our little house
Hello, my name is Abby. I live on a mountain in Mexico in the middle of nowhere. One of the reasons I live here is that I wanted the proverbial simple life. A consequence of living in Mexico and being broke is that I haven’t enough money to get resident papers, so must leave the country every six months, which I have been doing for the past seven years. Often kind friends and family help me with a ticket for a visit. Thus, my travels have taken me to Iowa, Illinois, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Texas, and Michigan. A common thread that runs through my travels is hearing about people’s interest in living more simply, downscaling, treading more lightly, buying locally, and sustainability.
Because my husband Felipe and I are on our way to achieving this debt-free, low-impact, back-to-the-land status people often ask me where to begin. Followed by the statement, “It is so overwhelming”. This I understand. I was so beleaguered by the prospect when living in Chicago I felt retreat was the only solution, and though I am happy with my choice, I now understand that life can be VSVEVG, anywhere. In this blog, I write about life in rural Mexico and what we’ve learned through trial and error (mostly error). I hope to relay information that can make your lives easier, cheaper, and kinder to the planet. Ideally, I’ll make you laugh along the way.
A bit about us:
Felipe and I live on 7 hectares of land near his small hometown in Morelos. Our home is one story, nine by four meters, made of concrete block. We have a well (six meters) that Felipe dug by hand. It provides sufficient water for our home, livestock, and a small garden year-round. At present, we have 8 pigs, 3 horses, 2 ducks, and various chickens, dogs, and cats. We have electricity which is a blessing, but our goal is to be solar-powered. We own outright everything in our domain, and our income is approximately 100 dollars a week, with occasional windfall (gifts, odd jobs, art sales). We farm about 5 acres, mostly organically, by hand. We are in the process of weaning our land off chemical dependence. Our goal is a zero-waste, self-sustainable life.
Why VSVEVG?
Very simple, very easy, very good is how Chef Dean Zanella describes his dishes to his wait staff during pre-shift meetings. I am proud to have worked with Dean and thankful for everything he taught me about the concept.
VSVEVG (very simple very easy very good) 
I love seeing a photo of your home! Is that a camellia blooming in the front? And I’m guessing that those are water tanks on each side of the roof, right? A lovely first post – I’m so glad I didn’t miss this one 🙂
Bougainvillea. 🙂
Of course!!! Lovely…
Yes, water tanks. But we’ve streamlined and only use one now.
That’s great. I love how self-sufficient you are. When we had a hurricane a year ago, the town’s water was contaminated and we were without water for two days. Fortunately we had some bottled water, but it made us realize how reliant we are on the town (well, the lack of electricity and heat for three weeks really made us realize that, but you know what I mean!).
I love the way you and Felipe are trying to live. The compassion for the earth and others comes across in your poetry as well.
It has it’s ups and downs, but for the most part I prefer it here even with the struggles. I didn’t write in the US, so that alone makes it worth it for me.