I was talking to a frend the other day.  The topic of community came up... as in, "why isn't there one up here?"

It wouldn't have struck me so, but I had heard the same comment several times before. Why?

Seems people are too busy just scraping by to spend the time building a community.

I think that's a crying shame... kinda goes with all the 'neighboring' posts (there one here on Sustainable Reality and one over on Laffing Horse)  I've been writing lately. But it's true, and it's so easy to slip into that rut...

• Get up
• Do chores
• Check email over coffee
• Assemble daily to do list
• For me that usually means a couple small TriLooms, one large TriLoom or a dozen crochet hooks or knitting needles
• for Jen that means shipping everything I made the day before - usually not enough, but I'm catching up - and listing things in the store
• For Lena that means helping Jen ship - or taking over when Jen has to work in town or run errands and spinning and crocheting
  
• Pick bacground noise - here, that's likely to be a wide variety of music or a movie, we don't have TV - and get to work...
• Maybe break for lunch
• Maybe break for dinner
• If the weather's nice enough and we're caught up in the shop, or close to caught up, or just need a break from it, go work on the farm for 2 to 4 hours
  
• Do chores
• Research and write a blog post or three, catch up on email
• Go to bed

Not much time for anything else.

This was brought home to me, again, when, following some advice I read over at ProBlogger, my research included reading some other homesteading bloggers.

In the first couple pages of a google search for the words 'homestead, blog,' I found only four that:

1. had to do with homesteading, the practice and not the website company
2. weren't politically slanted (not that I don't have my views, but as a homesteader I'm more interested in soup and cement mixes (not in the same bowl, please) than I am in this candidates views or that court ruling's effect on the availability of nosehair clippers on commercial airplanes - but I digress... and exaggerate a little)
   
3. had been updated recently. By recently, I mean sometime this year.

In fairness, I could have refined my search and browsed through a couple more pages, but... And, I know there's a homesteader's web ring, but...

I guess I should also be fair and take my own knocks... I haven't exactly been writing about soup and cement mixes either. I've been writing about networking and neighboring and community. I think I've explained why I've done that though. I could also say it's because writing about cutting cordwood everyday might make for a boring blog and that's what I've been doing when not in the woodshop.

Besides, I split the blogs up so if you want to read routine farm stuff, you go to Foxbriar Farmstead. If you want to read about my trials and tribulationsin the woodshop, you go to Laffing Horse Diary. If you want to read Jeanette's take on any or all of it, you go to Spinning Dreams. Want to find out what the dogs think? Read their Doad Dog Blog. Oh, yeah, and Sis takes pictures.

If you know of other homesteading blogs I should be reading, by all mens, drop me a line or post a comment...

So, without further ado, i give you some other Homesteaders to read about... enjoy!

• Sarah’s Homestead Blog
• Howland Homestead Farm
• Natural Family Living Blog
• Hidden Haven Homestead