Roy and Allie Hyde do life differently.

“We live richly, but cheaply,” says Roy, whose usual uniform is long gray hair, a bandana around his head and a pair of overalls. “We're trying to live within our means and as simply as possible.”

The Hydes live in Fairhope on 16 acres in a house that is completely recycled. The couple gutted the house and reconstructed the inside, doing all of the work themselves. Allie, who learned carpentry decades ago, built the couple's cabinets. They strive to use what's available around them and create as little waste as possible.

“I always liked the concept of when you leave there's no sign of you,” Roy says. “You try to make things better, not interrupt them. I want to be in tune with the whole thing.”

For years, the Hydes worked several different jobs to support themselves — Roy has been a teacher, a charter boat captain, an electrician and an all-around handyman; Allie worked for Page and Palette for 20 years. The couple has also worked on other people's homes and has remodeled a few homes completely.

Now in “retirement,” they support themselves by selling their handcrafted furniture and other wood works, and they cut down on bills by performing all of their own home maintenance, keeping chickens and growing vegetables.

“I originally learned all of this because I didn't have a lot of money, I couldn't afford to pay somebody to do it,” Allie says. “We still do our own electrical and our plumbing — really, we're quite self-sufficient. The only thing we have a repair man for is the air conditioning.”

But being self-sufficient is a lot of hard work.

“I live to work,” Allie says. “We have so much property here that we really could use a crew full time to keep it up, so there's not a lot of down time.”

Roy says he wasn't always able to be so active. He is a colon cancer survivor and has had a shoulder replacement, torn rotator cuff and ongoing back problems.

“I'm 72, and I know every minute of it, I guess,” he says. “I don't walk very well.”

However, Roy walks well enough to work outside every day, using a sawmill to cut large pieces of wood, chasing his peacock around and checking on his beehives. And when he looks back on where's he has been, he is thankful.

“I have been pathetic,” he says. “We went to Earth Day while I was sick, and I could take about six steps, and then I'd have to sit down. Everybody that saw me the next Earth Day when I was better thought I was a different person. Now, we just keep working, and it keeps us young and healthy.”