The Start of Something New

I've been told that I've led an interesting life, and it's certainly been busy and active.  So, I'm giving in the the many requests from family and friends and starting a journal.  I'll try to write something each day, but I'm not too good at keeping up with things any more, so I may miss a day sometimes.
I believe in working hard, and I drive myself and those around me relentlessly.  I have Fibromyalgia, so I figure, if I can work, so can people that I percieve to be well.
I raise exotic farm poultry, and I build all the housing and flight pens.  I have beef cattle, and I keep all the fences in repair.  I custom build all my gates and doors. 
I have several crafting hobbies, which I do on rainy days and at night, when I can't walk or stand up any longer.  I can't be idle.  I bought a camper and installed it in the back yard to keep the mess of my paints and parts out of the house.  I call it my "hut".
I was raised in Knox County, the 10th of 11 children, and my parents raised us all to maturity.
My father was 19 years older than my mother, so I never had a youthful father.  I remember him as being old and sick.  My mother was a very strict disiplinarian, and often hit and whipped all of us, so we were fairly afraid of her upsets.  Looking back, I think she must have been bi-polar.
Daddy was distant and did not like company.  I suppose we must have been lonely, but having never had friends to visit, we didn't know it.
My parents had a lot of money, but we lived like paupers.  Daddy griped constantly about money, and momma struggled to make do with what he would give her.  We often had to scrape mold off of food to serve it at  mealtimes.  I think those experiences have greatly influenced me, so I hoard.
My kitchen cabinets look like the IGA shelves.  My garages are full of furniture, implements, and bags/boxes of things I think I may need sometime.  My husband was raised very differently, so he gets frustrated with all the stuff I drag home with me.
We have a large, beautiful home, and I keep really nice things in the house, but there's too much of it.  I have three grand pianos and three organs, and I play all of them, but they take a lot of room.
I collect (and wear) hats, and they take a lot of closet space.
I love pretty shoes, and they take a lot of space.
I love antique furniture, and almost all of it is large and bulky.
I'm a clothes horse, and my closets are full.
Get the picture?
My husband says I'm writing too much for an initial post, so I'll ad more later, in other posts.
Love and Peace to all who enter.