Homestead Milk Cooling

If you cool your fresh milk right away it will stay fresh much longer and have a better taste.
Here is how I cool mine. I put it in water in this rinse tub and add ice after the jars are in.
It looks funny because the fridge in the kitchen has almost nothing but ice trays in the top freezer.
When we have more milk I use another rinse tub. If you have just up to three jars, you can put them in the sink the same way.
The tubs are in the laundry room.
Hope this helps and enjoy that milk!
Nancy

A New Calf

No matter how many times I see a calf being born I am still very much in awe of the miracle. There are those tense moments when you are watching and waiting. Praying that everything goes well. And feeling sorrow for the cow and its suffering. This was her first calf so she really didn't know what was going on. But, as soon as their calf is born, they know just what to do. You see her here in the pictures licking her calf to clean him (Yep. A little bull calf.) up and get the membrane off. It also warms him and gets the circulation going.

There is a special noise that cows make when talking to their calves that they don't use any other time and they know that noise just as soon as their calf is born and they start speaking to them right away.
After you see that the birth went well and that the calf is responding well, there is the watching and waiting to see if the calf nurses. This little guy wasted no time after getting up on his wobbly legs in finding the teats. This cow wasn't sure what he was trying to do at first but after a few attempts by him, she figured it out and everything went well.

I hope that you will have the experience of watching this miracle take place and be reminded, as we are, that there is so much more in God's plan for his Creation than just our everyday existance. We see His handiwork all around us and for this we are so very grateful.
Nancy

P.S.This cow is Jersey and Black Angus and was bred with Black Angus. When we bought her mother she had been bred with an Angus bull so we bred her with Angus in order to have beef cattle.

Speaking of Bug Spray....

A friend that uses chemicals was talking about the insect problems in his garden this year and said that he sprayed a chemical on there. His comment was, "It doesn't do any good; it just makes them meaner." Our neighbor then came over and said that he had used the same well-known chemical and it hadn't done any good at all. Hmmmm.....
Well, I was happy to find something homemade and harmless that worked.
Nancy

Homemade Bug Spray

Just wanted to let you know that the homemade bug spray worked very well in getting the bugs on the run. (See previous post.) We didn't see any beetles or worms. I'm sure we will need to spray again before long as it wears off.
Hope you have a great day!
Nancy

Refrigerator Pickles

The refrigerator pickles we tried are good! I got the recipe at the Choosing Simplicity blog site. I wondered if soaking them in the salt and ice would really make them crisp, and it does!
I mixed up a concoction to spray on the garden for pests last night. I have never seen so many beetles at one time in my life. There is no way to hand-pick them all because they take off in another direction when you disturb them (and I definitely disturbed them). I have tansy growing and insects don't like it so I made a strong tea out of it, added chopped garlic and cayenne peppers after it cooled, let that soak a while, and then strained it. I poured in a little dishwashing liquid and vegetable oil to make it stick and smother smaller insects. We also have worms in the garden that we haven't had trouble with before and there are GOBS of them. They are eating the jalapeno pepper plants like crazy. Normally (did I say NORMAL?), nothing bothers them.
Well, it's always an adventure.
How's your garden doing?
Nancy
P.S. Thought I'd better mention that I diluted the mixture with water before using and that I sprayed right before the sun went down so it wouldn't scorch the plants. Early morning would be good, too. Don't spray when it's hot or when the plants are in full sun.

Pickle Making

Let the pickle making begin! I was able to make a half-gallon jar of refrigerator dill pickles today and three quarts of regular kosher dills. We haven't tried the refrigerator pickles before so we'll see how they are after they sit in the fridge for three days. The recipe says to wait at least three days and that they get better the longer they are in there. I hope we like them because they are super easy to make.
We weren't sure that we would be able to have a garden this year because of the weather so we are extra happy and grateful to be getting these.
This may seem so obvious that you wonder that it took me so long to realize it, but when I was working in the garden earlier this year planting seeds and plants, it dawned on me that we plant and God does the rest. It's all up to Him. We can't control the weather or anything else. We do what we can and then it's up to Him to give the increase.....or not. He gives life. Period. This is very humbling. And awe-inspiring. And freeing. We've worried and worked so hard in trying to plant around the difficult weather, all of the insects, and everything that wants what you plant. We think, "I'm just not working hard enough or smart enough. Or I've missed something that I should have seen." When I think about it, this applies to everything I do, doesn't it? Everything I do as a wife, mother, grandmother, or friend. I do what I can, planting the seeds, and He does the rest. It's all Him. They are all His. "But, Lord! I've tried so hard!" We can't give the increase. Only He can. And He will. He will.
My daughter-in-love pointed out that it is the same with birth. You do all you can to be healthy and prepare. To be informed and make good choices. And then..... the outcome is in His hands. His precious hands.
Keep planting those seeds and watch for the increase.
Nancy

Fresh Garlic

We dug our garlic last week and the bad news is that several of the tops rotted off when we had all of that rain. The good news is that not all of them did! I was able to make two braids and we have quite a bit without tops to use for food and medicine. There are so many things that garlic is good for. It really is a wonderful herb. And, oh so delicious!
I'll try to put a picture of the braids on here as soon as I get them hung up. They are heavy so I need to put something stronger up to securely hold them.
I hope you will think about planting your own garlic plot this fall. It can be as small (or as large!) as you want. Come next summer you will have your very own fresh garlic!
Nancy

Gardening Around the Weather

Wow. That's quite a feat these days, isn't it? We went from severe thunderstorm warnings and tons of rain each day to severe heat warnings and no rain each day. We put things in the ground as we could, thinking that something was better than nothing. I went out at 6:00 this morning to water before the heat really set in. I have to water at the roots because if there is water on the plant when the hot sun hits it, it will scorch the plant. So, I drag the hose around from plant to plant trying to give everything a good drink. This morning I had a ground hornet that kept coming in for an attack. Normally if I wave my hands around a little I can chase them away. Not this morning. If anyone was watching it must have been quite the sight. I would start out by waving my hand a little and telling it to go away. It would volley around me with intensive buzzing so I would step up the waving. When that didn't work I would take off the hat I was wearing and wave it around. He would start darting around me faster and the buzzing would increase. (Was it really louder or was my now-flowing adrenaline making my sense of hearing keener?) Not having any success I would start waving the hand holding the hose. He seemed to enjoy that challenge and stepped up his maneuvering. Now I am in an all-out attack mode. In order to save my life I now know the only thing I have left is to deftly aim a stream of water at him hoping (and praying) for a direct hit. It worked! He's gone! Hooray! Sweet victory!

Unfortunately, I had to repeat that scenario four times. I decided to add some vocabulary to what turned out to be my final counter-attack and just as things were really getting heated up my husband came around the corner of the house and asked what was wrong. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll get him." My hero.

Apparently, after seeing that the reinforcements had arrived, the little kamikaze rethought things, realized he was outdone, and didn't show up again. (Figures, doesn't it?)

Nancy

Eating Natural

People have asked about making the switch to natural and organic foods and I have found the best way to start is to substitute ingredients. Make what you make now so you will be eating what you like (and possibly head off a revolt from less than enthusiastic family members). Use whole grain flour instead of white flour, unrefined sugar, honey or maple syrup in the place of refined sugar, real salt for white, real maple syrup instead of the not real, and so on. Organic produce is easy to find now and isn't much higher in price than conventional. Naturally raised meats and eggs are also easy to find. Once you get started you may want to branch out and make your own bread. Pancakes and waffles from scratch are GREAT as are so many things made at home from real ingredients. After you get started you will find that you are actually spending less on food and, of course, reaping the benefits of good nutrition.
Hope you'll get started! You'll have lots of fun and be eating lots of good food.
Nancy

Celebrate Farming

Spent the weekend at a farming celebration and had such a great time. Draft horse pull, lots of old horse-drawn equipment, and good friends. There was plenty to look at and lots of things to do. We hated to see it end.
Nancy

Company!

My sister and her two daughters were here for a visit last weekend and we enjoyed seing them so much! My niece wanted to learn how to make butter so here she is shaking the cream. Because she was shaking the jar my sister started singing "La Cucaracha". I said, "Well in that case....." and went and got out the sombrero and maracas for her. Great laughs.

Hope you have some wonderful times and laughs today.

Nancy

Farm Stuff

There is more than one way to mow the grass! Above top is our crew hard at work.
The second picture is of a friend's wood cook stove. Isn't it great? It belonged to her husband's grandmother.
We enjoyed the broccoli from our garden night before last. It was a big first for us to have grown our own. There is something about growing your own food that is very satisfying. And when you eat it that fresh right from the garden it so healthy and delicious. Then you add in the fact that it was grown without chemicals and it is a huge thing indeed!

I want to share something with you that I read the other day in a book that I bought at a garage sale. The title is "Recollections of a Pioneer" and it was written by a man that moved to Missouri in 1839 by covered wagon when he was ten years old. In 1849 he, and other boys and men that lived in the area, set out for Califonia to try to find gold. There were many hazards along the way and when they reached California he became ill. Here are his words: " When we got down to Weaver Creek, three emigrants were at work panning out the gold. We stopped and camped and watched them for a long time. That night I was taken sick with the flux. It was a bad place to be sick and I was dreadfully sick, too. They fixed me a sort of pallet under the shade of a big tree, and I lay there night and day for a week and they didn't know whether I would live or die. Trains were constantly arriving and in one of them there was a doctor. He came down to see me and told the boys they must hunt up a cow and give me fresh warm milk. They told me afterwards they found a train in which somebody had foresight enough to bring a cow along, and they got the milk and brought it to me. I drank it and soon recovered."

How about that for REAL milk?! (The flux was also called the "bloody flux". It was dysentery.)

The book was written by J.W. (Watt) Gibson in 1912.

I'll let you know if I find any other gems in it.

Nancy

Updates

We have had a two-day break from thunderstorms so we are trying to get some things planted in the garden. Hard to believe that it's almost July and we are still trying! This is a first!
I will be cutting some wonderful broccoli tonight and for that I am very thankful. It won't be long before the onions are ready and I noticed some flowers on the tomato plants. We replanted the green beans and they are coming up and also the pickling cucumbers. We still have lots of plants that we started from seed and the seed potatoes are holding on. A big part of the garden washed away so it will take a little bit to get it back in shape. I'm drooling just thinking about fresh vegetables! Lord willing, we will have some yet!
The boer goat kids are getting big! I want so badly to keep the four does to breed again, but we will have to see. I have them advertised for sale because the car is being repaired again. I am planning to wean them very soon either way.
We will be drying Clarabelle up very soon and giving her a rest. So, for a little while we will only be milking two cows. If you look closely at the heading picture you will see Clarabelle. We are still milking just once a day and it is working out very well.
Hope all of you are enjoying summer.
Nancy

Chicken Killer

Jack went into the "big" coop the other night and found a long black snake in the cage with the chicks and it was killing them. I had taken them out of the brooder and put them in the cage so that they would get used to calling the coop home. The snake had killed some the night before, also, but we didn't know what had happened. Jack thought that they had gotten stuck in the sides of the cage. Apparently, the snake was trying to pull them through the sides of the cage. I have always thought that snakes ate only live things so I was very surprised by this. (And, also very sad!) It got away, unfortunately, but we haven't seen it again and the egg production went back up to where it had been. Seems that snake has been having himself some mighty good meals!
I talked to two different families, in as many days, that are wanting to move to the farm. They believe that it might be the best place for a family to be; and I couldn't agree more.
Nancy

A Nice Surprise

Our neighbor came pulling up with his team of Percherons pulling his buggy the other morning and asked us to hop in for a ride, if we weren't busy.(It didn't matter how busy we were, we weren't going to pass that up!) He was going to be giving wagon rides at his house later in the day for a party and was taking the horses out for a preride to let them get any restlessness worked out. (As it turns out, they pulled beautifully with no problems, but it is always a good idea to do that, no matter what.)
It was a very nice and peaceful ride and we chatted about different things. He asked what had brought us to this part of the country. I briefly told him why we had come here. (All of that will be explained in the Journey-To-Simplify posts I've been doing as soon as I get them going again!) When I finished my husband said, "So, you could be looking at a rich man, but instead you're looking at a poor one." I kind of under my breath said something like, "There's more than one way to be rich.", but before I could finish our neighbor said, "I think you're rich."
He and his wife both work full-time and have a very nice place. She pays someone to do her housework because she doesn't have time. He has a saddle repair business on the side but he said he can't keep up with it. When they need or want to do something at their place they can afford it. He told us that it was his birthday and when we said that we hoped he had a great time at his party, he told us that just having the time to hitch up his horses and take a ride was all that he wanted. It really meant a lot to him.
As you can imagine, comments like that do a person a world of good when it comes to keeping in mind what is really important in this life. And, when the going has been rough, it can make all the difference.
We're keeping both hands on the plow again.
Hope you are, too.
Nancy

One of Those Days!

We had gone to a local livestock auction last year and noticed that the hens, chicks, and other birds were bringing a very high price! We decided to hatch out some extra chicks to sell for some extra money. We had several hatch out and kept them for a couple of weeks until auction day. It finally arrived and we loaded them up in cages and off we went.
We wanted to get there a little early to check them in and we thought it started at 1:00. After handing them over to the people there we looked around and took our seats. 1:00 came and went and finally it started. Someone had brought in a bunch of scrap metal and stuff hoping to make a little bit off of it. They auctioned off every bit of that stuff first, finally got to the birds and rabbits (there were many), and after a couple of hours more, finally got to ours.
We were told that because it was a holiday weekend there weren't near as many people as usual, but there were still lots of people there. We watched animal after animal go through and hardly anyone would bid. They were going for next to nothing. Some weren't bid on at all and some bids were so low that the owners said to forget it, they would just take the animals back home. Jack looked over and told me that if they only went for fifty cents then we would take them back home and wait until later or keep them ourselves.
The auctioneer would start off trying to sell each one at a time, but when noone would bid he would sell everything in the cage together for one price.
Our birds were the very last ones to be auctioned and he started the bidding. We had two cages. The bidding for the first one went up to $3.50. The second one went up to $5.00. We were shocked! Why would they bid so high on ours? We had seen several people looking at them for a while, but when other chicks could hardly be given away, what had made the difference?
I got in line to collect what we had made while Jack waited for the buyers to empty our cages. People had to wait as they figured up what they owed them and then made out their check. I thought to myself, "Too bad they're paying by check when it is a holiday weekend. We'll have to wait and come back into town to cash it." They took my ticket and told me to wait for my check. The lady came back after several minutes and said,"Yours is cash." I'm thinking how amazing that is when I had just had that thought and she handed me the money. A whole $6.00.
Yep, you guessed it. The auctioneer hadn't tried to sell ours by each but only by the whole cagefull.
Twenty-six birds for $6.00.
Back to the drawing board.....
Nancy

Hands To The Plow

We plowed with Millie the other day and she did so well! It really was a blessing to have her respond to the lines when we guided her. She has so much to teach us. Jack held the lines at first and drove her and I guided the plow. Then we switched and Jack drove the plow while I led Millie where we wanted her to go. It was so good that we got to try each side of it, and we could both understand so well the message that our daughter-in-law shared with us soon after that she had heard at church. (We were amazed and delighted at him using this as an illustration today, as others in agriculture were that I have shared this story with.)
The minister spoke about keeping both hands on the plow and not looking back. He told of a family that he had known well. They were a very close and strong family. They were very active and a blessing to many. Then they went to the wife's high school reunion. She saw her old friends and some of her old life. At first she just took one hand off of the plow to look back at that old life that she had had. Then she decided that she wanted it again; let go of the plow completely, and turned back. The children lost their way, and the family fell apart. It was disastrous.
The minister's eyes teared up as he recalled it; remembering the results of her going back. I wish there was a happy ending, but the family was destroyed forever.
When I've looked at that field with so much left to plow and the endless days ahead that it will take to produce anything; I've been tempted to look back. When the storms have come, and the crops are failing, and I lose an animal that year; I've been tempted to turn back. Don't look back. Let's keep both hands on the plow, holding it even tighter when the going gets rough, so we don't look back. We will finish one day and it all will be worth it.
And, if you ever find that you have been looking back, or even if you have actually left off plowing to turn back; go pick up that plow. It's not too late. It's still there waiting for you. There may be some rough spots to work out at first, but when you get through them; the going will be easier.
And Jesus said unto him,"No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62
Nancy

Trail Ride Pictures

Here are a few of the trail ride pictures I promised. What a fun experience that was! I hope to put more pictures on here.

Nancy

Hopeful Things

I've noticed something very exciting going on lately. Everywhere I go people are talking about getting chickens, planting a garden, and canning food. I think that is a very hopeful thing!
Nancy

Old-Time Farming Information

If you are looking for information on farming and farm life from the past, you will really enjoy going to: www.agrariannation.com. How to feed animals, preserve foods, control insects, and more.
Check it out!
Nancy

Trail Ride

We went on a trail ride in a wagon pulled by a team of Belgians that was so much fun. The destination was a church where they served a fried chicken dinner; all you could eat. There was every kind of wagon and buggy imaginable and a good two hundred horses tied up that belonged to the people that road horseback. The weather was beautiful and the ride so relaxing. You really have time to take in everything when you are moving at that pace. The dogwoods were blooming and I marveled at their graceful form and beauty. They seemed to be swirling amongst the other trees and dancing as we road by. When we passed a spring fed rivulet I could see every sparkle on the water and hear the ripples. To let you know how relaxing it was, two people were sleeping in one of the wagons that was with us on the way back. :-)
I took pictures and hope to have them on here soon.
Nancy

The Joys of Spring

Tender and tasty spinach in the cold frame

You just have to try it!

Annual ryegrass broadcasted by hand last fall in the raised bed. All of those wonderful nutrients ready to till into the soil!

Look at these cuties lined up in a row!

Spring is wonderful, isn't it?

Nancy

Journey To Simplify-Part Ten

"You will never have to move again. I'll never let happen to you what happened to my dad.", were the words that my father-in-law spoke to us when we moved onto the farm. Shortly before he passed away his closest friend paid him a visit to warn him that his present wife was not going to do what she had promised him she would do with his farm and estate, according to his wishes. That his children would never see any of it. If only he had heeded the warning. Immediately after his death, his wife went out on the town to celebrate; and our lives became a living hell. To be continued... Nancy

Pruning

We had a stretch of warm beautiful weather and things suddenly started blooming and putting on leaves! The next thing you know, we had 7 inches of snow in one day. So, this morning I was standing in snow pruning the clematis that had begun to leaf out. O.K. That's a first! I started thinking about pruning as I was working and how many people say they are afraid to prune because they might hurt the plant and wouldn't it just be better to let it grow naturally? I used to hesitate myself. But, it really does help. I once had a clematis that grew in a big pot and year after year it just struggled along barely getting any blooms. I knew the potential of this type of plant, so I did various things to help it along; except for pruning. I was afraid to. Then one day I decided to go for it, after learning more about it. The plant grew very well, filled out, and had lots of beautiful blooms.

I think we, as people, are afraid of the pruning that comes to us sometimes. I know I am. We try to avoid the inevitable, not realizing the good that it will bring about in the long-run (or maybe even in the short-run!). We, unfortunately, do not grow very well without it. Yes, it hurts. And, yes, it's scary. But, hopefully, we are stronger and more beautiful afterwards.

Lean into the pruning. Don't be afraid. Let the Master Gardener do His work. You won't be disappointed.

Nancy

Just A Note

Just to let you know that the book "Safely Home" is on sale at Vision Forum this week for $3.50. Nancy

Safely Home

I finished the book, "Safely Home", by Tom Eldredge and it is the best thing that I have read in many years. What an amazing little book. Even though it is small, it takes a while to read, because you keep going back over every part to read it again!
Hope you check it out. You'll be blessed.
Nancy

The Deeper Things of Life

I'm pondering the deeper things of life like: Why is it that when there is a spoon in the sink the water from the faucet always hits it?
So true.
But, o.k., how about this? "If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as the souls who live under tyranny." Thomas Jefferson `1778 I'm always amazed at the insight that the Founding Fathers had.
Or, how about this: "Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds: For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?
The hay appeareth, and the tender grass showeth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.
The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.
And thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens." Proverbs 27:23-27 This has always been true, and maybe knowing this has even been taken for granted at times. But, do you see a need to take note of this today?
Nancy

A Wonderful Surprise

What a wonderful surprise this morning to look out and see our wonderful new neighbors come up the drive to help with chores! Can you imagine?! They want to have animals, and a garden and such, so they are eager to pitch in and learn first-hand. What a blessing for both sides!

We have been able to do a lot to get the garden area ready when we have had breaks in the weather. Today it is cold and rainy with some sleet. I see signs that spring is right around the corner, though!

I am getting ready to start seeds in pots and hope to use the new greenhouse.

What are you doing to get ready for spring?

Nancy

Draft Horse Sale

We went to the big draft horse sale last week and while in the area we decided to go fill our kerosene containers at the general store. Things looked very still and the door was locked so we decided we had made the trip for nothing and left. Ahead in the road we noticed what looked like a truck and a buggy off of the road. We feared the worst and drove up to find that the horse had shied because of the ice on the road and gone into the snow-filled ditch. The man in the truck had stopped to offer help and soon sped off. We pulled up and got out to help the young woman that had been driving the buggy. She was fine and was trying to unhitch the horse whose legs had sunk in the snow with its rear end resting on the bank. Fortunately, it was unhurt and was led up out of the ditch and onto the road. Meanwhile, the truck that had stopped came pulling up with an Amish man to help. He asked what had happened and she told him the horse had shied and he and I together said,"Thank goodness that's all that happened." Everyone got the buggy out of the ditch and onto the road and the men got back into the truck and left. She had the horse hitched to the buggy again before you knew what had happened! We told her what a good job she had done and that she sure had a good horse because it was ready to go again without any problem and that we hoped the rest of her day went well. Off she went with the horse at a brisk trot.
I was very impressed with how this young woman handled the situation and I was struck by the big smiles on the men's faces when they pulled up to help. But two things really stood out about this whole thing for me that day. Number one: They could go to the first Amish farm for help. And number two: Someone was home. You can't take those two things for granted any more.
Nancy

Flabbergasted

The place next to ours has been empty and for sale ever since we moved here. They finally have a contract on it (for less than half of what they were asking) and asked Jack to help them get it ready. (No, we're not to the flabbergasted part yet.) The wife asked him to help with something today. He told her that he would be able to after he got done milking. She said, "Milking?! What do you do with the milk?" "We drink it." And to that she replied, "I just go to the store and buy the REAL stuff." (Yep, emphasis mine. And, .... now we're flabbergasted.)
I guess we've had it all wrong. :-0
Nancy

Snow and Ice

We are feeling a little weary of the snow and ice. We woke up to more on the ground and it's been snowing all morning. The good part is that it gave us some traction for walking on the ice; the bad part is the spots where the snow isn't deep enough to give you that traction. And, of course, you don't know where those spots are until you are on top of them. :-) If you didn't have to dress in five or more layers each time you ventured outside it might not be so bad. Or maybe not. I did have a nice thing happen as I was doing chores, though. I walked into the goat barn to give them hay and turned to walk out when I saw a flock of over fifty birds on the ground in front of where I was at. I stopped and watched the juncos, sparrows, and cardinals eating grain that had been dropped on the ground until a chicken came walking out of the "little" coop and scared them off. At first I thought it was amazing that so many birds had shown up so quickly, but then I wondered if they were having a hard time finding something to eat these days. I walked out of the barn and they came back and started feeding again with me standing there. One of the juncos was no more than three feet from me.
I am trying to remember that spring is just around the corner. It surely is.

Oh These Interesting Times

We made it through what they were calling "a potentially historic storm" without losing power. We did what we could to prepare and left it in God's hands. He is good. We have extremely cold temperaures coming up now, but the sun is shining this morning which always makes everything seem better.
Jack's youngest sister and her children have made it safely out of Egypt and are in Greece for a short time before returning to the States. We are very thankful for that.
Got the seed catalogs out last night to help take my mind off of the howling wind. It is relaxing and fills me with hope thinking about spring and being able to plant again. It is always so encouraging isn't it? To think of the warmer temperatures and the excitement of plants coming up and baby animals being born. It's such a blessing.
Hope you all fared well in the storm and that your thoughts are on spring, which is just around the corner.
Nancy

Wise Words

The older gentleman that built the cordwood house said that when he finished it his son-in-law (the same one that had scoffed at the idea of him building it himself) asked him what he wanted for it. The man said, "It's not for sale." The son-in-law, "Oh, come on. Everything has a price." He said, "Not in this case." The son-in-law asked, "How about a million dollars?" The man replied, "What would I do with a million dollars? This is what I wanted and I have it." Hmmmm....there's wisdom here. The thing that stood out the most about all of these people that had built their own homes was the joy, satisfaction, and freedom that you could hear in their voices and see in their faces. They had done it. (Interesting that it was a relative that tried to discourage this man from even starting. That can be even harder to overcome than an unrelated person.)
He also told us that his grandmother used to say to him in German: "Waste nothing-want for nothing." He spoke it in German; I wish I could do that for you.
Nancy

Alternative Energy and Building Class

We attended an all-day alternative building and energy class yesterday. They covered solar energy using the standard collectors on the roof, photovoltaic collectors, and house design, such as, positioning of the house and windows and eaves to let sunshine in during the winter but not in the summer. They had energy-saving appliances and incorporated many things when building their house to insulate and shield. The second house we visited was built using the cordwood method. The man who built it was 70 years old at the time and did the work himself. Wow. He had a sod roof and had built the house around a stone pillar in the middle that ran up from the wood furnace (that he also built himself) in the basement. He had recessed his shower into the pillar so it would be very warm and in the kitchen he had recessed a place for his beautiful Stanley wood cook stove. Awesome! At the third house they had used straw-bale building for their home and were working on an outside storage building using the same method. They also were working on an outside clay oven! One of the families attending had built one, too, so we were able to talk to them about it. That is another long-time dream of mine: to have a clay oven. The family said that they mainly use it for cooking pizzas. Yum!
It was a very full day and we have lots to think about, as far as, using what we learned.
Hope your days are going well!

Journey To Simplify-Part Nine

The house wasn't in nearly as bad a shape as the previous one, but it did need a new roof, septic system, lots of cleaning, and new paint. We had many many wonderful times there, also. We had laying hens, meat chickens, steers for beef, turkeys, goats, and a large garden. Our lives were full of joy and, because the plant had closed, Jack was home all day and we felt like we were finally getting to where we wanted to be. We started raising quail for falconers, as falconry was very big in the area. We all came to love doing this and planned to keep on with it. We were able to spend much time with Jack's dad which became even more important when he passed away two-and-a-half years later. Not knowing what the future held we planned to continue on with what we had been doing. We had no way of knowing that we were about to enter a time of very deep trouble.
To be continued.....