February 26, 2024 • 50 mins
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Ever find yourself longing for a life less ordinary, where the buzz of technology is replaced by the hum of nature? Holli from Homesteadbunnie is here to share her incredible journey from a youngin in the forest to an emblem of off-grid living. With a history steeped in the wild and a heart filled with tales of love, loss, and livestock, Holi's narrative is a treasure trove for anyone dreaming of a sustainable lifestyle. Our conversation unravels the realities of starting small, the embrace of solar power, and the seasonal ballet of water collection – a symphony only the hardiest can conduct.
Gather 'round as Nuggets, the Toulouse goose, honks in the background, setting the stage for revelations about living off the land. Holly debunks myths about off-grid existence, proving it's not about forsaking modern conveniences but creating a life of self-reliance. From the camaraderie of neighbors in rural landscapes to the empowering journey of self-education through online platforms, this episode is a masterclass in the art of adapting and thriving amidst nature's unpredictability.
“Where education fuels compassion.”
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Holi (00:02):
Oh well, today started off .
It started off glorious.
I went to take a shower and thewater pump died.
It always dies.
So we've had two now because welive off grid and so we have a
pressure pump and it is whatfeeds the house water.
And for the second time now, Igo to get in the shower, middle
(00:27):
of shower, soaped up soap in myhair, and the pressure pump dies
.
So the water is just at atrickle, but the pump is still
like just going full bore, soyou have to jump out of the
shower, run and unplug it.
Mel (00:44):
So yeah, that's there's a gigantic spider looking right at
me.
Oh no, no.
Now you continue on with yourstory, because I'm about to die.
You're going to witness meburning this she-shed to the
ground.
Oh god, no, okay, anyway, run,yeah, okay.
So you finish your story beforeI introduce you to all of our
(01:08):
wonderful listeners.
Holi (01:11):
So, yeah, that was the highlight of the day today.
So, yeah, that was about it.
Mel (01:17):
Did it get any better?
Holi (01:19):
No no.
Mel (01:21):
Okay.
Holi (01:22):
I'll just head out in the house since then.
Mel (01:28):
Hey y'all.
I'm Mel and you are listeningto Wilma the Wonder Hen .
Are you a chicken, math, loveand mama or daddy?
Together we'll dive into thelatest poultry keeping
adventures, chat about everydaylife and wear the generous mix
of some hilarious stories.
We're going to be giving youfascinating interviews with
(01:51):
poultry owners from all over.
You'll find tips and basicadvice from your local
veterinarian, along with newchicken keeping gadgets and
reviews.
I'm going to see what MrJengles and Wilma has to say
about that.
We're going to encourage andhelp you build a stronger,
healthier flock.
Let's go see what Mr Jenglesand Wilma is up to.
Let's go let these heifers out.
Welcome back.
(02:12):
We are so excited to have thisguest with us.
Her name is Holly and Holly isI'm a fan girl over Holly.
I first met our Saul Holly onTikTok and her handle is
Homestead Bunny.
Let us welcome this goat lovingcontainer building, house
builder and glam-steady beauty,holly.
(02:36):
Welcome, holly, we are so gladto have you with us.
Hi, thank you for having me.
You have a very interesting, avery colorful account and I'll
let you get into some of that,because it's really fascinating
that Holly has an off-gridaccount.
Holly is going to explain to uscommoners what off-grid means,
(02:59):
how she got started, who she isand all that stuff.
When you look at her account,holly is very glamorous.
I'm not saying that if you liveoff-grid you look like you live
in the jungle.
Please don't come at me.
Everyone is a little different,even in the chicken keeping
world.
You see people that are dressedup and they have on dresses and
(03:22):
there are pretty little bootsand stuff and there's nothing
wrong with that.
She's also funny and she's very, very sweet.
Give us a one-on-one of Holly.
Holi (03:35):
I basically grew up in the forest.
My dad owned timber cells andthat's what he did for a living
for a lot of years.
We spent pretty much the entiresummer.
The minute we got out of schoolthey would pick us up in the
parking lot and we would gostraight to the mountain and we
lived in the forest until fall.
(03:57):
Then, yeah, we'd come downevery once in a while to shower,
get more food, that kind ofstuff, but other than that
summertime I was in the forest24-7.
I just knew that that's where Ijust wanted to always be.
This place that we have nowjust fell in our lap.
(04:21):
We had two other off-gridproperties before this one and
they were just completedisasters.
But everything happens for areason and we finally got our
forest.
Yeah, that's how I grew up.
I was always the outcast kidAlways I don't know how to
(04:42):
describe it but yeah, I was justthe outcast kid, didn't have a
lot of friends, none of that.
Mel (04:49):
That's their loss.
Holi (04:52):
I didn't even have a real boyfriend.
I didn't have pretty muchanyone until I met my husband.
Mel (04:58):
Do you think that's because you lived in the forest?
Holi (05:00):
possibly, Probably probably, but teenage years, all
that fun stuff.
I was a bit rebellious, butother than that, yeah, I had no
idea I would ever be here.
I grew up in a kind of suburbneighborhood area.
We lived in a cul-de-sacsubdivision and, yeah, we didn't
(05:23):
have any.
We had cats.
We weren't even allowed to havedogs.
Mel (05:28):
Did you learn a lot of the skills from your parents or your
dad or your mom I mean eitherone of them.
Did you learn those skills thatyou have now?
Holi (05:37):
Yeah, because my parents were both avid hunters.
Between the timber cells andhunting season and stuff.
I learned a lot about animalhusbandry and stuff like that.
My mom there towards the enddid get into rabbits and then by
the time I was old enough toleave the house was when she
finally started getting intochickens and turkeys and all
(06:00):
that stuff.
I'm like that would have beenawesome if you would have done
that when I was younger.
She's still is super smart andshe's still teaching me more
stuff because she's way moreadvanced in all that stuff.
She learned everything reallyquick because she didn't.
My great grandparents they hada farm but we only visited there
(06:26):
maybe once or twice when wewere growing up and stuff.
I guess my mom was around it alot more than I was.
Mel (06:35):
When you met your husband, did you meet as teenagers?
Did you meet later in life foryou?
Holi (06:40):
We met in a bar.
He was a pipeline welder.
He came to town because thetown I grew up in I grew up in
Vernal, utah.
It's a very oil-filled driventown and it was boom town.
He came to town and was runningpipelines in town, welding on
(07:01):
pipelines in town.
He got convinced to go to thebar one night and then I got
convinced to go to the bar thatsame night.
We seen each other.
It was rather hilarious becausethe guy he was sitting with is
like my arch nemesis.
He is like so horrible.
(07:21):
He was my high school bully andso when I walk in the door I
look at him and I look at thebully and I'm like oh no, and I
just knew that they wereinstantly talking crap about me.
But they weren't talking crapabout me.
He was actually like my husbandwas all like that's the one I
want.
And I was like aw.
So he kept hitting on me and Ikept shutting him down and he
(07:44):
kept hitting on me.
I'm like just leave me alone.
I don't know if you got a betgoing or what your deal is.
I don't know what you could dowith you.
And then he finally came up tome and he just walks by me and
he's like I'll make you famous.
And I was like what?
I was like, okay, I'll findI'll talk to you.
And then that was it.
18 years later.
Oh my gosh.
Mel (08:05):
So you met your husband in a bar.
How exciting.
From that day did y'all startdating.
Holi (08:10):
Yes, we dated for six months, just ghosted me, just
disappeared in the middle of thenight, packed his camp trailer
up.
He was just gone in the middleof the night.
After six months he just calledme out of the blue and was like
I can't do this anymore becauseshe was a very, very toxic,
very bad person.
(08:30):
And he's like I just can't livewith her anymore.
And he's like, and I just can'tstop thinking about you, so
like, will you, you know, comelive with me.
And I was like, sure, so I did.
And from there on we traveledthe country.
We went pretty much everywhere,from Utah to New York, working
(08:51):
on pipelines.
Mel (08:53):
Oh, wow.
Holi (08:53):
Yeah.
Mel (08:54):
Oh, wow.
So when did you finally settlelike, decide you didn't want to
have that travel life anymoreand you found, like your
permanent homestead?
We?
Holi (09:05):
right after we got married in 2011, we rented a house and
while we were renting that house, he had a job in town and that
was kind of.
The deal was just to stay inone spot and we thought we had
it made.
But he bought me my first horsethere.
(09:26):
She was a half Clyde's Dail andhe bought me three sheep.
This is how it started.
Mel (09:34):
And that's, fellas, is how you win a lady over animals,
exactly.
Holi (09:40):
And then we had a couple chickens and then, as it always
happens in a boomtown, it driedup, so there was no more work
there.
So we had to.
We got rid of the sheep, gotrid of the chickens, packed
everything up, we boarded ourhorses in up north Greeley,
colorado.
(10:01):
We went there for work and thenwe went to Wyoming for work and
we just kind of bounced aroundand then we knew that this was
the life we wanted.
We wanted to build our ownhouse, we wanted animals, we
wanted to grow our own food.
When was it?
We went to Texas, we wereworking in Texas and we saved up
a big chunk of money and wecalled the realtor and we're
(10:24):
like you know, this is whatwe're looking for.
And they're like, okay, perfect, we have it here you go, just
sign on the dotted line.
So we did.
We didn't see the property atall.
Oh no, yes, we get out Ding,ding.
Mel (10:39):
Yeah, we get out there.
Holi (10:41):
Do not do this yeah no, we get out there and it is just
desert land in the middle of themountains.
The wind blows 24, seven.
It was so horrible.
And then come to find outbecause we were both really
young I was like 23 or 24 at thetime and my husband's pretty
(11:05):
young we didn't read thepaperwork, we just signed it.
It was in an HOA so we couldn'teven plant a rose bush without
their approval.
Mel (11:15):
That's death of all deaths is an HOA it is, and so the land
.
Holi (11:22):
We paid for it in cash.
It was like five acres for 10grand, so it was super cheap.
Oh, you can't do that now, yeah, no, not at all.
Mel (11:32):
No, you can't get a closet for 10 grand.
Holi (11:37):
No, and so we just walked away from it.
And then they eventuallyforeclosed on the property or
took it back or put a lien on itor something like that because
of the unpaid HOA dues.
And I was like, oh my God, Idon't even care.
Oh what?
Yeah, ruin my credit, I don'tcare, oh, that's awful, it was
(12:00):
super awful yeah.
Then we went back on the roadagain, worked a couple more jobs
, saved up some more money, andthen we were coming through town
, which is Cripple Creek,colorado, and we found this
little property just south oftown, and so we seen the sign
(12:23):
for sale and I told my husbandhis name's Nick, by the way.
I told Nick, I was like, justcall on it, and I was like I bet
the guy will own or finance it.
As luck would have it, he did.
He owner financed it for us,and so we bought it and we were
setting it all up, but he stillhad to work in Greeley and so
(12:43):
it's about a four hour drive andso I was basically homesteading
by myself while he would stayup in Greeley.
Mel (12:51):
Oh yeah, that's a lot.
Holi (12:53):
Yeah, and so we were going to stay in the city during the
week and then come home on theweekends, and it was.
We didn't have the internet, wewere just barely learning
things, and so we're trying tosurvive in a single wide off of
a tiny propane tank and agenerator, and it was.
(13:14):
It was a disaster, it was a bigdisaster.
Mel (13:18):
That you admit, though you know that things didn't work out
, and there were things youdidn't do that you probably
should have done, you know.
So looking back at that putsyou kind of where you are now
right.
Holi (13:31):
Yes, yeah it.
It taught us a lot and it putus leaps and bounds ahead of
where we are now.
Like or it, it made us preparedfor where we are now.
Mel (13:45):
Right, yeah, cause I mean, I know a lot of us don't like to
admit.
You know we failed at something.
But honestly, you know, like Itell my kids, you don't, you,
you don't, you're not going tolearn anything.
Sometimes, if you don't, if youdon't fail at least once or
twice or something, Exactly,exactly.
Holi (14:03):
And so, yeah, that property just didn't end up
working out for us and we soldit to a friend.
And then we moved to Utah andwe bought the I call it the
princess house because it washuge.
I could fit my entire house nowin the great room of that house
(14:25):
.
Mel (14:25):
Oh, wow.
Holi (14:26):
Yeah, and it was.
It was almost 11 acres andeight of it was under alfalfa.
So my husband got to be afarmer, which was his big dream,
and that's where I got intogoats.
We started a horse breedingprogram, chickens, so many
(14:48):
chickens, turkeys.
We had the whole thing going onthere.
But we were a hundred percenton grid and it had what did?
It had a fake one of those gaspropane fireplaces in it and
that was it, and central air,central heating, all that stuff.
But in the middle of winter thepower went out one time and I
(15:10):
was like this is horrible.
I was like we couldn't survivein this house if we had to, if
something happened.
I was like we, we couldn't livehere we would die, we would
freeze to death.
Mel (15:22):
That's a good thing to think about.
Yeah, I like that.
That makes me ponder on somethings too.
Okay, sorry, go ahead.
Holi (15:30):
So I just got out Once again.
Work dried up and we decidedthat we needed to re-evaluate
things, completely start over,so we sold all the animals.
I had so many goats I probablyhad close to 60 goats, Wow yeah.
That's a lot of goats.
They were all papered andregistered and I just gave them
(15:53):
away.
I could have made a lot ofmoney, but just gave everything
away.
We sold all the farm equipmentand then we moved back over here
and was just renting intownhouses and we decided that
we needed to look before theColorado market took off.
(16:14):
We needed to try and findanother piece of land and we
just fell into this place.
We just found it.
By the grace of God, the guythat had owner financed the
property before was actuallyfriends with the realtor who
sold us this place and somehowhe conned the owners of this
(16:37):
place into owner financing forus again.
Because we don't have credit,we don't have credit cards, we
refuse to build our credit, andthey said yes and they owner
financed it.
And that's five years ago.
Mel (16:58):
Basically grew up in the forest and you had a very good
background of those types ofthings.
But what was the reason whythat you went off grid?
Why did you want to go off grid?
You could have done a littlebit of off grid right of where
you were, so what was pushingyou to go totally off grid?
Holi (17:20):
We're selfish and we don't like having bills and we just
want to spend our money on us.
I'm not going to lie.
I'm not going to lie to you.
Mel (17:28):
I mean, okay, that's great, I love that I love that it is.
Holi (17:34):
We don't have everything is completely paid for.
We don't buy anything unless weuse cash, but that's we didn't
want.
The big thing was my husband,nick.
He didn't want to have to welduntil he was 65 or 70 years old.
Oh, yeah, and with how thingsare now.
(17:56):
He just basically knew that hewas never going to have a
retirement, and if he did have aretirement, we wouldn't be able
to live on it.
Mel (18:07):
So that's yeah that that I completely understand.
Yes, definitely, definitely no.
Holi (18:12):
we were just so.
We bought the land and we werepaying on it and we started
clearing the land.
We were living in a camptrailer and we just started
coming up with all thesedifferent ideas.
You know that we first thoughtabout the whole shed house thing
with like the home depot shedsand stuff, and we we mold
(18:35):
everything over.
And then one day it just hithim.
He's like I'm a welder, he'slike we should just build it out
of shipping containers.
He's like I can weld it alltogether and then we can frame
it in and be done with it.
And I was like let's do it then.
And at the time they werereally cheap.
Our first one, our firstshipping container, we paid
2,204.
(18:55):
And the second one, we paidlike 2,504.
And then the third one, I think, was almost three grand.
Mel (19:05):
Yeah, cause you see, you see a lot more now.
I mean, maybe they were aroundand I just didn't notice them,
but you do see more presence ofthe container house online.
Holi (19:16):
Yes, yeah, like when we started building.
It started building our house.
It was like I don't know if ithad caught wind or what I don't
know, but it started to spreadlike wildfire and everyone
started using containers forhomes and stuff.
And then that's when the pricesreally started to go up.
Mel (19:38):
Even here in Tennessee, like I live in East Tennessee so
I live kind of close to theNorth Carolina line.
I live in the Cherokee NationalForest, but if you go into town
you used to see like where theyhave, where they haul dirt and
stuff and rocks.
Now they have shippingcontainers on the same property
that they're kind of marketingas potential tiny homes and
(20:02):
stuff, because the marketobviously the market is should
be illegal for the cost ofthings nowadays.
I mean you can just up the road.
They have this house that wasprobably built in 1980.
A half an acre of land and theywant half a million dollars for
it.
Yep, I mean they they out oftheir minds.
Holi (20:23):
Yeah, they are completely out of their minds and I am, oh,
I couldn't.
I feel so bad for everyonetrying to buy a house right now
and all that fun stuff, becauseit's it's impossible.
I don't know how people aredoing it.
I really don't.
Mel (20:40):
My daughter, my oldest daughter, she's 33, she'll be 34
this year, and her and herhusband.
She has one little girl, mygrandbaby, and they have looked
and looked and I mean they bothwork and they they get a half a
million dollar house.
I mean you would have to.
Holi (21:00):
Your income would have to be ginormous to even afford that
and it's when we had that bighouse, the princess house, it
was three I think.
We paid 350 for it and it was20,.
$2,500 a month is how much itwas, and between I mean Nick
(21:22):
makes really really good moneybut between the mortgage and
insurance and the animal feedand the water and the garbage
and everything we.
Payday came and we had likemaybe a hundred bucks, I was
like I know it's oh my gosh.
Mel (21:41):
Can you tell our listeners if someone wanted to go that way
?
You know they wanted to havethe opportunity to have a place.
You know, like a lot of thesenew tiny homes that they're
getting and unfortunately, a lotof times after you get all that
finished out you know myhusband's electrician, so after
you get all that finished outand stuff, I mean it's still
(22:03):
outrageously expensive.
So how did you kind of get offgrid where you are right now?
What were some of the stepsthat you took to get there?
Holi (22:12):
Well, number one buy land, try and find a cheap owner,
finance it and then try to payit off as quick as possible.
We lived in a camp trailer forthe whole time we built this
place.
We lived in a camp trailer andwe just bought.
(22:34):
He had bought it used from afriend and I think he only paid
like five grand for it.
So, yeah, find a cheap camptrailer, live in the camp
trailer, work on your land andthat's what a lot of us have
done.
A pistol pack and rancher shealso.
She just barely sold her camperbecause she did the same thing.
She built a barn to Miniumhouse, but it's, I think it's
(22:56):
the most feasible way to goabout it.
But yeah, so start out in acamp trailer, start out in some
small and then build the housethat you want.
Pay for it with cash.
Don't go into debt trying tobuild an off grid home, because
that defeats the purpose.
Mel (23:16):
Yeah, it does.
So how are you gettingelectricity and water and stuff?
So how is that working out?
Holi (23:21):
So we bought we watch equipment auctions and we bought
our solar setup, which is a DCsolar trailer, and we got it for
seven grand and it comes on atrailer.
So it comes with the panels,the batteries and a generator,
the brain, which is yourinverter, and then another
(23:47):
inverter thing.
I still don't know all aboutthe solar, I'm still learning,
but it all came out on anawesome little trailer and so we
dismantled it and hooked it upto the house and it has been
glorious ever since.
And then for water in thesummertime we collect rainwater.
The wintertime, like tomorrow,sucks.
Mel (24:09):
Oh, no, you collect rainwater.
Holi (24:10):
That's against the law, oh my gosh, oh no, I get that so
much the first time I hear that,I literally cry.
Mel (24:20):
I literally just bust out laughing.
I'm like yeah, Okay, you keepdoing that and I'll keep
collecting rainwater.
Holi (24:30):
You can worry about it.
I'm not going to worry about it.
Yeah, I got to worry In thewintertime, like now.
So we have a big 500 gallontank I put in the back of my
truck and I go to the city and Ifill it up for $40 every week.
So I'm just like come on spring, because I am so over it being
(24:53):
cold.
Mel (24:54):
Yeah, I mean I don't know what normally like your water
bill would normally be orwhatever, but and how that would
last like a week.
Holi (25:03):
Yeah, because we have three horses now and the horses
are just burning through water.
They drink so much water whenit's cold out and so, yeah,
we're half into it, so how?
Mel (25:14):
many animals do you have?
I know you got animals overthere.
Holi (25:18):
I got three horses, six goats, like 20 chickens, 10
ducks, five dogs, four cats.
I think that's it.
Mel (25:34):
Three French hands and two turtle does.
Holi (25:38):
I think that's it.
Oh, I have one fish.
I have one fish.
Mel (25:43):
Oh, one fish, that's great.
At least you got self-controlwith the fish, right.
That's what counts.
Oh my gosh, so you ended it,did you have?
I think you added ducks though,didn't you like?
That wasn't like when I foundyour account first, did you
always have ducks?
I couldn't remember.
Holi (26:04):
No.
So we had chickens first andthen I started looking into
ducks and I was like I want toget ducks because I heard that
they're hardier and all that funstuff.
So I got ducks.
Sadly, most of them perished toa bobcat or a coyote, Yep.
So the ones that are remainingare the OGs.
(26:28):
They've been here.
They're just little call ducks.
They're like ruins or somethinglike that.
I can't remember what they'recalled.
They look like mallards, butthey are cute though.
Yeah, they are super cute.
But we had a.
I went and bought more chickensbecause I was like I'm going to
sell eggs and all that funstuff.
So I went and bought a wholebunch more chicks and took care
(26:52):
of them and everything.
And then I made the fatalmistake of going to a backyard
breeder and getting six Easteracres and they had Merrick's
disease and it gave everyoneelse Merrick's disease.
So now my chicken plunk is justslowly, slowly dwindling away.
Mel (27:12):
So I'm so sorry.
That has happened a couple ofwith a couple of good friends of
mine here recently and it'sheartbreaking to watch.
So I'm very sorry for that.
Holi (27:22):
It is.
It's horrible, but it's just.
It's pushed me further into theduck direction.
I'm like duck, still you needsome geese.
Mel (27:30):
I really want some, but I have geese and they are amazing
they are.
Holi (27:36):
I'm terrified because I've heard the stories about them
being so bonded to each otherthat if something happens to one
of them, that the other onewill try and kill themselves to
unalive themselves.
Mel (27:50):
Well, I don't know if it's that dramatic like Romeo and
Juliet kind of thing, but theydo become bonded to each other.
Yes, mine are bonded to me andthey're bonded to each other, so
it is a pretty strong bond.
I mean, my geese are likebulldogs, you know, like if
someone comes in the yard youbetter run.
But they love me, so that's allthat matters.
Holi (28:13):
Yeah, I definitely really want some.
Mel (28:16):
Yeah, they are, they're.
They're pretty, they're veryfascinating and you get a bond
with them.
I find it is similar to like Ilove my chickens and I had quail
and all those.
I kind of dabbled in a lot ofthat.
But my geese I liken that toowning like a dog or a cat or um
(28:38):
, yeah, I mean it's really likea different bond.
Like I said, no dissing tochickens, I love my chickens, I
love my girls, but it's it's.
It's a different relationship.
It really is.
It's kind of I don't know howto explain it, but it's
definitely different.
Holi (28:56):
Well, yeah, I'm going to try and put it on the list and
see if I can sneak some in withthe ducks this year.
Mel (29:01):
You just got to be careful, you know, because of the drakes
.
You know you don't want themaround your.
They don't have the rightequipment.
They have a different equipment.
Holi (29:09):
So yeah, we don't need none of that, but yeah.
Mel (29:14):
And then now you have Nigerian dwarf goats.
Is that the goats that you hadway back when, like, you've
always had that type Yep, yeah,or?
Holi (29:22):
that breed.
Yep, I started out with thatbreed and then I also, um, had
started my boar goat line formeat, because that was our goal
was to have all of our own dairytaken care of and then all of
our own meat taken care of.
Okay, I've got you, but Ihaven't started back up with the
(29:44):
boar goats yet.
Right now I'm just startingwith the Nigerian dwarfs and I
want to get like a really goodbreeding program with them
established and develop somereally good milk lines with them
.
Mel (29:57):
But do you milk your goats?
Holi (29:59):
Yes, yeah, but that is the .
Mel (30:01):
Do you have videos of that online on your tiktok?
Holi (30:03):
No, not yet.
Mel (30:05):
No, not yet.
I only reason to ask is I'mgetting a Jersey, a mini Jersey
calf.
Yeah, I mean, obviously youwon't milk her for till she's
bred or whatever, but that'd bea long time.
But it's just super fascinatingand I didn't remember seeing
those on your page.
You know, out there you littlemilk maid.
Yeah, so you got to do that fora tiktok.
We'd love to see that.
Holi (30:23):
June, june, all all the girls are due in June.
Oh how exciting.
Yep, I'm very excited.
Mel (30:31):
My brain went dead for a minute and uh, Nuggets, Nuggets
is right outside.
I'm in my she shed.
So right outside my door iswhere Nuggets is goose pin is.
Nuggets is my to lose goose andhe doesn't have a partner.
He's he.
He's a long story.
He's an orphan.
I hatched him in my incubator.
He was the only one thathatched out of that whole clutch
(30:52):
of that particular breed.
So Nuggets, we don't know ifit's a girl or boy yet, so, but
anyway, when Nuggets hears myvoice, Nuggets goes crazy and
you can hear him screaming inthe background.
That's Nuggets, and it's not achild, I promise it is.
It is a goose that is having ameltdown.
Oh, my goodness.
Holi (31:13):
That is so funny, poor thing.
Mel (31:15):
Poor little thing.
I know that you get a lot offlack on your TikToks and it is
quite funny to watch.
It's probably not funny for you, but we find it amusing that
there's a lot of people thatreally don't understand what off
grid you know.
They all have their owndescription of what off grid
should mean.
So how would you describe offgrid?
(31:39):
And is there really a limit ora perimeter that you could box
off grid into and say, well, youdon't, you don't, you're not
off grid kind of thing?
Holi (31:48):
I think I get.
Yeah, it is constant, becausenails, eyelashes, hair, all that
fun stuff and then having aphone and being on TikTok, I'm
not really off grid.
The definition of off grid isyou are not tied to public
utilities, so that means water,power, sewer, garbage, public
(32:13):
utilities.
So far as long, as far as Iknow, your cell phone and TikTok
is not a public utility.
So that is my definition of offgrid.
Mel (32:28):
But if you took away your phone and your access to the
internet, then you wouldn't beable to teach others.
What about all these peoplethat are off grid and you see
them on YouTube making videos tohelp someone else, you know,
build a well or build a campfire, build a stove or you know
(32:48):
whatever?
All those different things thatthey do online?
So you know, I mean a phone isa necessity, because what if
you're out there and somethinghappens like you need?
Are you that far out, though?
Like how far are you fromregular town?
Holi (33:03):
The closest town is like five minutes away.
I'm literally like I'm likeminutes from the pavement, but
from where it looks, it lookslike I am like in the back
country.
It's very.
Once you turn off the pavementand go just a little ways up the
dirt road, it's like boomforest and then right behind me
(33:24):
is national forest.
Mel (33:26):
Oh, I love that.
That's kind of how we live.
We live on a seven acre, justseven acres here, though, but 10
minutes from any city type city, but we live in part of the
national force, so yeah.
I just think it's reallycomical that people do people in
your area like close to you, doyou have neighbors?
Holi (33:47):
We actually do so.
There's two other places, twoother houses up here One's right
below us and one's right aboveus and they're just off grid
cabins for like summer people.
One guy rents his out as likean Airbnb and stuff.
But across the valley, the poorneighbors.
(34:11):
We've kind of started doing ourown homestead rescue with them,
because they bought the house,which is just a mobile home on
40 acres, and they paid $450,000for it.
When they bought it, everythingwas a wreck so they had to buy
new solar.
They paid $60,000 for solar.
(34:32):
Yeah, I was like no, I was likeyou guys should have reached
out.
They're like we didn't know, wewere scared.
So now we're friends.
They're having trouble with thepropane company, so we are
trying to get a wood burner putin their house as fast as
possible so that way they don'thave to rely on the propane
anymore and they can tell thepropane company to stick it or
(34:56):
the clun don't shine.
Mel (34:57):
Oh yeah, Well, I can get costly too propane for sure.
Holi (35:00):
Yeah, they've been getting stuck in the snow so we've had
to plow them out and we've justbeen really trying to help them
and it's they've been having arough go of it.
I'm like I'm so sorry guys.
Like if you need anything, justlet us know and we'll help you
the best we can.
Mel (35:20):
So what do you think are some resources, like places that
you would point someone tolearn a lot of these different
skills, you know you can say, oh, I don't, I can't live off grid
because I honestly don't knowanything about gardening or
don't know how to, you know, setup a structure to live in or
(35:40):
any of those things.
So where would you pointsomeone to kind of help them
with tangible ideas?
Holi (35:47):
Well, of course, youtube.
Youtube is number one.
It is the biggest informationsuper highway that there is for
off-grid and everything.
The other one I would and thisis just me, I don't know, my
brain is built differently, butI just say, just go for it, just
(36:08):
go for it.
I still.
This is gonna be my fourth yeartrying to grow a garden and I'm
still.
I'm still learning, stilltrying new things.
Mel (36:19):
I do love me some garden.
Yeah, I went to the mastergardener program last year, so I
got certified as a mastergardener and not to like to mown
horn.
But I don't.
I'm not tuned my own hornbecause I still don't know squat
.
I mean, you can only learn somuch you know before, like you
said, you actually just have tokind of try out methods like yes
(36:42):
, is this gonna work?
And especially in whatevermicroclimate you happen to be in
, it may not work.
So you just got to keep trying.
But I like that.
I like that you said that youknow, just a Just dive right in.
Don't be afraid, you know,obviously you don't want to be
stuck somewhere, no place tonothing to eat, and you call,
yeah, sometimes that motivatesyou a little bit more.
(37:02):
Exactly, you got no place to go.
You really may amp up yourmotivation to fix something.
Holi (37:11):
Yeah yep, for sure, and you know, for if you're looking
for actual like Survival,survival stuff for when you know
crap hits the fan, kind ofsituation stuff.
The Fox fire books are amazing,boy Scouts of America amazing
(37:33):
like Build a fire, learn signlanguage.
Mel (37:41):
I always say that I have a Heelbilly Rob.
That's my husband.
I call him Rob the Heelbillyengineer because he is a
electrician but he also has aremodeling company, so he does
like framing work and you knowall of the things and Literally
I tell people if somethinghappens and like the stuff's
going down in the world, me andRob I'm when I'm getting out of
(38:06):
here because of Rob, becausewhen he grew up poor, I mean
like dirt, dirt poor and I meanI was like poor too, but I mean
he was like dirt, dirt poor andthat's how he learned how to do.
You know all of the things thathe does now because he
Literally had no choice to learnthem.
So, yeah, yeah.
Holi (38:24):
I totally, totally agree and totally understand.
That's.
One thing I will always tip myhat to my mom is she made sure
that, you know, we learned howto hunt, we learned how to field
dress, we learned how to fish,we learned how to track animals,
how to do all that stuff.
She and I don't even know Imaybe it's because her dad
(38:44):
taught her that and so she feltthat it was important to pass it
on to me and my sister, butit's.
It's definitely helped me, youknow, be able to, you know,
build a fire in the middle ofthe woods, in the middle of the
snow, and build a shelter andall that kind of stuff.
My mom really did instill allof that into me and my sister.
Mel (39:07):
No, I bet she just wanted you to be able to take care of
yourself.
Holi (39:10):
Yeah.
Mel (39:12):
Yeah, I, as a mama, I would see that that.
That's why she would, you know,want to make sure that you
wouldn't have to put up withnothing.
You wouldn't have to, you know,like you know, could you get in
a situation Sometimes, if youcan't take care of yourself, you
just kind of allow whatevergoes on, goes on.
So now you can just say, hey,you know, dude, I can take care
(39:33):
of myself.
I saw my own fire get on out ofhere.
Yeah, exactly.
Holi (39:37):
Exactly.
Mel (39:39):
So where do you see your plans like for your future, like
I definitely want to be?
Holi (39:43):
I want to be more self sustainable because right now,
we still buy a lot of food.
We still, yeah, depend ongrocery stores for a lot of
stuff, and so I want to makesure that we are able to provide
our own meat, provide our owndairy.
I'm really looking in to Tryingto find ways to grow my own
(40:06):
flower.
We're actually building agreenhouse, a real professional
greenhouse, this spring.
Oh, I'm jealous.
I'm like can we grow our ownflower in the pasture?
I don't know, should be milletourselves.
I'm kind of I'm starting tolearn more that way, yeah you,
you definitely can.
Mel (40:24):
We do a lot of mowing.
We have curse of hay that wemow Every year.
So yeah, anything is possible,yeah, definitely.
Holi (40:31):
So yeah, that's that's where I'm looking at.
Long term is just Not having togo to the store for anything
except for toilet paper, and Iknow that's my dream too.
Mel (40:43):
I really, I think that's all of our dreams.
I mean for sure, definitely,when I go to the grocery store,
I think, cuz I mean we have ahuge garden every year, like a
big, a fairly big garden.
That would be a typical, youknow in the country kind of
garden.
And I do can a lot of stuff,but it's still not.
I Mean I guess you could eatthat stuff every single day.
(41:05):
But yeah, I Get, I get a littlespoiled and I want, you know,
like fresh fruits.
Yeah which I grow fruit, butit's only during the summer and
you can can it, but then you'regonna.
It's not like fresh, fresh foodyou know, yeah, but that's how
people used to eat, by theseasons, you know, depending on
what season it was is what youwould eat.
But exactly that's Americans.
(41:25):
We are a tad bit spoiled, so weare a small little brat.
Holi (41:33):
Yes, we are.
So is there anything you domiss about being on grid, like
what are some things that youmiss or no, you don't have to
miss anything, well um, thewater thing I made a tick tock
on this is water, just having anabundance of water, being able
to turn on a hose, being able to.
(41:54):
You know, oh, whoops, I forgotand overfilled the horse trough
and flooded out the pasture LikeI'm.
Like.
That is like an insane luxury,because I've done.
Mel (42:06):
I've done that a couple times.
Holi (42:07):
Because, yeah, we have, like I said, right now, in
wintertime we have to haul inour water, so we have 500
gallons and that lasts betweenall the animals and us.
That lasts us a week.
So it's like I can't just dolaundry, I can't take an hour
long shower, I can't, you know,swim around in a tub every day
(42:29):
Like that's.
That's the only luxury that Imiss is just the abundance of
water.
Mel (42:34):
Can I ask you what you like to do, like for hobbies?
It doesn't have to do withanything with off-grid, but just
you as Holly.
Holi (42:42):
I like to paint.
I I'm a bit of a painter, liketo paint and and I love fishing.
I'm obsessed with fishing and Ihaven't been fishing in so many
years.
I'm so sad, mad about it.
So Painting, fishing, arts andcrafts, stuff I do you like to
(43:02):
design.
Mel (43:03):
I know you do a lot of designing inside your, your
Container house.
Holi (43:07):
Oh, it is fun.
It definitely gets my gearsgoing and I enjoy it, but I
don't think I could do it Allthe time.
It's just a win-the-moodstrikes kind of thing.
Mel (43:20):
Do you think your mama is proud of you for all that you've
done?
Holi (43:23):
she better be.
I think she is she.
She tells me quite often thatshe's pretty proud of me, so no,
that's sweet, Does your sister?
Mel (43:41):
is your sister off-grid?
Holi (43:43):
No, she lives actually just a couple blocks away from
my mom.
Mel (43:48):
Oh, okay.
Okay, I'm not being nosy, Ijust have to hear how mommas and
daughters and like CCs aredoing, you know, because it
makes a lot of difference in theworld when you have, you know
your family does support you andto, even if it's not like
resource supporting is justemotional support, means a lot
and goes a long way.
Holi (44:06):
Yes, yes, it does.
Now I keep trying to get my mom.
She joined TikTok but she won'tmake any TikToks and I'm like
you really need to, or you needto make YouTube is because she
has an orchard.
She lives in town but I thinkshe's on an acre or two acres
but she grows an insane garden.
She has an orchard and she haschickens and she's thinking
(44:30):
about getting goats and ducksand turkeys and all that fun
stuff.
But when it comes to gardeningand stuff, that woman is a pure
genius Like her.
They live in the middle of thedesert and her backyard is like
the most beautiful oasis thereis.
It is amazing.
Mel (44:46):
The world definitely needs more people.
You know giving examples andespecially giving you know like
good advice, because theinternet is full of we like to
call that special advance or arm, or you know like insta experts
.
Holi (45:05):
You know those kind of people.
Yeah, where she knows so muchabout gardening and companion
planting and all that stuff.
I'm like you would blow upinstantly if you just got on
there and just started doinglike educational gardening.
You know, tiktok or something.
No, I can't do it.
Come on, mom, pull it together.
Mel (45:26):
Well, you gotta be really you gotta be pretty tough for
the internet.
Holi (45:30):
Yeah, yeah.
I think that's why I'm so meannow is because TikTok made me
that mean.
Mel (45:38):
You like really just have to have no feelings.
I mean because if you've gotany type of feelings, oh my gosh
, it makes you wonder and ponder, like why did I even get into
this and what am I doing here?
But it's all worth it becausewe get to meet interesting
people.
You know I'm sitting here inTennessee.
You're way out there.
I get to see your face, I getto talk to you.
(45:58):
I mean, what an honor to speakto you.
You know so many people withthese great life experiences and
such a unique story, you know,so we definitely appreciate all
of that.
Holi (46:10):
Yeah, I appreciate you.
I appreciate, yeah, meeting youand meeting all the other
people on TikTok.
I have formed some amazingfriendships that I am, like, so
thankful for.
Mel (46:22):
Yeah, it is true though.
Yeah, I know we've met, I meanI have people that we've built a
relationship with that.
I mean we just text nearlyevery day.
Yeah, it's pretty great how,the opportunity to share
whatever you want to share.
I'm going to ask you like threerandom questions.
If you want to answer those,okay.
So if you could put anything ona build board, what would it be
(46:46):
and why?
Holi (46:46):
Oh goodness, I don't even.
Mel (46:49):
I come up with them, really tough ones.
Yeah, you did.
Oh, my goodness, you don't haveto answer it.
If you don't want to, you justsay pass.
Holi (46:58):
Okay, I'm passing on that one, because I don't even.
My brain just instantly died.
Mel (47:03):
Okay, if you could go back and tell your 18 year old self
something, what would you tellher?
Holi (47:08):
Oh, my goodness, that's a good one.
I would tell her to suck it upand stop crying and don't be
stupid.
Don't waste your time on dumbfriends, because Prince Charming
is coming.
Mel (47:27):
So I like that.
Yeah, tell her to get ittogether.
That's right.
Quick crying get your head outof your butthole.
Okay, so what would be yourfavorite movie and a little bit
about why.
Holi (47:42):
That is real.
That's a hard one, okay.
So, right off the top, my mostfavorite.
I have a bunch of them, but mymost favorite movie is Legend,
with Tom Cruise with hisoriginal teeth and Tim.
Mel (48:00):
Curry, okay yeah.
Holi (48:03):
And because unicorns, horses, fairies.
When I found out later on as anadult that they used over 20
tons of glitter for that set, itmade my heart so happy.
Because I am like the lifeknown tinkerbell.
My mom calls me tinkerbellbecause I leave glitter wherever
(48:26):
I go.
It doesn't even matter if I putglitter on.
If I stay in their house therewill be glitter somewhere.
Mel (48:32):
You brighten a spot, though , like you bring light in a
place that typically maybe notthat it's dark, as in lights,
but you know, like the forestand things like that.
So, yeah, you bring a light toa lot of people.
You bring a light to people onyour account and we love your
clap backs for sure.
(48:53):
Sometimes you just got to putpeople in their place.
Holi (48:58):
Okay.
Mel (48:59):
You can say whatever you want to say, and we love it.
We live vicariously throughy'all.
Holi (49:04):
Definitely.
Mel (49:06):
Oh, that's great.
So where do you, where can ourlisteners find you?
You know, if you want people tofind you online, where would
they find your accounts?
Holi (49:15):
Um, TikTok, I have a homestead bunny Facebook account
, but it's kind of 50 50.
I post a lot of memes on there.
I do post some like personalwhat's going on in my life,
stuff on there, and alsohomestead bunny on Instagram.
I post pictures and stuff onthere and reels and what have
(49:40):
you.
But for the most part, um, I dowant to make more YouTube
videos, but that's mainly morearound my husband fixing
equipment kind of stuff.
But I do have the homesteadbunny YouTube channel too, but I
haven't posted on there forever.
Mel (49:57):
Oh, that's good.
That's another resource thatsomebody else maybe you know.
Maybe they need that resourceso, and you can also follow her
on TikTok If you enjoy the glamstudying and she is quite funny.
So we definitely love her.
But anyway, we just want to saythank you.
We're so grateful for you andwe appreciate you taking the
(50:18):
time to come on Wilma the WonderHands podcast and it means a
lot to us.
So I'll see you next time.
Bye now, we'll see you.
Bye.
I'm Mel and you are listeningto Wilma the Wonder Hands.
Oh well, today started off .
It started off glorious.
I went to take a shower and thewater pump died.
It always dies.
So we've had two now because welive off grid and so we have a
pressure pump and it is whatfeeds the house water.
And for the second time now, Igo to get in the shower, middle
(00:27):
of shower, soaped up soap in myhair, and the pressure pump dies
.
So the water is just at atrickle, but the pump is still
like just going full bore, soyou have to jump out of the
shower, run and unplug it.
Mel (00:44):
So yeah, that's there's a gigantic spider looking right at
me.
Oh no, no.
Now you continue on with yourstory, because I'm about to die.
You're going to witness meburning this she-shed to the
ground.
Oh god, no, okay, anyway, run,yeah, okay.
So you finish your story beforeI introduce you to all of our
(01:08):
wonderful listeners.
Holi (01:11):
So, yeah, that was the highlight of the day today.
So, yeah, that was about it.
Mel (01:17):
Did it get any better?
Holi (01:19):
No no.
Mel (01:21):
Okay.
Holi (01:22):
I'll just head out in the house since then.
Mel (01:28):
Hey y'all.
I'm Mel and you are listeningto Wilma the Wonder Hen .
Are you a chicken, math, loveand mama or daddy?
Together we'll dive into thelatest poultry keeping
adventures, chat about everydaylife and wear the generous mix
of some hilarious stories.
We're going to be giving youfascinating interviews with
(01:51):
poultry owners from all over.
You'll find tips and basicadvice from your local
veterinarian, along with newchicken keeping gadgets and
reviews.
I'm going to see what MrJengles and Wilma has to say
about that.
We're going to encourage andhelp you build a stronger,
healthier flock.
Let's go see what Mr Jenglesand Wilma is up to.
Let's go let these heifers out.
Welcome back.
(02:12):
We are so excited to have thisguest with us.
Her name is Holly and Holly isI'm a fan girl over Holly.
I first met our Saul Holly onTikTok and her handle is
Homestead Bunny.
Let us welcome this goat lovingcontainer building, house
builder and glam-steady beauty,holly.
(02:36):
Welcome, holly, we are so gladto have you with us.
Hi, thank you for having me.
You have a very interesting, avery colorful account and I'll
let you get into some of that,because it's really fascinating
that Holly has an off-gridaccount.
Holly is going to explain to uscommoners what off-grid means,
(02:59):
how she got started, who she isand all that stuff.
When you look at her account,holly is very glamorous.
I'm not saying that if you liveoff-grid you look like you live
in the jungle.
Please don't come at me.
Everyone is a little different,even in the chicken keeping
world.
You see people that are dressedup and they have on dresses and
(03:22):
there are pretty little bootsand stuff and there's nothing
wrong with that.
She's also funny and she's very, very sweet.
Give us a one-on-one of Holly.
Holi (03:35):
I basically grew up in the forest.
My dad owned timber cells andthat's what he did for a living
for a lot of years.
We spent pretty much the entiresummer.
The minute we got out of schoolthey would pick us up in the
parking lot and we would gostraight to the mountain and we
lived in the forest until fall.
(03:57):
Then, yeah, we'd come downevery once in a while to shower,
get more food, that kind ofstuff, but other than that
summertime I was in the forest24-7.
I just knew that that's where Ijust wanted to always be.
This place that we have nowjust fell in our lap.
(04:21):
We had two other off-gridproperties before this one and
they were just completedisasters.
But everything happens for areason and we finally got our
forest.
Yeah, that's how I grew up.
I was always the outcast kidAlways I don't know how to
(04:42):
describe it but yeah, I was justthe outcast kid, didn't have a
lot of friends, none of that.
Mel (04:49):
That's their loss.
Holi (04:52):
I didn't even have a real boyfriend.
I didn't have pretty muchanyone until I met my husband.
Mel (04:58):
Do you think that's because you lived in the forest?
Holi (05:00):
possibly, Probably probably, but teenage years, all
that fun stuff.
I was a bit rebellious, butother than that, yeah, I had no
idea I would ever be here.
I grew up in a kind of suburbneighborhood area.
We lived in a cul-de-sacsubdivision and, yeah, we didn't
(05:23):
have any.
We had cats.
We weren't even allowed to havedogs.
Mel (05:28):
Did you learn a lot of the skills from your parents or your
dad or your mom I mean eitherone of them.
Did you learn those skills thatyou have now?
Holi (05:37):
Yeah, because my parents were both avid hunters.
Between the timber cells andhunting season and stuff.
I learned a lot about animalhusbandry and stuff like that.
My mom there towards the enddid get into rabbits and then by
the time I was old enough toleave the house was when she
finally started getting intochickens and turkeys and all
(06:00):
that stuff.
I'm like that would have beenawesome if you would have done
that when I was younger.
She's still is super smart andshe's still teaching me more
stuff because she's way moreadvanced in all that stuff.
She learned everything reallyquick because she didn't.
My great grandparents they hada farm but we only visited there
(06:26):
maybe once or twice when wewere growing up and stuff.
I guess my mom was around it alot more than I was.
Mel (06:35):
When you met your husband, did you meet as teenagers?
Did you meet later in life foryou?
Holi (06:40):
We met in a bar.
He was a pipeline welder.
He came to town because thetown I grew up in I grew up in
Vernal, utah.
It's a very oil-filled driventown and it was boom town.
He came to town and was runningpipelines in town, welding on
(07:01):
pipelines in town.
He got convinced to go to thebar one night and then I got
convinced to go to the bar thatsame night.
We seen each other.
It was rather hilarious becausethe guy he was sitting with is
like my arch nemesis.
He is like so horrible.
(07:21):
He was my high school bully andso when I walk in the door I
look at him and I look at thebully and I'm like oh no, and I
just knew that they wereinstantly talking crap about me.
But they weren't talking crapabout me.
He was actually like my husbandwas all like that's the one I
want.
And I was like aw.
So he kept hitting on me and Ikept shutting him down and he
(07:44):
kept hitting on me.
I'm like just leave me alone.
I don't know if you got a betgoing or what your deal is.
I don't know what you could dowith you.
And then he finally came up tome and he just walks by me and
he's like I'll make you famous.
And I was like what?
I was like, okay, I'll findI'll talk to you.
And then that was it.
18 years later.
Oh my gosh.
Mel (08:05):
So you met your husband in a bar.
How exciting.
From that day did y'all startdating.
Holi (08:10):
Yes, we dated for six months, just ghosted me, just
disappeared in the middle of thenight, packed his camp trailer
up.
He was just gone in the middleof the night.
After six months he just calledme out of the blue and was like
I can't do this anymore becauseshe was a very, very toxic,
very bad person.
(08:30):
And he's like I just can't livewith her anymore.
And he's like, and I just can'tstop thinking about you, so
like, will you, you know, comelive with me.
And I was like, sure, so I did.
And from there on we traveledthe country.
We went pretty much everywhere,from Utah to New York, working
(08:51):
on pipelines.
Mel (08:53):
Oh, wow.
Holi (08:53):
Yeah.
Mel (08:54):
Oh, wow.
So when did you finally settlelike, decide you didn't want to
have that travel life anymoreand you found, like your
permanent homestead?
We?
Holi (09:05):
right after we got married in 2011, we rented a house and
while we were renting that house, he had a job in town and that
was kind of.
The deal was just to stay inone spot and we thought we had
it made.
But he bought me my first horsethere.
(09:26):
She was a half Clyde's Dail andhe bought me three sheep.
This is how it started.
Mel (09:34):
And that's, fellas, is how you win a lady over animals,
exactly.
Holi (09:40):
And then we had a couple chickens and then, as it always
happens in a boomtown, it driedup, so there was no more work
there.
So we had to.
We got rid of the sheep, gotrid of the chickens, packed
everything up, we boarded ourhorses in up north Greeley,
colorado.
(10:01):
We went there for work and thenwe went to Wyoming for work and
we just kind of bounced aroundand then we knew that this was
the life we wanted.
We wanted to build our ownhouse, we wanted animals, we
wanted to grow our own food.
When was it?
We went to Texas, we wereworking in Texas and we saved up
a big chunk of money and wecalled the realtor and we're
(10:24):
like you know, this is whatwe're looking for.
And they're like, okay, perfect, we have it here you go, just
sign on the dotted line.
So we did.
We didn't see the property atall.
Oh no, yes, we get out Ding,ding.
Mel (10:39):
Yeah, we get out there.
Holi (10:41):
Do not do this yeah no, we get out there and it is just
desert land in the middle of themountains.
The wind blows 24, seven.
It was so horrible.
And then come to find outbecause we were both really
young I was like 23 or 24 at thetime and my husband's pretty
(11:05):
young we didn't read thepaperwork, we just signed it.
It was in an HOA so we couldn'teven plant a rose bush without
their approval.
Mel (11:15):
That's death of all deaths is an HOA it is, and so the land
.
Holi (11:22):
We paid for it in cash.
It was like five acres for 10grand, so it was super cheap.
Oh, you can't do that now, yeah, no, not at all.
Mel (11:32):
No, you can't get a closet for 10 grand.
Holi (11:37):
No, and so we just walked away from it.
And then they eventuallyforeclosed on the property or
took it back or put a lien on itor something like that because
of the unpaid HOA dues.
And I was like, oh my God, Idon't even care.
Oh what?
Yeah, ruin my credit, I don'tcare, oh, that's awful, it was
(12:00):
super awful yeah.
Then we went back on the roadagain, worked a couple more jobs
, saved up some more money, andthen we were coming through town
, which is Cripple Creek,colorado, and we found this
little property just south oftown, and so we seen the sign
(12:23):
for sale and I told my husbandhis name's Nick, by the way.
I told Nick, I was like, justcall on it, and I was like I bet
the guy will own or finance it.
As luck would have it, he did.
He owner financed it for us,and so we bought it and we were
setting it all up, but he stillhad to work in Greeley and so
(12:43):
it's about a four hour drive andso I was basically homesteading
by myself while he would stayup in Greeley.
Mel (12:51):
Oh yeah, that's a lot.
Holi (12:53):
Yeah, and so we were going to stay in the city during the
week and then come home on theweekends, and it was.
We didn't have the internet, wewere just barely learning
things, and so we're trying tosurvive in a single wide off of
a tiny propane tank and agenerator, and it was.
(13:14):
It was a disaster, it was a bigdisaster.
Mel (13:18):
That you admit, though you know that things didn't work out
, and there were things youdidn't do that you probably
should have done, you know.
So looking back at that putsyou kind of where you are now
right.
Holi (13:31):
Yes, yeah it.
It taught us a lot and it putus leaps and bounds ahead of
where we are now.
Like or it, it made us preparedfor where we are now.
Mel (13:45):
Right, yeah, cause I mean, I know a lot of us don't like to
admit.
You know we failed at something.
But honestly, you know, like Itell my kids, you don't, you,
you don't, you're not going tolearn anything.
Sometimes, if you don't, if youdon't fail at least once or
twice or something, Exactly,exactly.
Holi (14:03):
And so, yeah, that property just didn't end up
working out for us and we soldit to a friend.
And then we moved to Utah andwe bought the I call it the
princess house because it washuge.
I could fit my entire house nowin the great room of that house
(14:25):
.
Mel (14:25):
Oh, wow.
Holi (14:26):
Yeah, and it was.
It was almost 11 acres andeight of it was under alfalfa.
So my husband got to be afarmer, which was his big dream,
and that's where I got intogoats.
We started a horse breedingprogram, chickens, so many
(14:48):
chickens, turkeys.
We had the whole thing going onthere.
But we were a hundred percenton grid and it had what did?
It had a fake one of those gaspropane fireplaces in it and
that was it, and central air,central heating, all that stuff.
But in the middle of winter thepower went out one time and I
(15:10):
was like this is horrible.
I was like we couldn't survivein this house if we had to, if
something happened.
I was like we, we couldn't livehere we would die, we would
freeze to death.
Mel (15:22):
That's a good thing to think about.
Yeah, I like that.
That makes me ponder on somethings too.
Okay, sorry, go ahead.
Holi (15:30):
So I just got out Once again.
Work dried up and we decidedthat we needed to re-evaluate
things, completely start over,so we sold all the animals.
I had so many goats I probablyhad close to 60 goats, Wow yeah.
That's a lot of goats.
They were all papered andregistered and I just gave them
(15:53):
away.
I could have made a lot ofmoney, but just gave everything
away.
We sold all the farm equipmentand then we moved back over here
and was just renting intownhouses and we decided that
we needed to look before theColorado market took off.
(16:14):
We needed to try and findanother piece of land and we
just fell into this place.
We just found it.
By the grace of God, the guythat had owner financed the
property before was actuallyfriends with the realtor who
sold us this place and somehowhe conned the owners of this
(16:37):
place into owner financing forus again.
Because we don't have credit,we don't have credit cards, we
refuse to build our credit, andthey said yes and they owner
financed it.
And that's five years ago.
Mel (16:58):
Basically grew up in the forest and you had a very good
background of those types ofthings.
But what was the reason whythat you went off grid?
Why did you want to go off grid?
You could have done a littlebit of off grid right of where
you were, so what was pushingyou to go totally off grid?
Holi (17:20):
We're selfish and we don't like having bills and we just
want to spend our money on us.
I'm not going to lie.
I'm not going to lie to you.
Mel (17:28):
I mean, okay, that's great, I love that I love that it is.
Holi (17:34):
We don't have everything is completely paid for.
We don't buy anything unless weuse cash, but that's we didn't
want.
The big thing was my husband,nick.
He didn't want to have to welduntil he was 65 or 70 years old.
Oh, yeah, and with how thingsare now.
(17:56):
He just basically knew that hewas never going to have a
retirement, and if he did have aretirement, we wouldn't be able
to live on it.
Mel (18:07):
So that's yeah that that I completely understand.
Yes, definitely, definitely no.
Holi (18:12):
we were just so.
We bought the land and we werepaying on it and we started
clearing the land.
We were living in a camptrailer and we just started
coming up with all thesedifferent ideas.
You know that we first thoughtabout the whole shed house thing
with like the home depot shedsand stuff, and we we mold
(18:35):
everything over.
And then one day it just hithim.
He's like I'm a welder, he'slike we should just build it out
of shipping containers.
He's like I can weld it alltogether and then we can frame
it in and be done with it.
And I was like let's do it then.
And at the time they werereally cheap.
Our first one, our firstshipping container, we paid
2,204.
(18:55):
And the second one, we paidlike 2,504.
And then the third one, I think, was almost three grand.
Mel (19:05):
Yeah, cause you see, you see a lot more now.
I mean, maybe they were aroundand I just didn't notice them,
but you do see more presence ofthe container house online.
Holi (19:16):
Yes, yeah, like when we started building.
It started building our house.
It was like I don't know if ithad caught wind or what I don't
know, but it started to spreadlike wildfire and everyone
started using containers forhomes and stuff.
And then that's when the pricesreally started to go up.
Mel (19:38):
Even here in Tennessee, like I live in East Tennessee so
I live kind of close to theNorth Carolina line.
I live in the Cherokee NationalForest, but if you go into town
you used to see like where theyhave, where they haul dirt and
stuff and rocks.
Now they have shippingcontainers on the same property
that they're kind of marketingas potential tiny homes and
(20:02):
stuff, because the marketobviously the market is should
be illegal for the cost ofthings nowadays.
I mean you can just up the road.
They have this house that wasprobably built in 1980.
A half an acre of land and theywant half a million dollars for
it.
Yep, I mean they they out oftheir minds.
Holi (20:23):
Yeah, they are completely out of their minds and I am, oh,
I couldn't.
I feel so bad for everyonetrying to buy a house right now
and all that fun stuff, becauseit's it's impossible.
I don't know how people aredoing it.
I really don't.
Mel (20:40):
My daughter, my oldest daughter, she's 33, she'll be 34
this year, and her and herhusband.
She has one little girl, mygrandbaby, and they have looked
and looked and I mean they bothwork and they they get a half a
million dollar house.
I mean you would have to.
Holi (21:00):
Your income would have to be ginormous to even afford that
and it's when we had that bighouse, the princess house, it
was three I think.
We paid 350 for it and it was20,.
$2,500 a month is how much itwas, and between I mean Nick
(21:22):
makes really really good moneybut between the mortgage and
insurance and the animal feedand the water and the garbage
and everything we.
Payday came and we had likemaybe a hundred bucks, I was
like I know it's oh my gosh.
Mel (21:41):
Can you tell our listeners if someone wanted to go that way
?
You know they wanted to havethe opportunity to have a place.
You know, like a lot of thesenew tiny homes that they're
getting and unfortunately, a lotof times after you get all that
finished out you know myhusband's electrician, so after
you get all that finished outand stuff, I mean it's still
(22:03):
outrageously expensive.
So how did you kind of get offgrid where you are right now?
What were some of the stepsthat you took to get there?
Holi (22:12):
Well, number one buy land, try and find a cheap owner,
finance it and then try to payit off as quick as possible.
We lived in a camp trailer forthe whole time we built this
place.
We lived in a camp trailer andwe just bought.
(22:34):
He had bought it used from afriend and I think he only paid
like five grand for it.
So, yeah, find a cheap camptrailer, live in the camp
trailer, work on your land andthat's what a lot of us have
done.
A pistol pack and rancher shealso.
She just barely sold her camperbecause she did the same thing.
She built a barn to Miniumhouse, but it's, I think it's
(22:56):
the most feasible way to goabout it.
But yeah, so start out in acamp trailer, start out in some
small and then build the housethat you want.
Pay for it with cash.
Don't go into debt trying tobuild an off grid home, because
that defeats the purpose.
Mel (23:16):
Yeah, it does.
So how are you gettingelectricity and water and stuff?
So how is that working out?
Holi (23:21):
So we bought we watch equipment auctions and we bought
our solar setup, which is a DCsolar trailer, and we got it for
seven grand and it comes on atrailer.
So it comes with the panels,the batteries and a generator,
the brain, which is yourinverter, and then another
(23:47):
inverter thing.
I still don't know all aboutthe solar, I'm still learning,
but it all came out on anawesome little trailer and so we
dismantled it and hooked it upto the house and it has been
glorious ever since.
And then for water in thesummertime we collect rainwater.
The wintertime, like tomorrow,sucks.
Mel (24:09):
Oh, no, you collect rainwater.
Holi (24:10):
That's against the law, oh my gosh, oh no, I get that so
much the first time I hear that,I literally cry.
Mel (24:20):
I literally just bust out laughing.
I'm like yeah, Okay, you keepdoing that and I'll keep
collecting rainwater.
Holi (24:30):
You can worry about it.
I'm not going to worry about it.
Yeah, I got to worry In thewintertime, like now.
So we have a big 500 gallontank I put in the back of my
truck and I go to the city and Ifill it up for $40 every week.
So I'm just like come on spring, because I am so over it being
(24:53):
cold.
Mel (24:54):
Yeah, I mean I don't know what normally like your water
bill would normally be orwhatever, but and how that would
last like a week.
Holi (25:03):
Yeah, because we have three horses now and the horses
are just burning through water.
They drink so much water whenit's cold out and so, yeah,
we're half into it, so how?
Mel (25:14):
many animals do you have?
I know you got animals overthere.
Holi (25:18):
I got three horses, six goats, like 20 chickens, 10
ducks, five dogs, four cats.
I think that's it.
Mel (25:34):
Three French hands and two turtle does.
Holi (25:38):
I think that's it.
Oh, I have one fish.
I have one fish.
Mel (25:43):
Oh, one fish, that's great.
At least you got self-controlwith the fish, right.
That's what counts.
Oh my gosh, so you ended it,did you have?
I think you added ducks though,didn't you like?
That wasn't like when I foundyour account first, did you
always have ducks?
I couldn't remember.
Holi (26:04):
No.
So we had chickens first andthen I started looking into
ducks and I was like I want toget ducks because I heard that
they're hardier and all that funstuff.
So I got ducks.
Sadly, most of them perished toa bobcat or a coyote, Yep.
So the ones that are remainingare the OGs.
(26:28):
They've been here.
They're just little call ducks.
They're like ruins or somethinglike that.
I can't remember what they'recalled.
They look like mallards, butthey are cute though.
Yeah, they are super cute.
But we had a.
I went and bought more chickensbecause I was like I'm going to
sell eggs and all that funstuff.
So I went and bought a wholebunch more chicks and took care
(26:52):
of them and everything.
And then I made the fatalmistake of going to a backyard
breeder and getting six Easteracres and they had Merrick's
disease and it gave everyoneelse Merrick's disease.
So now my chicken plunk is justslowly, slowly dwindling away.
Mel (27:12):
So I'm so sorry.
That has happened a couple ofwith a couple of good friends of
mine here recently and it'sheartbreaking to watch.
So I'm very sorry for that.
Holi (27:22):
It is.
It's horrible, but it's just.
It's pushed me further into theduck direction.
I'm like duck, still you needsome geese.
Mel (27:30):
I really want some, but I have geese and they are amazing
they are.
Holi (27:36):
I'm terrified because I've heard the stories about them
being so bonded to each otherthat if something happens to one
of them, that the other onewill try and kill themselves to
unalive themselves.
Mel (27:50):
Well, I don't know if it's that dramatic like Romeo and
Juliet kind of thing, but theydo become bonded to each other.
Yes, mine are bonded to me andthey're bonded to each other, so
it is a pretty strong bond.
I mean, my geese are likebulldogs, you know, like if
someone comes in the yard youbetter run.
But they love me, so that's allthat matters.
Holi (28:13):
Yeah, I definitely really want some.
Mel (28:16):
Yeah, they are, they're.
They're pretty, they're veryfascinating and you get a bond
with them.
I find it is similar to like Ilove my chickens and I had quail
and all those.
I kind of dabbled in a lot ofthat.
But my geese I liken that toowning like a dog or a cat or um
(28:38):
, yeah, I mean it's really likea different bond.
Like I said, no dissing tochickens, I love my chickens, I
love my girls, but it's it's.
It's a different relationship.
It really is.
It's kind of I don't know howto explain it, but it's
definitely different.
Holi (28:56):
Well, yeah, I'm going to try and put it on the list and
see if I can sneak some in withthe ducks this year.
Mel (29:01):
You just got to be careful, you know, because of the drakes
.
You know you don't want themaround your.
They don't have the rightequipment.
They have a different equipment.
Holi (29:09):
So yeah, we don't need none of that, but yeah.
Mel (29:14):
And then now you have Nigerian dwarf goats.
Is that the goats that you hadway back when, like, you've
always had that type Yep, yeah,or?
Holi (29:22):
that breed.
Yep, I started out with thatbreed and then I also, um, had
started my boar goat line formeat, because that was our goal
was to have all of our own dairytaken care of and then all of
our own meat taken care of.
Okay, I've got you, but Ihaven't started back up with the
(29:44):
boar goats yet.
Right now I'm just startingwith the Nigerian dwarfs and I
want to get like a really goodbreeding program with them
established and develop somereally good milk lines with them
.
Mel (29:57):
But do you milk your goats?
Holi (29:59):
Yes, yeah, but that is the .
Mel (30:01):
Do you have videos of that online on your tiktok?
Holi (30:03):
No, not yet.
Mel (30:05):
No, not yet.
I only reason to ask is I'mgetting a Jersey, a mini Jersey
calf.
Yeah, I mean, obviously youwon't milk her for till she's
bred or whatever, but that'd bea long time.
But it's just super fascinatingand I didn't remember seeing
those on your page.
You know, out there you littlemilk maid.
Yeah, so you got to do that fora tiktok.
We'd love to see that.
Holi (30:23):
June, june, all all the girls are due in June.
Oh how exciting.
Yep, I'm very excited.
Mel (30:31):
My brain went dead for a minute and uh, Nuggets, Nuggets
is right outside.
I'm in my she shed.
So right outside my door iswhere Nuggets is goose pin is.
Nuggets is my to lose goose andhe doesn't have a partner.
He's he.
He's a long story.
He's an orphan.
I hatched him in my incubator.
He was the only one thathatched out of that whole clutch
(30:52):
of that particular breed.
So Nuggets, we don't know ifit's a girl or boy yet, so, but
anyway, when Nuggets hears myvoice, Nuggets goes crazy and
you can hear him screaming inthe background.
That's Nuggets, and it's not achild, I promise it is.
It is a goose that is having ameltdown.
Oh, my goodness.
Holi (31:13):
That is so funny, poor thing.
Mel (31:15):
Poor little thing.
I know that you get a lot offlack on your TikToks and it is
quite funny to watch.
It's probably not funny for you, but we find it amusing that
there's a lot of people thatreally don't understand what off
grid you know.
They all have their owndescription of what off grid
should mean.
So how would you describe offgrid?
(31:39):
And is there really a limit ora perimeter that you could box
off grid into and say, well, youdon't, you don't, you're not
off grid kind of thing?
Holi (31:48):
I think I get.
Yeah, it is constant, becausenails, eyelashes, hair, all that
fun stuff and then having aphone and being on TikTok, I'm
not really off grid.
The definition of off grid isyou are not tied to public
utilities, so that means water,power, sewer, garbage, public
(32:13):
utilities.
So far as long, as far as Iknow, your cell phone and TikTok
is not a public utility.
So that is my definition of offgrid.
Mel (32:28):
But if you took away your phone and your access to the
internet, then you wouldn't beable to teach others.
What about all these peoplethat are off grid and you see
them on YouTube making videos tohelp someone else, you know,
build a well or build a campfire, build a stove or you know
(32:48):
whatever?
All those different things thatthey do online?
So you know, I mean a phone isa necessity, because what if
you're out there and somethinghappens like you need?
Are you that far out, though?
Like how far are you fromregular town?
Holi (33:03):
The closest town is like five minutes away.
I'm literally like I'm likeminutes from the pavement, but
from where it looks, it lookslike I am like in the back
country.
It's very.
Once you turn off the pavementand go just a little ways up the
dirt road, it's like boomforest and then right behind me
(33:24):
is national forest.
Mel (33:26):
Oh, I love that.
That's kind of how we live.
We live on a seven acre, justseven acres here, though, but 10
minutes from any city type city, but we live in part of the
national force, so yeah.
I just think it's reallycomical that people do people in
your area like close to you, doyou have neighbors?
Holi (33:47):
We actually do so.
There's two other places, twoother houses up here One's right
below us and one's right aboveus and they're just off grid
cabins for like summer people.
One guy rents his out as likean Airbnb and stuff.
But across the valley, the poorneighbors.
(34:11):
We've kind of started doing ourown homestead rescue with them,
because they bought the house,which is just a mobile home on
40 acres, and they paid $450,000for it.
When they bought it, everythingwas a wreck so they had to buy
new solar.
They paid $60,000 for solar.
(34:32):
Yeah, I was like no, I was likeyou guys should have reached
out.
They're like we didn't know, wewere scared.
So now we're friends.
They're having trouble with thepropane company, so we are
trying to get a wood burner putin their house as fast as
possible so that way they don'thave to rely on the propane
anymore and they can tell thepropane company to stick it or
(34:56):
the clun don't shine.
Mel (34:57):
Oh yeah, Well, I can get costly too propane for sure.
Holi (35:00):
Yeah, they've been getting stuck in the snow so we've had
to plow them out and we've justbeen really trying to help them
and it's they've been having arough go of it.
I'm like I'm so sorry guys.
Like if you need anything, justlet us know and we'll help you
the best we can.
Mel (35:20):
So what do you think are some resources, like places that
you would point someone tolearn a lot of these different
skills, you know you can say, oh, I don't, I can't live off grid
because I honestly don't knowanything about gardening or
don't know how to, you know, setup a structure to live in or
(35:40):
any of those things.
So where would you pointsomeone to kind of help them
with tangible ideas?
Holi (35:47):
Well, of course, youtube.
Youtube is number one.
It is the biggest informationsuper highway that there is for
off-grid and everything.
The other one I would and thisis just me, I don't know, my
brain is built differently, butI just say, just go for it, just
(36:08):
go for it.
I still.
This is gonna be my fourth yeartrying to grow a garden and I'm
still.
I'm still learning, stilltrying new things.
Mel (36:19):
I do love me some garden.
Yeah, I went to the mastergardener program last year, so I
got certified as a mastergardener and not to like to mown
horn.
But I don't.
I'm not tuned my own hornbecause I still don't know squat
.
I mean, you can only learn somuch you know before, like you
said, you actually just have tokind of try out methods like yes
(36:42):
, is this gonna work?
And especially in whatevermicroclimate you happen to be in
, it may not work.
So you just got to keep trying.
But I like that.
I like that you said that youknow, just a Just dive right in.
Don't be afraid, you know,obviously you don't want to be
stuck somewhere, no place tonothing to eat, and you call,
yeah, sometimes that motivatesyou a little bit more.
(37:02):
Exactly, you got no place to go.
You really may amp up yourmotivation to fix something.
Holi (37:11):
Yeah yep, for sure, and you know, for if you're looking
for actual like Survival,survival stuff for when you know
crap hits the fan, kind ofsituation stuff.
The Fox fire books are amazing,boy Scouts of America amazing
(37:33):
like Build a fire, learn signlanguage.
Mel (37:41):
I always say that I have a Heelbilly Rob.
That's my husband.
I call him Rob the Heelbillyengineer because he is a
electrician but he also has aremodeling company, so he does
like framing work and you knowall of the things and Literally
I tell people if somethinghappens and like the stuff's
going down in the world, me andRob I'm when I'm getting out of
(38:06):
here because of Rob, becausewhen he grew up poor, I mean
like dirt, dirt poor and I meanI was like poor too, but I mean
he was like dirt, dirt poor andthat's how he learned how to do.
You know all of the things thathe does now because he
Literally had no choice to learnthem.
So, yeah, yeah.
Holi (38:24):
I totally, totally agree and totally understand.
That's.
One thing I will always tip myhat to my mom is she made sure
that, you know, we learned howto hunt, we learned how to field
dress, we learned how to fish,we learned how to track animals,
how to do all that stuff.
She and I don't even know Imaybe it's because her dad
(38:44):
taught her that and so she feltthat it was important to pass it
on to me and my sister, butit's.
It's definitely helped me, youknow, be able to, you know,
build a fire in the middle ofthe woods, in the middle of the
snow, and build a shelter andall that kind of stuff.
My mom really did instill allof that into me and my sister.
Mel (39:07):
No, I bet she just wanted you to be able to take care of
yourself.
Holi (39:10):
Yeah.
Mel (39:12):
Yeah, I, as a mama, I would see that that.
That's why she would, you know,want to make sure that you
wouldn't have to put up withnothing.
You wouldn't have to, you know,like you know, could you get in
a situation Sometimes, if youcan't take care of yourself, you
just kind of allow whatevergoes on, goes on.
So now you can just say, hey,you know, dude, I can take care
(39:33):
of myself.
I saw my own fire get on out ofhere.
Yeah, exactly.
Holi (39:37):
Exactly.
Mel (39:39):
So where do you see your plans like for your future, like
I definitely want to be?
Holi (39:43):
I want to be more self sustainable because right now,
we still buy a lot of food.
We still, yeah, depend ongrocery stores for a lot of
stuff, and so I want to makesure that we are able to provide
our own meat, provide our owndairy.
I'm really looking in to Tryingto find ways to grow my own
(40:06):
flower.
We're actually building agreenhouse, a real professional
greenhouse, this spring.
Oh, I'm jealous.
I'm like can we grow our ownflower in the pasture?
I don't know, should be milletourselves.
I'm kind of I'm starting tolearn more that way, yeah you,
you definitely can.
Mel (40:24):
We do a lot of mowing.
We have curse of hay that wemow Every year.
So yeah, anything is possible,yeah, definitely.
Holi (40:31):
So yeah, that's that's where I'm looking at.
Long term is just Not having togo to the store for anything
except for toilet paper, and Iknow that's my dream too.
Mel (40:43):
I really, I think that's all of our dreams.
I mean for sure, definitely,when I go to the grocery store,
I think, cuz I mean we have ahuge garden every year, like a
big, a fairly big garden.
That would be a typical, youknow in the country kind of
garden.
And I do can a lot of stuff,but it's still not.
I Mean I guess you could eatthat stuff every single day.
(41:05):
But yeah, I Get, I get a littlespoiled and I want, you know,
like fresh fruits.
Yeah which I grow fruit, butit's only during the summer and
you can can it, but then you'regonna.
It's not like fresh, fresh foodyou know, yeah, but that's how
people used to eat, by theseasons, you know, depending on
what season it was is what youwould eat.
But exactly that's Americans.
(41:25):
We are a tad bit spoiled, so weare a small little brat.
Holi (41:33):
Yes, we are.
So is there anything you domiss about being on grid, like
what are some things that youmiss or no, you don't have to
miss anything, well um, thewater thing I made a tick tock
on this is water, just having anabundance of water, being able
to turn on a hose, being able to.
(41:54):
You know, oh, whoops, I forgotand overfilled the horse trough
and flooded out the pasture LikeI'm.
Like.
That is like an insane luxury,because I've done.
Mel (42:06):
I've done that a couple times.
Holi (42:07):
Because, yeah, we have, like I said, right now, in
wintertime we have to haul inour water, so we have 500
gallons and that lasts betweenall the animals and us.
That lasts us a week.
So it's like I can't just dolaundry, I can't take an hour
long shower, I can't, you know,swim around in a tub every day
(42:29):
Like that's.
That's the only luxury that Imiss is just the abundance of
water.
Mel (42:34):
Can I ask you what you like to do, like for hobbies?
It doesn't have to do withanything with off-grid, but just
you as Holly.
Holi (42:42):
I like to paint.
I I'm a bit of a painter, liketo paint and and I love fishing.
I'm obsessed with fishing and Ihaven't been fishing in so many
years.
I'm so sad, mad about it.
So Painting, fishing, arts andcrafts, stuff I do you like to
(43:02):
design.
Mel (43:03):
I know you do a lot of designing inside your, your
Container house.
Holi (43:07):
Oh, it is fun.
It definitely gets my gearsgoing and I enjoy it, but I
don't think I could do it Allthe time.
It's just a win-the-moodstrikes kind of thing.
Mel (43:20):
Do you think your mama is proud of you for all that you've
done?
Holi (43:23):
she better be.
I think she is she.
She tells me quite often thatshe's pretty proud of me, so no,
that's sweet, Does your sister?
Mel (43:41):
is your sister off-grid?
Holi (43:43):
No, she lives actually just a couple blocks away from
my mom.
Mel (43:48):
Oh, okay.
Okay, I'm not being nosy, Ijust have to hear how mommas and
daughters and like CCs aredoing, you know, because it
makes a lot of difference in theworld when you have, you know
your family does support you andto, even if it's not like
resource supporting is justemotional support, means a lot
and goes a long way.
Holi (44:06):
Yes, yes, it does.
Now I keep trying to get my mom.
She joined TikTok but she won'tmake any TikToks and I'm like
you really need to, or you needto make YouTube is because she
has an orchard.
She lives in town but I thinkshe's on an acre or two acres
but she grows an insane garden.
She has an orchard and she haschickens and she's thinking
(44:30):
about getting goats and ducksand turkeys and all that fun
stuff.
But when it comes to gardeningand stuff, that woman is a pure
genius Like her.
They live in the middle of thedesert and her backyard is like
the most beautiful oasis thereis.
It is amazing.
Mel (44:46):
The world definitely needs more people.
You know giving examples andespecially giving you know like
good advice, because theinternet is full of we like to
call that special advance or arm, or you know like insta experts
.
Holi (45:05):
You know those kind of people.
Yeah, where she knows so muchabout gardening and companion
planting and all that stuff.
I'm like you would blow upinstantly if you just got on
there and just started doinglike educational gardening.
You know, tiktok or something.
No, I can't do it.
Come on, mom, pull it together.
Mel (45:26):
Well, you gotta be really you gotta be pretty tough for
the internet.
Holi (45:30):
Yeah, yeah.
I think that's why I'm so meannow is because TikTok made me
that mean.
Mel (45:38):
You like really just have to have no feelings.
I mean because if you've gotany type of feelings, oh my gosh
, it makes you wonder and ponder, like why did I even get into
this and what am I doing here?
But it's all worth it becausewe get to meet interesting
people.
You know I'm sitting here inTennessee.
You're way out there.
I get to see your face, I getto talk to you.
(45:58):
I mean, what an honor to speakto you.
You know so many people withthese great life experiences and
such a unique story, you know,so we definitely appreciate all
of that.
Holi (46:10):
Yeah, I appreciate you.
I appreciate, yeah, meeting youand meeting all the other
people on TikTok.
I have formed some amazingfriendships that I am, like, so
thankful for.
Mel (46:22):
Yeah, it is true though.
Yeah, I know we've met, I meanI have people that we've built a
relationship with that.
I mean we just text nearlyevery day.
Yeah, it's pretty great how,the opportunity to share
whatever you want to share.
I'm going to ask you like threerandom questions.
If you want to answer those,okay.
So if you could put anything ona build board, what would it be
(46:46):
and why?
Holi (46:46):
Oh goodness, I don't even.
Mel (46:49):
I come up with them, really tough ones.
Yeah, you did.
Oh, my goodness, you don't haveto answer it.
If you don't want to, you justsay pass.
Holi (46:58):
Okay, I'm passing on that one, because I don't even.
My brain just instantly died.
Mel (47:03):
Okay, if you could go back and tell your 18 year old self
something, what would you tellher?
Holi (47:08):
Oh, my goodness, that's a good one.
I would tell her to suck it upand stop crying and don't be
stupid.
Don't waste your time on dumbfriends, because Prince Charming
is coming.
Mel (47:27):
So I like that.
Yeah, tell her to get ittogether.
That's right.
Quick crying get your head outof your butthole.
Okay, so what would be yourfavorite movie and a little bit
about why.
Holi (47:42):
That is real.
That's a hard one, okay.
So, right off the top, my mostfavorite.
I have a bunch of them, but mymost favorite movie is Legend,
with Tom Cruise with hisoriginal teeth and Tim.
Mel (48:00):
Curry, okay yeah.
Holi (48:03):
And because unicorns, horses, fairies.
When I found out later on as anadult that they used over 20
tons of glitter for that set, itmade my heart so happy.
Because I am like the lifeknown tinkerbell.
My mom calls me tinkerbellbecause I leave glitter wherever
(48:26):
I go.
It doesn't even matter if I putglitter on.
If I stay in their house therewill be glitter somewhere.
Mel (48:32):
You brighten a spot, though , like you bring light in a
place that typically maybe notthat it's dark, as in lights,
but you know, like the forestand things like that.
So, yeah, you bring a light toa lot of people.
You bring a light to people onyour account and we love your
clap backs for sure.
(48:53):
Sometimes you just got to putpeople in their place.
Holi (48:58):
Okay.
Mel (48:59):
You can say whatever you want to say, and we love it.
We live vicariously throughy'all.
Holi (49:04):
Definitely.
Mel (49:06):
Oh, that's great.
So where do you, where can ourlisteners find you?
You know, if you want people tofind you online, where would
they find your accounts?
Holi (49:15):
Um, TikTok, I have a homestead bunny Facebook account
, but it's kind of 50 50.
I post a lot of memes on there.
I do post some like personalwhat's going on in my life,
stuff on there, and alsohomestead bunny on Instagram.
I post pictures and stuff onthere and reels and what have
(49:40):
you.
But for the most part, um, I dowant to make more YouTube
videos, but that's mainly morearound my husband fixing
equipment kind of stuff.
But I do have the homesteadbunny YouTube channel too, but I
haven't posted on there forever.
Mel (49:57):
Oh, that's good.
That's another resource thatsomebody else maybe you know.
Maybe they need that resourceso, and you can also follow her
on TikTok If you enjoy the glamstudying and she is quite funny.
So we definitely love her.
But anyway, we just want to saythank you.
We're so grateful for you andwe appreciate you taking the
(50:18):
time to come on Wilma the WonderHands podcast and it means a
lot to us.
So I'll see you next time.
Bye now, we'll see you.
Bye.
I'm Mel and you are listeningto Wilma the Wonder Hands.
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