I could remember. I wanted to be an army medic, little did I know how my career would change only 18months after signing up w the local army office. I was training as a medic & was a 2nd Lt. When I became pregnant w my fiancées child- since we weren't married as of yet- I was given a leave of active duty until after I 1st became married & 2nd had the child and was able to return. Well the marriage never happened, but the child did! So as a now single mom I was given an honorable medical discharge. I then took classes at my local college & had some financial assistance to help us live, but I needed a job like very fast! So a friend referred me to her foster mother- her foster mom hired me on the spot as a New Jersey State Trooper an officer. I took the job & was thrilled! I trained hard n became 1 of 4 female state troopers (at the time) all along still going to college & raising my son. I took care of my mom & lost her just after a graduated from Nursing school. So I then worked as a nurse for a few shifts & an officer for 36 hrs a week. I took on an odd job here and there to support my sons extra needs ( he required extra support due to an unfortunate accident while at the babysitters) of those odd jobs I was a driver, florist helper, a florist, an assistant manager, landscape designer, wedding planer w a florist I co - owned! Whew! Not all at the same time! lol I learned many things.. I sold my portion of the business. I retired at 40 yr old from the state troopers career -22 years n a back injury. So I went full time to my nursing career, supervised a Hospice Center part time. I took on a home care nursing position & traveled a lot! I just loved it, moved to a different state ( my son was a fully grown young adult) he still needed my financial support, but I was happy to help him. Found a full time nursing position in a rehabilitation & trauma center. I worked there 8 years until I was struck with another injury- which led me into being unable to work for a time, returned after 8 months of recovering only to realize I needed more surgery, had 2 strokes 1 during the surgery & 1 in the recovery room. I recouped n thought I would return to work, had too much damage to be able to be a "safe" nurse on the job... I had 2 more smaller strokes since I last worked & have multiple different diagnosis ! I've moved in with my son, last year he sold his house & bought a house near where I was living. currently- I homestead/ garden on a very personal level, just enough for our needs. So that is it in a nutshell! 🙃🙂😉 much love, always Vicky F. Xoxo
Sorry I don't know why it has a line thru some of the text.. I hope you can still read it!
Yes I can!
Looks like you've been through the wringer a few times - life can be really tough! Glad to see that you are still smiling and keeping on keeping on!
Hi Liz & Mr J, love your channel, thank you for the insight as to your homesteading lifestyle, I have always chopped and changed as well, most of my jobs have been in sales, even though I hate sales I am extremely good in it often getting top sales preformences, and yes I hate it too, I started my own homesteading journey 6 years ago when my last company closed down leaving me in debt and owed heaps in backwages that never eventuated and a husband with cancer and the bills to go with it, so instead of moaning about my own health issues and money worries I turned my urban home into an organic permaculture garden and our lives are now very different, no longer in massive debt and my husband is now cancer free (which I attribute to a chemical free diet & healthy lifestyle ) and I just love my new "job" too. Keep up the great work!
There's an awful lot to be said for an healthier, gentler lifestyle!
Ty Liz. Hon I'm sure you have already told us but how did you and MR. J meet?
In a very 21st century way - we met online!
a garden
I love your vids Liz, but the music is a distracting (and it’s hard to hear you when the music volume is loud). I just want you to know that for me at least, just hearing you talk is good enough for me :-)
Hi Tracy, I just had a listen back and yes you are right, the music is way too loud in parts of this video!