Counting Down to Quiet

OK… so it’s less of a countdown and more of a “one day at a time,” right?

But still — we’re always counting down to something.
For us, it’s counting down to:

• a little more self-sufficiency
• neighbors few and far between
• that quiet you can feel in your bones

Hi! I’m Ang —

I grew up in central Pennsylvania, surrounded by the kind of simple childhood magic you don’t realize is magic until you’re older. I grew up playing in my gram’s backyard with my cousins, climbing all over my pa’s old truck like it was a jungle gym, sneaking out onto the roof at night, wandering through the garden picking whatever vegetables looked good enough to snack on, and cooling off in a rain barrel on the hottest summer days.

Back then, I couldn’t wait to get out — to explore, to leave my little town, to see what else was out there. I did exactly that. I left the state and eventually landed in New Jersey, which has… well… everything. Beaches, mountains, small cities, big cities, THE city — all within reach. I’ve lived here over half my life now, though it doesn’t feel like it. Everything here moves fast.
And aside from the speed at which I talk, nothing about me is fast.

I’ve loved it here — the convenience, the friends, the opportunities — but the older I get, the more I long for the quiet, the slower pace, the wide-open spaces of home.

Somewhere along the way, I settled down. I have a fellow who came with me to visit my family back home… and surprisingly, he loved it there. Out in the middle of nowhere — especially compared to where we live now. He always imagined moving somewhere quieter, too. So as couples do, we started dreaming, imagining, planning. We bought a little property up that way, but it wasn’t on much land. Surrounded by trees, yes… until the neighbors decided to build, and their new driveway landed right in front of our house.

Too close.
Too fast.
Too… not what we wanted.

So we sold it.
And the dream shifted, stretched, grew.

Now we wanted at least 10 acres (preferably more).
Trees.
A pond (or at least some sort of water on the property)
Privacy.
Ideally – a log home with a loft and nice sized kitchen (haha)

We’d go long stretches forgetting about it, then suddenly fall into weeks of Zillow rabbit holes. A few years ago, we found a big piece of land in the lower tier of New York. Made an offer contingent on getting electric… deal fell through. Disappointing, because we really loved that area.

Then — one year later — another listing popped up.
Same general area, different town.
We fell in love instantly.

Mountains.
Running water.
Trails.
Woods.
Flat spaces.
Quiet everywhere you look.

Close enough to sweet little towns, far enough from everything else.

We were in heaven!! Now granted…. we looked into building our dream log home… and ya, those are expensive and not gonna happen!! And that was ok. We loved everything else…. So now here we are.. three years later… and what happens? The fellow fell down another rabbit hole and found a new piece of property… That hit EVERY single checkbox! Lots of acreage, a POND, a LOGHOME!!!! I thought I was happy before… I am ecstatic!!! I saw it and new that this was where we are supposed to be. This is IT.

Now we make future plans as to the remodel of the house instead of building a house…. we imagine what we need to do to clean up the pond…. Little tweaks here and there to our plans… but that is to be expected… Plans shift and change, Timelines evolve. But the big picture stays the same:
A house tucked into the trees, surrounded by land. Homegrown quiet.

And I’ve got my own smaller dreams inside that big one: a garden, goats, chickens, a little roadside stand with eggs, teas, handmade crafts, herbal care, veggies, herbs, soaps — all the cozy Caddy Shack things.

There’s a lot I already know how to do, and even more I want to learn. So this blog felt like the right place to keep track of it all — to get better at what I already love and explore the things I haven’t tried yet. Sewing, soapmaking, goat knowledge, canning, dehydrating food…

There’s just so much I want to do.

I want to grow mushrooms.
I want to make goat milk soap.
I want to make butter from the cream I skim off fresh goat milk.
I want to learn everything about the goats themselves.
I want to bake bread with freshly milled flour that rises properly (instead of the ridiculous looking loaves I have made so far).

I want a pantry full of home-canned foods.

So… here we go.
Let’s see how this goes.

Thanks for being here.
Pull up a chair and stay awhile.

— Angie