Retired and Homesteading
in Mexico
A Life of Animals, Gardening, Painting, Writing, and Learning
Nothing Like Baby Goats to Make You Laugh
And Fuzzy Ducklings to Make You Smile
Watch the youtube videos - Please Subscribe
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Watch the youtube videos - Please Subscribe 〰️
Hi, I’m CheryLynn.
I'm an artist and author, retired from corporate life, who moved from Florida to this beautiful lake in Mexico. Through evolving circumstances, I have also become a homesteader with a farm of over 100 animals, gardens, and fruit trees.
This life is a constant learning curve and as I learn, I share and I teach. Thats how we help each other.
Join me, and my son Dan, on our youtube channel adventures as we create our new lives here while learnng this wonderful culture and working toward off grid independence.
We raise rabbits and goats for meat and compost, and ducks, chickens, geese, and turkeys for meat and eggs.
We’ve also participated in the dog and cat rescues here at lakeside with several of each passing through our temporary doors to furever homes. Five dogs and six cats are now permanent residents and a few of the older rescues spent their end days with us and now rest under old shade trees.
Life is never dull or boring. The list of things to do is never ending and I can’t imagine a better place to be busy than here under blue skies next to this magical lake and the surrounding mountains.
You can help support the farm with purchases from the Farm Store, purchases from the Art Gallery, and purchases from the Library.
For informative videos, check out my Youtube channel
My Blog
All of the entertaining musings I’ve posted on my FB page about life in Mexico and most particularly here at the rancho, will instead be posted on my blog going forward from today.
I’d love for you to give me permission to notify you via email when new posts are published so you don’t miss a single one.
Just fill out this form and I’ll contact you at the address you give so you will always know whats happening.
Thanks for being an encourager and supporter of Rancho del Lago 2021 and me.
Where Am I Going With This?
To YouTube Videos of course!
Farmsteading Recipes
This is something I’ll be working on to bring to you as often as possible. My videos will include a few a month on how to use things from the garden or make something from scratch. The first one out is my brownie recipe, which is at tail end of the video Do Not Get A Turkey. You can click on this link and go directly there. Future cooking ventures will earn their own video so all recipies can be easily found. Also on this topic will be healing plants from the garden and how to use them,
Gardening
I’ve never been a good gardener but I’m determined to get this right, so learning new techniques, experimenting, trying formulas for natural fertilizers and weed killers, improving the soil, compost, dealing with adverse conditions, will all be important topics. As well as what to do with the bounty of harvest.
Construction
Our home is built but it was done wrong or not finished at all in so many ways. One of the topics that is ongoing is repairs and re-doing what was put together badly, and the to-do list grows by two for every one thing we complete. And, as we need to create or replace animal housing that will also be covered here. I already have a few videos on the subject matter pertaining to my house.
Livestock and Pets
We have anywhere between 90 and 120 animals here at a time, some livestock and some rescued pets, so there’s always something going on with an animal. Wounds, injuries, illnesses, or just maintenance like grooming and hoof trimming go on regularly. And then there are the births, and the times when we send some of the livestock to freezer camp. A big part of this homestead is the animals so there will be lots of videos on the subject. We give tours of the farm to local expats who are curious about how we manage all of this on just 1/3 of an acre.
Steps Toward Off-Grid
Even while I was just in the planning stages of building, I knew I wanted to one day be off grid. Living in the country you can shoot for that goal. So I started with solar panels for electric and hot water. We also have an on demand hot water system as back up, run by gas. And we are connected to the government electric grid which gives us 100% credit for the kwh we feed into it that we don’t use..
My next plan is to get a storage battery for the solar energy, maybe two, and add a couple of panels. I’ll leave the connection to the grid in place as a last resort but with a very insufficient infrastructure here and the expat population incresing, that grid is going to have some major problems soon.
After getting that done, having a shallow well drilled to take care of the water needs of the animals and plants on the farm is next. Our land is just a quarter to half mile from the lake and the water table is shallow. It actually causes a lot of ground movement which weraks havoc on my chain link gate closures. We presently have city water which bills every six months. My first bill just arrived for the equivalent in US dollars of $22 per month. Not bad for the six driest hottest months of the year, but during drought months the city wells get low and they impose retrictions. Some areas of town didn’t get water this past season for a month at a time and had to rely on jugs.
One day this will all happen but in the mean time I keep learning and saving my money to eventually become independent. Poco a poco is what they say here. Little by little.
If you’ve faced these issues and solved them or have any valuable input, send me an email or comment on the video which addresses your information. I learn from many, and many learn from me!