Sunday, December 13, 2020

What did you regret not doing? What will you do differently?

Right now -- one week away from moving into our new place -- we're already planning the garden. Don took a Google Earth overhead screenshot of the area we hope to put the garden and mocked up raised beds, an alleyway where a tractor can fit, and other beginning infrastructure. Now we're deciding what we're planting, how much, and where. In other words, a nice activity for a snowy December day.

And this led to a discussion of what we regretted doing or not doing in 2020, and what we hope to do differently in 2021.

And this, in turn, leads me to think this would be a good blog post discussion.

The year 2020 has been awful in every possible way. So, dear readers, let's hear it. What do you regret doing (or not doing) in 2020? What do you hope to do differently in 2021?



31 comments:

  1. I don't have any regrets for 2020 but have a question about your garden. Will you be in a farming area so you can get the big tractor tires for the new garden?

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  2. What size are those beds? That’s a cool set up that my wife and I might use for annual beds.

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    1. The schematic above is just a Google image find, not an image of our actual garden. Tentatively the garden will be a very boring bunch of 3x8 raised beds flanking a center aisle. As I said, that's tentative. We need to take more accurate measurements when we actually get to the property.

      - Patrice

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    2. Ok. I wasn’t sure if you had planned out dimensions or anything.

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    3. How tall/deep are your raised beds?

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    4. Well, we haven't built them yet (smile) but we're planning on 12 inches or so. That's a comfortable height for weeding when sitting on a crate.

      - Patrice

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  3. What size are those beds? That’s a cool set up that my wife and I might use for annual beds.

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    1. We're thinking 3x8 feet, and about 12 inches high.

      - Patrice

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  4. I regret postponing dental and medical appointments until things return to normal. I thought that might happen this fall. But, now it is winter and more people are ill and I have to go now.

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  5. Might consider trying this concept for some of your garden as I get older I am always looking for easier ways. https://minibedsonplastic.blogspot.com/

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  6. I regret having only one goat bred last year. She miscarried. So, no fresh milk. This year I had three does bred, and it appears that it took on all of them.

    I also regret all of the boredom and stress eating. That’s lead to twenty-one pounds to lose to get back to my ideal weight. I had an injury in January, which caused a lack of mobility and started the gains. I need to get serious and get back to where I should be.

    I regret stressing over things over which I have no control. I’m trying to focus more on my blessings. I have family and friends who are now prepping. I have four freezers and multiple shelving units full of food, closet full of supplies, and excellent health (even with the extra pounds). Most importantly, I have my faith. The assurance He gives me is everything.

    My goals for 2021: Read my Bible more, be faithful in my witness, enjoy time with my family, develop closer friendships, and solidify a group for when times get worse.
    Build another chicken coop/tractor; enlarge the goat pasture; build two more raised garden beds; plant more strawberries, blueberries, elderberries, asparagus, and fruit trees; install a wood stove in the house and a heat source in the greenhouse; and I would love to have a small off-grid shelter on our farm ground that’s away from our homestead. (I doubt this gets accomplished next year.)

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    1. Amen sister! I too regret stressing over things I can’t control. Seems this is a lesson I have to keep learning.

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  7. I don't know that I have a ton of regrets. There are things you have no control over that you just have to accept and move on with. I am grateful I have been a closet preppier for years and have wondered what the heck the people who are minimalists have been thinking. I always think of my parents who grew up in the depression and didn't throw things away. I think with 2020 I saw some holes and am working to fix as many of those as possible. I think there is always more to do.

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    1. You can be both a minimalist AND preparedness oriented. ;) I have been for years. Minimalism isnt about only having 100 things. Its about only having things that bring you joy, and realizing that more stuff does not equal more happiness.

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  8. This has actually been a great year for us. I regret nothing. We got our first chickens, we've started our goat barn and ordered goats, ordered a LGD, reduced a large portion of debt and this summer there were NO mosquitoes!!! I hate mosquitoes and they love me. I don't wear a mask at the store and I am a homebody so I don't feel isolated at all. My family is all well. My daughter is a nurse on a COVID floor and I know that the disease exists but it is nowhere near the threat the fake news says it is. This has been a great year for us and I praise the Lord for all his blessings.

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  9. I regret not informing more folks in my life and also people that I have just met, to do your homework and wakeup to what is really going on in this country and the rest of the world. I am not a conspiracy theorist. I am a conspiracy factualist who with Gods help is trying to get the word out to not take the vaccine. Refuse! It has horrific things in it like proteins to change you dna and hiv along with a host of other nasty life changing cells. Don't look things up on Google, they ban the truth. Use Duckduckgo or go on State of the Nation News. I want to have a garden this coming spring also, but my entire family and I are afraid if this continues, we won't be here to do it.

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  10. The only thing I regret in 2020 is not taking photos of and with my dad when we visited from out of state. I'm back in town but this time for his funeral.

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    1. (wince) I'm so sorry. May he rest in peace.

      - Patrice

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  11. Patrice, if I regret anything it is that my change in careers was kind of forced on me instead of me taking a more active role in the choice. It seems to have all worked out for the best, but I think it could have worked out sooner if I had allowed myself to be braver and addressed the issue more directly.

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  12. Did you sell your tractor with your place? Or bringing it to the new place?

    This was my first summer of full retirement, had lots of plans to travel,with the grandkids. And those plans were canceled. Maybe next summer, but they are getting older and traveling with grand parents not cool.

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    1. The tractor is still at our old house. Once we take possession of our new place -- and when weather permits -- we'll move the tractor along with all the implements.

      - Patrice

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  13. I regret getting Covid, but since I don't know how I got it, it's impossible to say how I could have avoided it.

    ^^^As for the commenter above me--whatever. I've had it and have so far lost a month of my life to it. My mother had it. My neighbor died of it. Stop trying to dismiss the threat.

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  14. No regrets to speak of, but blessings beyond measure. My son and his family (including our two grandchildren) moved to Oklahoma last April. My wife and I contemplated selling our house of 32 years and joining them. Then, in September, an old friend of my wife contacted her and asked if we were considering selling our house. (This, without telling anyone our thoughts on the matter.) Long story short, the buyer purchased it for full asking price and we now reside in a larger (! we were going to downsize!) house just 3.5 miles from our grandkids. God confirmed his blessing yesterday when we discovered a fully bloomed rose in our back yard, while four inches of snow was falling.

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  15. I really regret buying into the entire scare tactics at first. I hid in my home and stress ate my way through the worst food ever. I gained 60 pounds and became diabetic. Thankfully I woke up and saw what was going on and took back control of my life. I am down 28 of those 60 pounds and working to get myself back in shape by GOING OUTSIDE! I turned off the TV. I unsubscribed to all the streaming channels. I spend my time in the evenings watching videos to learn skills. First thing we do after waking is spend an hour doing Bible studies and having conversation about what we have gleaned from the scriptures. I refuse to continue to hide and stay in my home as a good little sheep. I hope everyone else also refuses to accept all these loss of freedoms they are trying to scare us into accepting.

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  16. Not a lot of regrets. Had COVID in July, thankfully a pretty mild case, dental work done before and after the virus. Bad year for our small garden. My husband build two raised beds, 20 x 4 and about two feet high, several years ago and we love them! This year he put strawberries in one, and they were so much easier to pick (as we age)! Excited for your new place!

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  17. No regrets here, just want to work on our infrastructure a little harder for next summer. We have a barn project on the agenda, and more raised beds for the spring planting. Our biggest project for sure will be our pond construction. Hope your move is smooth, and we are looking forward to all the new projects and pictures of you new homestead!

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  18. No regrets whatsoever. Sweated and saved up to get a decent b/u generator as our "new" place has a well, and after reading about Patrice's bad experience with a power outage and no water for the livestock thought this would be a good idea.
    I like one of the alt-right memes that goes like this: "you don't know how anti-social you really are until some bs like this coronabologna hits, and nothing changes for you".
    So, sticking with God, the Bible, and guns.
    Merry Christmas to y'all.

    m

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  19. No regrets. I lived my life normal down here in Boise.

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  20. Where is the pear tree? Most apples need a pear tree somewhere near! Also I don't see taters, (twas a small plan so I could have missed it it - you need lots), I see onions - good, where chickens? Beehives? Howabout Goats, (I love goats milk, cheese and meat, (I am a Capricorn and they're nice to have around). Are you going to get a mini backhoe? (They're handy as well).

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  21. Very glad that Ive been prepping for a long time now. Im glad I downgraded and bought a little home outright., and in farm country. I had a mild case of Covid, laid on the couch and watched movies for a week, then continued to quarantine for 10 days, mostly for the sake of the neighbors that I see and interact with. Glad I persisted in finding a group in town that plays outdoor Pickleball 3x week, (Pickleball is tennis light) It helped me stay fit, and deal with stress. Glad that I connected with a like minded couple in church, before Covid, and we continue to meet for Bible study and fellowship. Glad I kept sharing my not politically correct thoughts with others ( in a good spirit that allows for exchange of ideas). People are pleasantly surprised, and shocked, in this present culture of outrage and insult!

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  22. I try hard to not live with regrets but this year has brought a realization of many regrets. My husband lost his job in February. I regret not having more savings put aside. I regret not going to school when I thought I should. I regret not being disciplined in several ways that would have benefitted me now. Honestly though, it doesn’t matter because regret only eats at you. Im working on changing what I can and asking God for grace for the rest.

    Ouida Gabriel

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