We live in an age of convenience. Just look at cars. You have voice activated controls for radio because somehow it is too difficult to take our hands out of our lap to change the dial. Likewise, modern houses are designed around convenience. From dishwashers to clothes dryers, modern life revolves around freeing us from tasks we'd otherwise only be able to accomplish with greater time or effort, or both.
At our homestead, we've escewed some of these conveniences. We wash dishes by hand, we line dry all of our clothes. We haul our water in and waste water out. Some of this is by choice, some by necessity, and others for a combination of these reasons.
That being said, I don't purposely set out to do things the hard way (although my wife often likes to claim that I do). One must still use brains before braun, if for no other reason than it permits you to simply get more work done in the day.
Here are a few examples of things (often times little) that can make a big difference.
Location: much of my examples will have to do with location. Our clothesline was purposely located close to the back door of our cabin, which is also where the laundry room is located.
We located our cattle shed close enough to the house to be accessible, but far enough to not be a source of smell. It's also within range of the rear spotlight on the house, so you can just turn on the back light when going out to do chores at night.
I also placed the hay stack and straw pike right next to the shed so I can simply fork things over the fence.
Our firewood piles are UPHILL from the house. This is key. There is no comparison between rolling a wheelbarrow full of wood down a snowy hill than up a hill.
We designed both entrances to our house with ramps rather than steps. Wow does that make life easier whine bringing firewood to the house. Just roll te wheelbarrow up the ramp and next to the door. I could even roll the wheelbarrow inside the house if I really wanted.
Our compost pile is right in the center if the garden, and it's simply a pile on one of the garden beds. No need to haul te material to some far corner of the garden, and then haul it all back when done. Once we're done with a compost pile, the soil under the pile is rich and ready for growing.
