A 'not so' Simple Life:
Our Return to Rustic Roots

Welcome To Fawlty Acres...

Our retirement home off the grid!

Our land in the Black Hills of South Dakota has a scattering of sinkholes, small caves, and faults... and so we named our homestead "Fawlty Acres" after the 1970's British sitcom "Fawlty Towers".

We chose to live a lifestyle in retirement less complicated by the intrusion of most modern conveniences. We are off the electric grid, obtaining all the electricity we need for our 12-volt system from three solar panels and a small wind charger. Giving up television and computers has given us more time for books, music, conversations, radio, newspapers, and magazines.

Most important of all, we are enveloped daily by nature - the dark green pines, blue skies, red earth, wild flowers, and clean air. We also enjoy the continual tide of a variety of birds, turkeys, cougars, bobcats, badgers, weasels, fox, pack rats, deer, elk, feral cats, and wandering donkeys flowing in and out of our lives. Most of these visitors are welcome, while others keep us grounded by their bothersome ways.

Our life is full, with time for observing the "busy-ness" and clamor of the world from a distance, while close by, we enjoy nature and our life within.

We are grateful for what we have at this time in our lives and are happy to share some of it with you on this website. You can read about it in more depth through my book of memoirs "A 'not so' Simple Life: Our Return to Rustic Roots."

Peace -

Mary and Bob

"Teach us delight in simple things."       Rudyard Kipling

"Come forth into the light of things,let nature be your teacher."       William Wordsworth

"Sit. Rest. Work. Alone with yourself, never weary, on the edge of the forest. Live joyfully. Without desire"       Buddha