Senior Homesteading: The Reality

Reader Contribution by Bruce Mcelmurray
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Bruce McElmurray

Senior homesteading presents unique challenges. We’ve adjusted to bring our self-sufficiency dreams to reality.

There are some jobs that seniors probably should not do on a remote homestead. The reality, however, is that getting someone else to do them is not always possible. We heat our small cabin with a woodstove and burn approximately 9 to 12 cords of firewood throughout each fall, winter, and spring seasons.

Tending to Roof and Chimney Issues

Our home is an A-Frame construction, and hence, the wind cap is more than 30 feet from the ground. Any sensible person my age  (75 years old) would have someone else go up and swap out the wind cap, but this senior homesteader still does it himself.

I can clean the chimney from inside the house, but the wind cap has to be done from the exterior. For many years, I would climb up to the top of the house, remove the wind cap, and climb down with it in one hand while holding onto the ladder with the other. Then, I would wire-brush the cap clean and climb back up to replace it.

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