Hello, I am 24 years old. In September of 2013 I’ve started a historical project, the essence of living on the farm (it was a copy of ancient farm house) for seven months without any accommodations and modern communications. A lot of people were interested to this Russian adventure. So I decided to describe a common day of my life. My colleagues gave me a camera with a notepad in order to take notes. Since I do not have access to the World Wide Web all the material were handled to my friends with a request to send it to the community. Here I will show you my 111th day of the project. At first it was very hard in the begining despite I have lived alone in the past.

7:30 I wake up in the house. It’s dark and cold inside. The oven has cooled down during the night and the temperature in the house has dropped.

I pour linseed oil from a small jug into Svetets (early medieval nightlight) and then set on fire.

Wrapping legs from feet to knees around with long and narrow strip of cloth which never rewinds and is tight during the whole day. This takes some time to complete and it was considerably difficult in the begining but experience and skills gained have improved my speed.

I have made my own calendar.

.. It’s my second calendar on the door. I am trying to track my days on it. It’s 111th now. But I’m not sure if I haven’t lost the number already.

It is still dark outside as well as inside the house.

Went to grab some dry wood I store.

I’ve thrown a couple of logs, and there will be a lot of smoke in the house soon.

The first thing I check when I wake up is the barn. There lives my only friends, those with who you can chat: 3 goats and chickens.

Goat is already waiting in her place for the morning milking. The whole process takes less than a minute and finally I get about 200ml of milk (for me it’s not much). I immediately drink my breakfast. After this I go out and release the animals.

It is time to chop some wood. ..

.. Draw water from the well.

It’s very warm inside the house but also so smoky that nothing can be seen…

In a special hole on the top of the stove I’ve put a pitcher with water. I’ve added some berries and a little of honey into the boiling water.

After a few minutes my drink has boiled, poured myself a cup.

9:00

It is time to start the main activity. I came to the well and stood here for some time, thinking and making a plan for the coming day. Suddenly, I heard something in the forest. I immediately grabbed weapon and ran to the edge of the forest by quickly examining the area. A month ago foxes killed some of my chickens, so I’m cautious now.

After some time spent in the forest, I came back and caught some chickens. I’ve checked each chicken by twisting the wings. Some days ago, I have sorted birds into three groups for the different purpose: for laying eggs, for meat and for feathering.

I will share with you a secret on how to identify which chicken will lay an eggs and which is only good for meat. First of all you have to touch chicken’s belly. If it’s soft, chicken is carrying an egg and ready to lay. Secondly you have to look for sacrum. It will be wider and flexible if chicken can lay an eggs.

I chose least beautiful bird. It will be my dinner tonight.

Next step is to make myself a pitchfork to more easily clean up my small barn.

I clean my barn 1-2 times a week.

Next I’m bringing back some hay.

I’ve revealed that chickens lay more eggs if I put more hay and stack it in piles.

While I was cleaning I found two eggs.

11:00

Had to bring fresh branches because old ones got dry and animals stopped eating them.

I took an axe and rope in order to bring back some branches.

Again chopping some wood.

13:30

It’s time to start preparing the food. Basket of products stand out and all the animals are pulled behind me, waiting for something tasty.

I will cook a soup, so I’m pealing onions. Peals are dropping on the ground which are eaten then by the goats instantly. Preparing dried mushrooms, chopping them in squares.

I add two eggs and grits. Put everything in oven. Have to check it every 20 minutes or so. Now it’s time to prepare chicken.

I cut the chicken into parts…

This chicken was small, not like the one you would buy in the market. I will add chicken legs to my soup

Getting the basket of moss. I’m going to fix the cracks of my house.

Laborious and lengthy process. It took more than four baskets to remove all visible cracks inside and outside the house.

17.00

It is time to milk goat again, this time I could get only 100ml of milk.

Now it’s time to cook chicken.

After 20 minutes of cooking I’ve prepared a royal dinner for myself…. including soup I’ve cooked before….

When finished with my dinner, I have decided to clean up my shirt. I took some hot coal.

.. Threw those in a barrel of water and soaked my shirt.

I’ve dipped my hands into warm water. I miss hot bath very much.

.. And after several rinses – clothes are done, I hung them on a stick.

18:30

Because it is quite dark now I’m getting ready for the bed.

.. shoes and socks are put on the stove to dry during the night.

.. then dipped my bare feet in a bucket of hot water to prevent getting cold.

Checked animals for the last time.

I have carefully folded clothes and laid the sleeping bag made of fur. I’m happy that one more day is in the past now. Different thoughts visit me here, strongly changing outlook and values of my life. I think more about the life of our ancestors, and the meaning of our existence.

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