Firsthand Reports: Rockin Retirement

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To store our cider, we put several gallons into milk jugs and put them in the freezer. But if you let cider sit for a while at room temperature, it’ll be hard cider, and if you let it sit a little longer, it’ll be apple cider vinegar. We do that on occasion so we have vinegar for cooking.

Whittling and Woodcrafts

From early spring to late fall, we spend our time gardening and laying in a good supply of wood. In winter and during bad weather, Doris spends her time reading, sewing and tending to a small greenhouse full of flowers. She likes to sit at night and cross-stitch, and while I enjoy reading, it wasn’t enough to keep me occupied, so I took up woodcarving.

I’ve always whittled — just sitting down and making shavings off of a stick, but when I got more serious about it, I bought a book on woodcarving and a few knives. I’ve gotten better as I go along, and now I do all the frames for Doris’ cross-stitching, as well as some fun woodcarvings and quite a bit of rustic furniture.

The wood is easy to find because I’ve cut some trees from our land. Three or four walnut trees were too close to my garden, so I cut those down and store the wood in the top of the barn, which works just like a dry kiln. Friends give me cedar, pine, poplar and other types of wood. Another friend gave us an old log cabin, and we moved it onto the property so I could use it as a woodworking shop. I make most of the furniture with red cedar harvested from the farm. Our crafts are not sold, but we give them to family and friends, and some of the furniture goes to our church. I always give these things away because I’m retired, and if you sell them, you’re working.

We love the freedom and peacefulness of our life here. We’ve got a big front porch, so we do a lot of rocking. I’ve built four or five rockers for the porch, and we also have a swing. We spend a lot of time out there — I don’t see how people live without a front porch. Where do their dogs sleep?

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