Meet Scott

When we started the blog, Scott and I talked about the possibility of Scott writing the occasional post, but nearly a year in, that hasn’t happened because there are just too many other things pulling for his attention.  So for now, let me introduce you to him.  Meet Scott, my husband, the head of our household.

Let’s start with the basics.  He’s tall, just over 6 feet, blue eyes, red hair, glasses, beard…He’s married (of course) to me, and we have 5 little munchkins who think he is THE funniest person in the world.  He works away from home 5 days a week in the engineering department of the company for which he works.  He’s been there for nearly 11 years now.  But the dream is to be able to do more and more homesteading as the years wear on.

We both grew up in the country (though not on farms), and we always wanted to move back someday, which is why this place has been such a blessing for us.  Gardening piqued our interest in all things homesteading.  Scott grew up hunting deer in the fall, so the idea of being able to provide food for the family was familiar to him.  Right now he is learning about grafting fruit trees and will soon be doing his first apple tree grafts.  He’s the tree maintenance guy around here.  From pruning the trees to thinning trees in the wooded parts of our land, his goal is to raise lots of healthy trees.  He loves driving around the land on his tractors, one of which was a restoration project with his dad years ago.  (It’s been exciting for him to own a place where he can actually drive it around and have it be useful!)  Having land to work on gives life a purpose that you can’t find from watching sports or “going out,” and we both thrive on that feeling.

Scott has as passion for history of all sorts.  His favorite sort of history is probably genealogy (family lineage/family history).  He’s been working on both his and my family lines since we were engaged and his researching skills and interest have really taken off in these past 11+ years.  It’s not something most genealogists will ever feel they have completed, because there is always more information to be found somewhere!

Right up there with all of that family history research and any history research, there is a love for learning.  He’s not afraid to try new things, and as a true role model for the kids, he’s always willing to admit when he doesn’t know something and will do what he can to find out the answers when the kids have tricky questions…or even if he has questions.  Maybe that’s part of the draw of homesteading.  There is always something new to learn!

And you aren’t going to learn much without reading.  Which he loves.  A lot.  We (he) has a big history book collection.  He’s always enjoyed reading history books, but it really took off when we decided to homeschool the kids.  He’d buy a book here or there when it was feasible, and when he realized that you can find all kinds of history books for $0.25-$3 at the local thrift stores, the collection really started adding up.  I ended up building him a large built-in bookshelf at the old house and the collection just kept growing.  Moving all of those books was a day’s project in itself!  Luckily for us, there were some bookshelves that were left behind when we moved in, but we’re beginning to run out of shelf space…I think there will be new shelves by this time next year.

His hobbies also include hunting, shooting, playing disc golf, and cooking.  I’ve got to say, it’s nice to have somebody else around who wants to cook once in a while!

When I asked him what he thought you might like to know about him, he said that he has a passion for history and doing things the old way,  and learning new skills.  He wants to live independently,  and has a “Don’t tread on me.” philosophy.

We met when we were just kids, but we didn’t really get to know each other until I entered high school.  He is close friends with my brother, and they were 2 grades ahead of me in school.  I always spent a lot of time with my brother and his friends, even before entering high school, but in high school it was different.  We both dated a few people before we started to see each other.  The summer before my senior year in high school he asked me out, but only after asking my brother for permission first.  The next summer we were engaged to be married, and by the following year, we married.

Since we’ve been married, we have had 5 children.  He loves working with them and teaching them new things.  The kids love when Daddy is home from work, and they fight over who will get to help him with chores on the weekend.

I think two of the main things about him that attracted me in the first place were his sense of humor, and his confidence.  He know’s he doesn’t know everything, but he’s not afraid to try something new and learn things.  I’d better not gush too much, or he’ll get embarrassed…

If you ever come to visit us, he’ll be happy to take you on a tour (so long as the kids don’t beat him to it!), and tell you a story or two.  Someday he may write something for the blog, but in the mean time, I’ll just write about it when he does something I think you may be interested in which will probably be a lot more often from now on, since he doesn’t have so many obligations this year.

Love~Danielle (and Scott)