Just a Few Acres Farms

Four YouTube Channels I watch to relax

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 13 Comments

Today I am sharing four YouTube Channels I watch to relax. Now, I thought of writing about this subject two weeks ago but didn’t get around to it. Last week my friend Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs wrote a similar post. Her post was about booktubers she watches.
I want to explain that I did not steal the idea from her. If I had, however, she wouldn’t care a bit. Ha! Anyhow, go check out her post too.

Just A Few Acres

I’ve mentioned this one before but this is a channel run by a farmer in Ithaca, N.Y. His name is Pete and he opens a lot of his videos by just saying, in a calm voice, Hi, I’m Pete.

His videos mainly focus on whatever he is doing on the farm that particular day or him working on his Farmall Tractors. They farm a small head of cattle and brooder chickens.

Sometimes Farmer Pete worries about the purpose of his channel and a couple of months ago he was lamenting over the fact that he didn’t think his videos were contributing anything to society. His viewers commented in droves, letting him know how relaxing they find his videos and how watching them helps their thoughts quiet.

I had to agree. Watching him conduct his every day business and then share about it in his calm, methodical, and relaxed way is very relaxing and grounding for me. Maybe it is because I grew up in a farming area or just because he’s pretty laid back no matter what life throws at him and I wish I could be like that.

The Cottage Fairy

This channel is run by a young woman who lives, I think, in Washington State. She lives in a small house in the middle of the woods with her young husband and her videos feature some deep thoughts about life and also her life as an artist and working in a small bookstore in the town near her.

Her videos feature soft music and beautiful scenery in the deep woods as well as flowers and bookshelves.

She has recently put posting on hold as she prepares to have a baby and I have a feeling she will post very little once she has her baby because she seems the type of woman who will want to focus more attention on her child than social media.

Forgotten Way Farms

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this one before too but this is run by a woman who films herself making wonderful homecooked meals for her large family, homesteading, thrift shopping, and sharing about books.

It is a very calming channel and, of course, this is only one part of her life, but I appreciate she keeps her channel focused on calming and everyday simple living. It is a nice distraction from the craziness of life.

Intentionally Bookish

This one is a new one for me. I found her while looking for cozy mystery recommendations. I like how she loves cozy mysteries and lets you know why and how she’s just so bubbly and happy on her videos. Again, I know that the videos are only a part of her life so I know she isn’t happy all of the time but I appreciate the excitement she brings to her reviews and her recommendations. Plus I’ve found a couple of really good recommendations from her so far.

Some Favorite “slow life” and other simple life YouTube Channels I like

/ Lisa R. Howeler / 5 Comments

I have a few YouTube Channels I watch fairly regularly and each of them either focuses on simple moments in life or on leading a “slow living” life as they call it. What that means is that they take their time and enjoy life, even choosing to cut out social media or the news, or other outside noise that might steal their simple joys. Most of the time anyhow.

I thought I would share a few of those channels with you today. Ironically, many of them updated either yesterday or today, which is exciting. Many of these only update once or twice a month, which is nice because I can keep up with their videos.

First up is The Cottage Fairy. She focuses on life in her little home in the middle of some state that is gorgeous and looks like a fairy tale. She works at a small bookshop in her town, is an artist, and is recently married (though I don’t think she’s ever shown her husband). She owns rabbits, picks flowers, walks through enchanted forests, and sometimes talks about her time being homeschooled and how it shaped the quiet life she tries to live now. She speaks in a soft, breathy voice (like many of the young, simple life bloggers) and her videos feature soft, calming music in the background. They are perfect for days I need to decompress from life.

Forgotten Way Farms is a channel I’ve mentioned on here before. The channel showcases a small farm in — some state — I can’t remember where. The host, AbbieJo, mainly focuses on filming what she’s been cooking, thrift shop visits, and other “simple living” topics. She’s big on homesteading and stocking your shelves with homemade food that you can go to later when money is tight or food is scarce. Sometimes she shares what books she is reading and they are usually books about farming, gardening, flowers, or cooking in the old days.

This week she shared a video of them renovating her kitchen and pantry area. They purchased a doublewide that they have been slowly renovating over the last year or so.

Just A Few Acres Farm is a cattle and chicken farm located in the Ithaca, N.Y. area which is close to where I used to live. The farmer, Pete, puts out videos about what he’s doing on the farm, farm events he visits (he is an International Tractor farmer and loves to vlog about them), the farmer’s market he visits (which I have visited a couple of times in the past and enjoyed), and other various farming related topics. His videos are pretty laid-back and just interesting to watch. He is very chill and cheerful and just really seems to enjoy what he does. Watching him cheers me up because even when things aren’t going well, he’s still pretty happy about life in general.

Roots and Refuge is a bit about slowing living but is more about homesteading and Jess and her husband Micah aren’t always living slow. They are planning to open a homesteading store, host a podcast, and have a lot going on in their lives, but the main message of their channel is to cultivate your own food and store as much of the food as you can. Their other message is to love God and the earth he gave us.

I have mentioned Darling Desi before on here (like I have mentioned a couple of the others) but will mention her again. I do like her channel even though she sometimes reads books I have no interest in and even though her perky demeanor over some really silly stuff sometimes makes me want to roll my eyes.

You know – like how I want to roll my eyes at myself sometimes because I get excited over some really silly stuff too. Ha! Anyhow, Desi talks all things “cottage core” which are books and aesthetics that – well, cottage core is . . . Hold on. Let me consult Google. Okay. I’m back. Wikipedia says: Cottagecore is an internet aesthetic popularised by adolescents and young adults celebrating an idealized rural life.”

So it is a fake outlook of rural life and I’m all for that. A fake outlook on life is how I survive. Sigh. Sad, but true(ish).

The definition continues: “Originally based on a rural English and European life, it was developed throughout the 2010s and was first named cottagecore on Tumblr in 2018. The aesthetic centres on traditional rural clothing, interior design, and crafts such as drawing, baking, and pottery, and is related to similar aesthetic movements such as grandmacore, farmcore, goblincore, and fairycore.”

Desi takes the viewer on frolics in fields and walks through bookshops, while her husband records her antics. I’d say poor guy, but she has a lot of followers and viewers and I am guessing they make some good money from it.

One thing I remind myself about a couple of these channels is that while they may seem like they have idelic lives, they really are simply showing the highlights of their life not to be fake but because they are providing a place for the viewer to escape to – a bit of a quiet corner of the internet that can serve as a mental refuge.

Are there some YouTube channels that you follow and enjoy? Let me know in the comments!