Archive for June, 2009

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June 29, 2009

Monday, June 29th, 2009

What a great, but very hot weekend we had. Friday I had my second banjo lesson. I did not get to practice as much last week as I had hoped to do, but it was still OK. I managed to pick up two new, simple songs to learn and my fingers are sore now from practicing the rolls and playing Cripple Creek one hundred million and fifteen times. LOL I was able to practice about 2 hours after my lesson on Friday and then an hour or more both days this weekend. Not too bad and I am actually starting to get those slides and hammer on’s down pat. Mega enjoyment!

Saturday we got up early and had the chain saw in the woods by 7am. It was still at least a LITTLE cool at that time of day. We put the Eggs For Sale sign up by the driveway, but have not sold any eggs yet. We are getting a dozen a day. What does not sell can be used by family and friends. I can always sell them here at work as well. We then headed to the thick woods beside the branch for some serious tree cutting. There is an area close to the road, across the branch from the house, that I plan to put our garden next year. Behind that area is where I hope to talk Amanda into building a house the first part of 2011. We want to clear that area of a bunch of trees and small undergrowth. That garden will get more sun and it will look a lot better from the road. The thing is, those woods are grown up and THICK. There are some beautiful trees in there. Pretty cedars, poplars and even some oaks. We want to keep a variety of the trees, different sizes, but make the area more clear and healthier. So we headed out with a plan. Slowly but surely over the next few hours, Chris and I were able to cut a good clearing of trees, leaving the ones we hand picked for what we hope will be Amanda’s front yard some day. We then worked our way through the woods to the branch (of which I plan to name Brannon Brook, so I will call it that from now on) and cut down more trees. We found a huge cedar that had fallen on its own by Brannon Brook (love the name). We can get that cut up for firewood as well. When we got to the stream, I took time to make sure I cooled off with the cold water. By this time we were covered in sweat and exhausted….and so very hot! It was mid morning and we were done with that for awhile! We got the chainsaw stuck in a huge tree that would not fall all the way to the ground because vines were holding it up! We actually had to take the blade and chain off to get it out. All other trees fell as we desired them to. We have about 40 trees down now, some small, some a little larger. I figure we have maybe a cord and a half of wood on the ground now. We have an area we want to clear beside the driveway, because we intend to put the woodshed there. Also there is a nice open area that has grown up some on the other side of the barn. I think it once was a pasture of several acres, maybe 3-4 acres. We intend to get it cleared and make a pasture there for future use. We are picking and choosing the trees we take and leaving some of all sizes, that way the woods will sustain us for many, many years with firewood for the winter.

The reason I want to call the branch, Brannon Brook, is because my Papaw was a Brannon and my Mam-maw and love of my life was a Brook. So I know the branch most likely has a real name, but then it enters our property to where it leaves our property, it will be called Brannon Brook. We are wanting a good name for our farm. Everybody around here has farm names. Nothing is really standing out at this time. There are cedar, maple and walnut trees over 100 years old all around the house and farm. There are cute names that come to mind, but the family insists I name it The Broken House Farm, because Perrin has called it that from day one and now has the entire family calling it The Broken House. LOL But yeah I am not feeling it, calling our lovely farm The Broken House. ROFL. Any ideas anyone?

So Saturday flew by, we rested on the porch until we were able to walk and not pour sweat and then we headed down to Gee Creek Campground for a warm shower. We waded in poison ivy and I am badly allergic to it. So we wanted to get it washed off us with a lot of soap and warm water. I spent the rest of the day pretty much piddling around the house, quilting, crocheting and relaxing in the heat as much as possible. Sunday we got up to a muggy morning. All the chores were done and it was hot before we got through. I did two loads of laundry and got it hung out on the line. We had planned to take a trip up the Cherohala but I got a phone call from work with a major emergency. I ended up at work for quiet awhile on Sunday dealing with the emergency. We grabbed chicken and enjoyed that and then went over to visit Amanda and Perrin for awhile. Shannon came over and we had a good time together. We headed home to chores and banjo practice. The water in the Spring is so cool and I got a bucket and had a bath on the back porch while the kittens played with my feet. It rained (of course because I had clothes on the line) and cooled things down a bit. We woke up at 430 this morning and could not go back to sleep. Chris offered to treat me to breakfast in town, so we headed out and on the way I heard it is supposed to be cooling down into the mid 80’s the next few days and low 60’s to even the 50’s at night! I am REALLY looking forward to that. We got the barrels ready to the stand and will be hooking up all of the pipes today. One of the barrels will actually be high enough on the stand, and turned away from the house, so we can build a privacy fence on two sides and put the patio block down to make a nice shower area. I LOVE taking a shower/bath with fresh rain water. If you turn the spigot just right on the barrel, it makes a nice shower spray and feels wonderful. So, that is the plan for today…AFTER we see the attorney at 2pm for the sworn statements.

I got the corn meal put out this weekend for the ants and will try that first. Next weekend I will document any changes and then try something else if that does not work. I am already looking forward to Winter though, less bugs and cooler weather.

I have more pics on the other memory card at home, but I do have a few to put up today. Tomorrow I will put a lot up of things outside at the farm, things we need to do and things we have done. I hope everyone is having a great Monday.


The sign goes up and hopefully the chickens will start
paying for themselves.


The thick overgrown woods near the house


Cutting the trees high on the trunk BECAUSE… Don
said we need to do it this way so he can help get the
stumps out.


AHA! The woods are suddenly brighter and we can
see the SUN!


I am glad this nest was empty, as we cut the cedar
that held the nest!


The current quilt I am working on. Someday…I will get it
done. It is all hand sewn and will be hand quilted as well,
even the binding.



Bad cell pics of the blanket I am crocheting. I love the design
and hope to get it done for a Yule gift.

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Posted in Bringing The Farm Back To Life | 5 Comments »

June 26, 2009

Friday, June 26th, 2009

Yesterday we got home a bit late. I found a note from the previous owner of the farm. He wanted me to call him. In true nature, I just expected it to be bad news and lost sleep over it. It is a shame that what was done to us last year has left me with a constant feeling of dread. Everytime something happens I automatically think “we are going to lose our home”, “he wants it back now”, “we are not going to get to keep it”. It is horirble and I hate feeling that way, but after what Hazel did to us, I am so worried that someone will change their mind and it will all be gone again.

I called this morning and he said he was driving by the farm and wanted to drop off the receipt from last month. THe mailman had messed up our mail and the receipt was sent back, slong with other things to other people. So he was so sweet to drop it by the house.

I was walking through the house last night about 3am. There was a huge pack of coyotes that were going crazy just before that. Cletus and SadieMae started howling on the porch. Chris had gotten up to calm the dogs. A bit afterwards I headed through the house and for the first time I did not need a light. It was dark, but I instinctly knew where the doors were, the steps, the walls, everything. This may not seem like a big deal wo anyone else, but to me it showed me that I am at HOME, getting to know it like the back of my hand…even in the pitch black darkness.

In the waste not want not category….we spotted a man hauling this bench to the lanfill. It had a few pieces of rotted, broken wood in it. I stopped him, got it out of his truck and Chris put new wood on it. Now we have a wonderful bench to put by the branch to sit on and watch the snakes!

We got the steps put up on one side of the back porch. THis of course makes it easier for Sadiemae to go get her favorite kitten off the back porch and take it around front to play with it. But it also makes it easier for me to get to the compost pile from the kitchen and to the clothesline from the backporch.

Perrin is still “Diggin” the new farm. The child would spend his entire day digging a hole if we would let him. Here he is helping Chris dig the hole for one of the goldfish ponds. His big plan now is to dig the outhouse home, because he too misses the outhouse!

Perrin just turned four. He was excited to have the snake presentation for this birthday party. Here is is petting the corn snake. Amanda had to hold his hand back because he would have just grabbed that snake and loved it forever!  Corn snakes are so beautiful.

I have lots of pics around the farm that I will put up when I get a chance. I forgot my memory card at home.

This weekend we will be very busy, so my post Monday will be full of activity. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

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June 24, 2009

Friday, June 26th, 2009

Well I am not on the computer “a lot”, but I do check the forums and send emails a few times a day from work. I make a run through of forums I am a member of, the website we maintain and check my email before work of a morning, during lunch on some day and then just before I leave work for the day. Yes I do have a 9-5 job. Nothing was given to me free in life and there was nothing to inherit as well, so I work. If I did not, we would not be able to make the farm payments. I have had this job for 10 years now and although I would love to quit and stay entirely on my farm, we do have a land payment, car payment and insurance to pay. I work, Chris stays home and keeps the grandson. Although I do live with the electricity and computers at work, when I leave, it is non electric from there on. It gives me the peace in life I need at my age. I am not against electricity, every single person I know in real life has it. When I visit them, I never tell them to cut their lights out, TV’s off or not cook my food on an electric stove. I am not ignorant, nor disrespectful. I simply have chosen to live as much as my dream as possible, by living with no electricity at MY home. 

Now on with the GREEN living situation:

I am going to try some of the suggestions for ants this weekend. I plan to try to cornmeal first. As aggrevating as the little critters are, I think I will try one suggestion at a time for a while and make note of what works the best. That way is anyone else has an ant issue in a 100 year old house, they will know what worked best for us….and trust me, the ant problem is just horrible. I am a barefoot person, as soon as I get home my shoes go off and they do not go back on until I have to leave for work again. Having thousands of ants roaming the floors is not pleasant….lol. So I will keep track of my ant successes and failures and let you guys know.

I never realized how much I was going to miss the outhouse. We still do not have the hole dug and it set up. We have the toilet inside the house and carry water to flush it. It is so strange how I do not mind so much using the toilet at work or at other people’s homes, but I truly miss walking out to the outhouse at home. So….I hope this weekend we will have time to start digging the hole for the outhouse and get it set up. We could really use it out towards the barn, and that is not terribly far from the house, so I will pick a spot and hopefully it will be in use soon!

We did not get to have a garden this year and I just found out yesterday that Don planted extra in his garden so we could have some of it for our use. When his corn comes in, he said I could come help pick it and if I help them get their corn put up, we will get about 6 dozen ears to can for ourselves. Also, his apple trees are covered and the muscadines are growing like crazy! So canning will start very soon and it will be interesting to get it all done. I have had an offer from a friend, who has a huge kitchen on his farm. He built this kitchen so he could process all of his own foods. It is almost like a commercial kitchen with stanless steel sinks and several stoves, lots of canners and pressure cookers and such. He said if I would come over and teach his wife to can food from their garden, I could come any time I desire and use the kitchen for my own canning. I am tempted….very tempted….because I can process 24-36 jars at a time there in one run, as opposed to 7 jars at a time at my house and it taking 2 days to can something. BUT….I love my kitchen and think I will just get it done there. That is not to say I will never take him up on the offer, because if I have 60 quarts of green beans to can and only have one day off work….the temptation may be too much to resist. LOL

Now for the big news update. My attorney called yesterday. She is not wanting to release the check. There are still issues she wants “resolved”. She wants me to pay her $3000.00 for 250-300 cedar boards that never existed. She claims there is scrap wood and concrete blocks on the hill by her house that “belong to us” and she wants them gone, and she does not want us to come and get them. She wants us to pay her $500 to get rid of them. And she says there is an odor where the outhouse was and she wants to use some of the $500 to fix that. We cannot go get the blocks, wood, or fix the odor issue. After she takes care of it she will give us the other $2500.00 left.

So, the blocks were the blocks that Jimmy gave to me and Chris for the root cellar. We hauled a bunch to the house. What was left by her house, she gave to “Bob” the preacher. He built a fire pit with them. She informed us they no longer belonged to us, but now…suddenly they do. The boards were Jimmy’s and he never gave them to us at all, so we never took them. “Bob” hauled in two truck loads of scrap wood and piled it on top of Jimmy’s wood. Suddenly, all of the wood belongs to us. But we cannot go get it and use it for firewood, we have to pay her to sell it to someone else. The “odor” is a figment of Bill’s imagination. We covered that hole very well, so well that we could drive the tractor over it, we walked over it, there was no odor, we were there after it rained on the ground AFTER we filled it in and there was no odor. Regardless, she gave us permission to put the outhouse up there. So…I was given 4 options by my attorney. 1) send a letter countering everything she said (which would do nothing as they ignore our letters) 2) call her attorney and asked what the real problem is (which will get us no where) 3) give them five days to release the check (no good as they wilol ignore it) and 4) file a motion in court to have the check released, get sworn affidavits from Don (Jimmy’s brother) stating there was never 300 cedar boards, another one from the deputy stating he witnessed us being harrassed, file a motion in court to have the check released and ask to award us additional damages for my medical bills, harrassment, pain, suffering, etc and legal fees. File a huge lawsuit against her, subpeona Bill, Bob and others as hostile witnesses, segregate them in court, pay a court recorder to document their testimony and see what happens.

I chose option 4. Everyone is telling me I have played too nice in this. Don told me yesterday. He agreed to not only give a statement but to go to court to testify for us as well. I want this settled, I am tired of playing games. We are going for it. My patience and overly nice mindset ended yesterday evening. I will not be treated this way when I did nothing wrong.

Now back to the farm!

I have been promising pictures and will get some up in the next few days. We have me washing laundry, us hauling water, Perrin digging a hole for the pond and several other things, including a tree I cannot identify. All fun, non electricky type things. I will get them posted in the next day or two.

Another thing I can attest to when you live without electricity:

You can never have too many buckets. It seems like we are always needing buckets or can never find the bucket we need. I never imagines you would need so many buckets living like this!

Posted in Daily Journal (After The Move) | No Comments »

June 25, 2009

Friday, June 26th, 2009
It is a shame that people cannot make this choice, to live self sustainable as possible, without electric or modern conveniences, without the government making laws to make it impossible to to this. They are tied in with the electric companies I swear. I am thankful that where I live you can still have outhouses and live the way we are choosing, without the government forbidding us to do so. THere are some states that have laws to prevent this.

Someone the other day stated our choice to live like this is  “nutty”. As for it being “nutty”, I guess to the majority of the country, it probably does seem that way. To be honest, I was shocked that my daughters both approved of my choice. I guess it was because they knew I had dreamed of this their entire lives and knew my mother had this same dream and died with the regret of not trying it.

I cannot begin to explain why this lifestyle appeals to me so deeply. Maybe it is the same thing that makes some folks love living in the city and some cannot leave the country. It is just a difference in our hearts, a different definition of peace and contentment.

This lifestyle was not completely new to me. I grew up with an outhouse, lived for certain periods of time without electricity. When I married and he eventually lost his job, we ended up on the creek bank for almost a year or so. It was the best year of our marriage. I was so happy then.

I have two daughter’s who would never choose to live as I do. One of them would go crazy if she thought she had to move out of town. The house seems dark to them, they prefer to “hold it” until they get home as opposed to using the outhouse. But they never have told me I was nuts or condemned me for my choice, because they know and see I am happier living that choice than I have ever been in my life. And…I find it interesting that both of them have been stressed at one time or another and both chose to come to my home to spend time there to calm down and relax….because it was more peaceful than anywhere else. I have said before, when the grandkids come, they don’t want to leave. On days that Chris has to go to Amanda’s to watch Perrin, Perrin is not very happy about it because he wants to go to the Broken House (as he calls it) and stay for the day. He has hundreds of dollars of transformers, robots, costumes, trucks, cars, tractors and wagons at home. The TV and tons of movies he loves. But his number one favorite thing at our house now is not the new Bumblebee Transformer he got for his birthday, it is the box of tools he got. And those tools are at the Broken House and he loves more than anything to build and fix things with his Papaw. Yesterday, they built a bench, put steps on the back porch, put shelves up and took apart a work bench so Perrin could put it back together. I have to believe that kind of interaction, those skills will be better for him in his life than sitting in front of a Transformer movie for the 1000th time watching Optimus Prime fight Decepticons. They love it so much that Devin had his Daddy call me when on vacation last week and wanted me to come and get him so he could spend time at our house.

As for me, I do think that maybe I am helping the environment some, and I do take some pride in that. But that is not why I live this way, not why I have chosen to live this lifestyle. I do think the world is in bad shape and that perhaps living this way might prepare me or maybe my grandkids for bad times ahead of us. But that as well is not why I made this choice. I do not despise modern things or conveniences and I don’t think people are “nutty” or crazy for choosing to live with them. I am glad my daughters have electric stoves, lights, central heat and air, because I know it makes them happy and they love their life with it. I do not judge anyone for having it, wanting it, loving it. But it is just not something that makes me overly excited in MY life.

When we rented the trailer over a year ago. We had about every modern thing anyone could hope for. Every electric appliance and thing that people like to have. When I got home from work, Chris would get on his computer in the livingroom and me on mine in the bedroom. I would cook a quick supper and we would eat on most days at the computers. I would then be on the phone or read with the bright lights on while he watched one show after another on the TV. We seldom talked to each other. We took a lot for granted. Perrin demanded to watch Backyardigans or Little Einsteins or Sponge Bob when he was over. There was little interaction, little communication. There was always noise and something running or going on. I hated going outside after being inside where it was 65 degrees on a 100 degree day. I never wanted to be outside in the Winter because I was so used to it being warm and toasty inside. The fridge made it so convenient to eat processed foods and ice cream. You would not believe what my triglycerides and cholesterol were back then. I would excape through books on self sufficient living, Countryside Magazine, hoping I could find an OLD movie or TV show where they lived without the hundreds of things that I had around me.

Then one day we had that chance, a chance to see if those hidden dreams were as good as I thought. If they were REALLY the way I wanted to live. When I thought about my mother, going back and forth to chemo treatments, we talekd about it. She had wanted to go back to Coker Creek so bad and live like this, but felt she was too old, then got too sick, then her dream became her biggest regret in her life. Then she died never knowing. I did not want to end like that. If it only lasted a month at least I would then be able to say “Mother, it was NOT what we thought it would and could be”. So I went for it.

And over a year later, when I think about the LIFESTYLE….I have no regrets. It is not an easy life living like this. You work your backend off. You don’t think about vacations much because you worry about who will take care of the farm. Not just anyone would stay in a non electric house and feed and water chickens and such every day. Yeah it would be easier to throw my clothes in a washing machine and then a dryer and be done with it in a few hours. It is not easy for laundry to take half a day. It would be easier to flip a switch and have bright light to extend your day. But easier or not, it offers me a lot more positive than negative. Our bodies now wake up at 6am every morning without a screaming alarm clock. The oil lamps have a peaceful glow. eating breakfast in my little kitchen on my Mam-maws table, with the birds singing outside, the roosters crowing and no other noise (no TV, music, neighbors screaming, cars driving by, nothing) offers you a peaceful way to start your day. We waste less water when we have to carry it to the house for dishes, baths and even to flush the toilet. I know some day we will not be able to carry it, and we will then get a pump, but for now, we enjoy it and are not a bit wasteful. I leave for work with kisses from my cats and dogs and walk outside to a beautiful scene of the branch and spring running, the goldfish swimming in the ponds, the herbs growing strong, the Anise, Sage, Lemon Balm and Chocolate Mint giving fragrance to the perfect morning. When I come home there is not a phone ringing, noises all through the house, air conditioners blowing and such. I pull into my driveway and my grandson comes flying off the porch with a grin on his face, gives me a kiss and wants me to immediately see what him and Papaw made today or dug, or planted or fixed. I love on the dogs, pet the cats, get a hug from the man I love and we talk! We spend time together all evening.

Then as it grows dark, I hear the whippoorwill start singing, the owl down by the branch letting me know it is time for bed. The chickens get shut up for the night, the dogs go to bed on the porch, the darkness comes and the oil lamps get blown out and when I go to bed, there is nothing, no unnatural sounds. I am sleeping more peaceful than I ever have.

So, that feeling, that peace, that love of life and excitement to live is why I am “nutty” about this lifestyle choice. I don’t think that my ancestors worked so hard to provide the modern things for me to be honest. I think they worked so hard because they had to. They did not work to get electricity. They had no clue what it was and when it came around to their part of the mountain, they were the last ones to get it because they were afraid of it. I never heard either Mam-maw or my mother say “I am sure glad I have this electric stove or air conditioner”. I did however hear them say “I miss my wood cookstove a lot and “let’s sit out on the porch and talk where it is not as loud and warmer.” I also heard a LOT…”I miss the old days”. So it must have not been THAT bad on them.

It is not THAT bad on me either. I have gained much more than I could ahve imagined. Chris and I are so much closer. My life does not feel rushed and full of chaos. My choice was right for me, not because I am saving the environment, not because I am anti-modern, not because I hate the government or want to hold on to hippyness. Simply because I love it….love it dearly.

Posted in Daily Journal (After The Move) | No Comments »

Snail Mail

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

I use to send out a lot of cards and letters to people. This of course was before my daughters introduced me to the internet. I will never forget the first time I “got mail” and it was an e-card. I clicked on the link and there was this card addressed to me, all animated and stuff. I was in shock. I cold not figure out how something like that was possible and no mailman was involved. I was so shocked that I woke my daughters up, who were teens at the time, and told them of this amazing thing on the internet called email and e-cards! They were no as amused as I was. Over time, I made more friends online than I ever dreamed of in real life. I sent cards and emails and then there was chat….omgoddess was I freaked out when someone introduced me to chat. Eventually, the “snail mail” became fore rare as my inbox and such was flooding with all kinds of well wishes from new friends. Now, it is a very rare occasion when I mail out a card to someone or a letter.

 

I really want to get back into doing that. I use to know everyone’s birthday and addresses, anniversaries and even dates their favorite pet died so I could send them a thinking of you card. I lost that book long ago and now I cannot even remember when my best friend Don’s birthday is. So I am posting this everywhere I visit on the Net. If you miss snail mail and would like a real card every once in awhile, I will gladly be the supplier of that need. What do I need from you???? Well an email or PM or something that contains your:

 

Mailing address

Birthday

Anniversary

Any other special day like pet or kids birthday, days of death or something that makes that particular time hard for you and a small card might at least bring a smile

 

And that is it. I will of course give mine in return and although you are not obligated, it would be nice to get a card or note once in awhile as well. So if you want to find that illusive letter in your REAL life mailbox….send me the info to do it.

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June 16, 2009

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

We are trying very hard not to think about or dwell on Hazel and the fact that she still has not released the check to us. At this point, she is in contempt of court and when my attorney arrives back in town next week, I suppose we will be going back to court. My attorney stated that he can get a Judge’s Order for her to release the check as we have removed everything from the property as requested. So we try to block that from our minds and go on with daily business. We try to find some peace at the farm and in our lives, continue on and try not to worry and think about that one thing that keeps it all from ENDING.

The mailman screwed up the mail service and we have not received any mail since we moved in. I was expecting several important things and Chris was expecting a check as well. Nothing ever came to us. Eventually Chris’ mother called to tell us her card came back to her. It stated there was no “receptacle”. We have the mailbox up and the numbers on it. We even put a note to the mailman in the box. Well he neglected to let the postmaster know and when mail started coming to that address, he knew the house was abandoned and there had not been any mail delivered there for many years. So he just sent it back. That was just not a good thing as I was expecting my new driver’s license and several checks in the mail. So, I guess it is straightened out now and I have to wait to see what will eventually make its way to us and what will not. At least I HOPE it is straightened out.

Life on the farm is becoming quite wonderful. I have had the chance to sit on the porch in my rocking chair and pick the banjo a bit. Not that I am any good at it…lol…I have never had lessons and only taught myself a few songs so I can make some noise. I love the banjo and have always dreamed of being able to play it. I have had this one about a year now and still play the same few songs that I taught myself out of a book. I cannot seem to progress on my own. As I was getting it tuned at the music store in town I started chatting with the guy and he said I should consider lessons because the banjo is an instrument that is difficult to learn when you are trying to teach yourself with no musical experience. I kind of blew it off but we got a card and I figured I would call and see how much it costs. Turns out it is 20 bucks a lesson, one 30 minute lesson a week. Chris was very encouraging and pretty much talked me into signing up. My first lesson is this Friday. So maybe I will see if I am able to learn anything from the guy, if so, I will continue, if not…then I will stop the lessons. I would really like to go out on the porch and just start picking songs and playing them without driving Chris and the dogs crazy with the same old song over and over.

The hens have started laying again and I am glad of that. The move messed them up a bit and something like that can make them stop laying for awhile. I got them some layer pellets and that has them back in the groove of things again. They are doing well and after a few other things are done on the farm, we will look at getting the pig pen built and start clearing a few small fields for maybe a horse or milk goat or something. A good work horse would come in handy. Cletus and SadieMae are doing wonderful! They sleep on the porch and chase off monsters in the night. They are so happy and love running and exploring in the woods. I cut Cletus’ hair for the summer and he seems to feel better. When they get hot, they just go get in the branch and cool off. The cats are all doing great outside. We have put them all out because they all wanted to come in to use the litter box and I am not about to have 8 cats using a litter box inside. So they are all outside now and getting along well. The 5 kittens are on the back porch and are running around everywhere. My initial plan was to give all of them away except for one that looks like Flat Cat. He is the Godfather Cat and I knew at least some of those kittens belong to him. I wanted one of his sons before he dies, because he is getting very old and scraggly. Well she birthed him 4 sons that look like him and one daughter. I have someone who wants the daughter. I have decided that a dozen cats seem like a good number, so I hope to keep the 4 sons. Now all I have to do is convince Chris it is necessary. LOL

The family is doing fine. Shannon, Tim and the kids are going camping this week in Vonore somewhere. She cooked supper for us last week, some kind of lasagna rolls and they were delicious. Then on Saturday she had us meet her and Lakota at Gee Creek and she provided a picnic for us. That was very nice. Chris goes to Amanda’s once or twice a week to keep Perrin at her house. That gives him a chance to check his email and get a few things done on his websites. We usually have supper over there that evening. Perrin is just growing so fast and was accepted into the Pre-School program for this Fall. So Chris will not be babysitting anymore past August. Perrin turned 4 on Sunday and his party was at Gee Creek. A Park employee offered to do a snake presentation for him and his friends. He had a King Snake, Rat Snake and Corn Snake. Perrin got to pet the Corn Snake and learned all about how valuable snakes are to the ecosystem. Now he loves them even more than he did before the presentation. The party was nice. Him and Devin, who will be 6 next month, keep talking about the Rainforest Café. We took them out to Nashville to it and the mall last Fall. We decided to not spend a lot on his gift and in a few weeks we will take both the boys back out to Nashville and let them go to the Rainforest Café’ again for their birthdays. It will be a great day trip and I am looking forward to it (mostly because Opry Mills Mall has my favorite store “Earthbound” and I can get me some more silk Nomad skirts!!!!)

I had my dreaded trip to the Doc last week. I put off my lab work and such because I just did not want to deal with any bad news that may have come my way. Yeah that kind of thinking is not too smart, but I justified it in my mind. I have the best Docs ever to be honest. So I sit there to hear my lab results and thought maybe he had the wrong chart when he started reading the numbers off to me. My cholesterol, triglycerides and all were just GREAT….like really GREAT! My bad cholesterol was perfect, my good cholesterol likes one point being perfect, my triglycerides were down form last time and amazingly good! I suppose this lifestyle has hidden benefits and I am so very glad for that. It was the best lab results I have had in years! So now everyone knows, the secret to good lab results is to live a year without electricity! LOL

The other day we were leaving and discovered the neighbor’s donkey had escaped and was inches away from the other neighbor’s beautiful garden. I found the man working on something in the back yard and asked if he knew the donkey was out. He did not, but had left the gate open. LOL So the sweet thing came up to me in the road and let me pet its head and with the Doc, Chris and myself, we were able to convince it to go back through the gate and stay out of trouble. Well as much as a donkey can. The thing makes some ungodly noises at night and I just about crack up listening to it while in bed. Between that and the whippoorwill that serenades us every night, the tree frog that yells in the window and cicadas, crickets, and all the other night sounds….especially the owls…..I just love nighttime on our farm.

The plans this week are to mow the yard, clean up some things, finish the water containers off the front of the house, wash windows and fix a stand for my food dryer. This weekend we will be donning our hiking boots, chain saw and make our way through the woods cutting trees and clearing trails. We have to get some winter wood cut right now so it will have time to dry before it is needed this winter. So that will be fun, exploring, cutting wood, identifying trees and hopefully discovering new things we have not discovered yet. I may can some beets this weekend as well and get some beans to make leather britches.

So…things move forward and we go with the flow. We are loving the farm even more so than the house we had built on the hill. It is a much better place for us and is such an enchanting, peaceful, beautiful place to be. We have been blessed and are so very happy.

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Posted in Daily Journal (After The Move) | 1 Comment »

June 11, 2009

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Things are calming down a bit and are a bit more peaceful for Chris and myself. We are enjoying the farm more and can see major worries and concerns wilt away. We still have not heard about the release of the check at this point. Our attorney is out of town for a few weeks and her attorney is dragging his feet and is basically worthless. Regardless, we are finding our own ways to relax and enjoy our home.

 

Lakota spent a few days with us this week. She had a blast playing in the branch and spending time with Chris. I feel like I never have time to spend with her anymore. I am determined in the next few weeks to pick her up and take her on a day trip with just me and her. I want to spend an entire day with her, chatting “girl talk” and enjoying each other without interruptions. She is growing up so fast.

 

Chris and Perrin got the second pond dug on Monday and they both look so nice be the walkway. Each have a decent amount of large goldfish in them and some pretty plants. This weekend I will plant some flowers around them and place some of our extensive rock collection around the ponds. Perrin and Lakota discovered a dead fish down by the branch. It appears to have jumped out of the water onto the bank. As Perrin was frantically telling me about the incident when I got home from work, he informed me that him and Koko (Lakota) got a “shubble” and put it in the dirt where the dead fish live. So now it is living in the dirt with the other dead fish. I explained to him that by now it is probably reincarnated and is a little fish swimming in Kiki’s lake. So when he relayed the story later, he had added that it was “reincarbonated”. He is adorable. He will be turning 4 on Sunday….so hard to believe. We are having his party at Gee Creek and I know he will be excited.

 

Chris brought me leaves from a tree out back with berries on it. It was then that we discovered we have red mulberries on the farm, several of them actually. That is NICE and when things are settled next year, maybe I will make some mulberry jam. It is so wonderful to have 15 acres to investigate, adventure on and discover all kinds of new things like that. I look forward to my whippoorwill singing me to sleep every night, the owls calling to us as we are preparing to rest, the cardinals at the feeder. As always I look forward to falling asleep with Chris and waking up in his arms every morning.

 

So on the farm….life is good!

Posted in Daily Journal (After The Move) | No Comments »

June 8, 2009

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

I picked up my milk again yesterday and chatted with Addamae. They had just finished milking and the milk was still very warm in the bucket. I held the jug with one hand and the funnel and cheesecloth with the other. She lifted the heavy bucket to pour the milk. “you are aware that a very small percentage of people who choose to live without electricity, that are not a part of a community like ours, actually like it and continue the lifestyle past a few months?” She looked at me as if to question our decision. I told her “I bet the percentage is indeed very low and I am not sure what makes them go back, but I can only speak for myself and Chris, we are so very happy with our lifestyle and have no desire to tie ourselves back to the grid again. Not as long as we are physically able to live this way”. She simply smiled and said “that is good” she said she cannot imagine living that way without your family and community helping you.

 

This of course got me to thinking last night about Chris and how hard he works. I have a 40+ hour a week job and often have to work after hours on various things. I wish I had more time to be at the farm and do things like fix water collection systems, gather eggs, work on the root cellar or Spring House. Chris is there every day working hard with a 4 year old under his feet every step. He digs huge holes, carries bucket after bucket of water uphill from the Spring to the house. He takes care of animals and dishes and plants and every single little thing that needs to be done. Yeah this is something that most people do, but I can guarantee you that not many people do it without electricity or plumbing.

 

Chris did not come to me and say “hey I have always wanted to live without electricity so let’s do it”. It was my dream, my thought, my idea and he graciously helped make it come true, so I would not die with the regret of never knowing if my dream was worthwhile. Think about that. If your loved one came to you today and said “hey, I want you to live without any electricity, give up your computer, your TV, your music, your video games, your air conditioner, central heat, refrigerator, stove, coffee maker, hot showers, washing machine, dryer, lights, AND….toilet…. and I want you to live in the boonies with no close neighbors and no modern conveniences” what would YOU say?

 

I never expected him to say yes and when he promised me a year, I never expected it to go beyond that year. But he has done it, selflessly, wholeheartedly, unconditionally. My life there is what I expected and I love it. We have not got the outhouse hooked up since the move and I will be glad when it is done, but at least the toilet we have is not as modern as most. Yeah it is a porcelain bowl, but we have to carry water to the house in buckets to flush it. The bathtub sits empty and has not been used since we moved in. But Chris, he never asked for this and never complains. He lives this life every day without complaining, working so very hard on every little task that must be done. He gave up so much to see my dream become a reality and it amazes me that there is someone so selfless in this world.

 

It all goes way beyond just the farm and the lifestyle. He could be out working, making a check every week, going along in the rut of life but content. But he chose to give up that to stay home and take care of our grandson practically since he was born. For years now he has been the only male role model in his life. He keeps him every day and often some on the weekends as well. He teaches him and loves him and has helped him become quite the little man. Chris may not be biologically kin to Perrin, but I can attest to this, you don’t have to be biologically kin to place your mark on a child’s life. There is SO much of Chris in Perrin it is unbelievable. Good qualities that he will need as he grows up. When I get pictures while at work on my cell phone of Perrin digging holes with big shovels and carrying water, building things with hammers and nails and wood, planting trees and shrubs…it brings tears to my eyes that he is not only learning to work hard in life, but he is learning how important it is to have that role model and to spend time with family. He is one lucky little guy.

 

Last night after getting the milk, I pulled into the drive. Chris hopped out to put the milk in the Spring and then walked up to the barn to shut the chickens up for the night. I saw him carry water from the branch and take time to pat Cletus and SadieMae on the head. Then I saw him sit down and play cards with his granddaughter, Lakota, and spend some quality time with her.

 

He has it all, every quality, good quality, that a man should have in life. I think about 4 years ago when I was on another internet forum and I was prepared to write one of those ridiculous “it’s been nice but I am leaving” post. Suddenly I get an IM on Yahoo from Qryztufre. It was the beginning of the most beautiful thing in my life. Hours on IM, web cam, PM’s, forums and 18,000 cell phone minutes a month. In just a few weeks we had become best friends. In a month we loved each other. In two months he made plans to sell his house and move 5 states away to live with me. In 5 months he was here and we instantly knew it was meant to be for us. From the first second we met in person, that first hug, there was nothing uncomfortable, nothing awkward, nothing wrong. The hug seemed to last forever. The ride home was fabulous. The evening lovely and the night perfect. My 4 years with him has not changed other than our love has grown stronger each day. People are confused that we rarely disagree and never argue or fight. For some reason a lot of folks think that arguing is “just part of a relationship”. But we have nothing to argue and fight about. We appreciate the same simple things in life, a double rainbow over the mountain, a beautiful fog settled over the field by our home, a cardinal finally getting brave enough to land on the feeder and eat, a heart smile when one of our dogs gets overly excited to see us. Beautiful, Peaceful….Love. How fortunate we are to be blessed with it. How fortunate to live this life together and share the beauty of it all.

 

How blessed I am to have such a beautiful man in my life.

Posted in Daily Journal (After The Move) | 2 Comments »

June 4, 2009

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

I am not sure why I expected things to go uneventful yesterday. It seems like would learn, you know? We arrived at 9am, the police were not there, but Hazel had everyone and their brother at her house. We headed up the hill and was soon approached by “Bill”, who proceeded to tell us exactly what we needed to do and how we needed to do it. I called my attorney and waited on a call back. Meanwhile, we ignored Bill. Attorney’s office called me back and told us to ignore him, but if he got too bad to take pictures and leave. Shortly after that, the police showed up. They were extremely nice to me. He was considerate and understanding. He said he would take care of Bill and Hazel. He went over to Bill and Bill was a bit disrespectful. He then basically ordered him to go back down the hill and leave us alone to get our work done. After awhile, he convinced him to leave and told him to not come back up there bothering us.

At 11:15 I left with Lakota to run to town and get some cold drinks. We were all in the hot sun and had started staggering a bit. I got drinks and some sandwiches for lunch and returned back at 11:40am. We took a break, ate lunch and got right back to work. At 12:08pm a vehicle came up the hill with a man and woman in it. They pulled right up beside my car. I walked out into the open to see who it was and my granddaughter was picking up nails close by. They backed up and both of them yelled obscenities out the window and yelled “you all don’t know what you are doing”. I noted the time on my cell phone and continued to work.

We picked up all of the nails around the old home site with a 5 pound magnet on a rope. This was done continuously the entire time we were there. We shoveled all debris, including ashes, into buckets and put it in the trailer. We took the tractor and leveled the ground where the chicken coop had been, hauling off any unburned wood and ashes. We loaded every piece of firewood, loose bark and small limbs that had fallen from the trees on the hill. We picked up every little piece of debris that we could find on the hill. We filled in the small holes where the clothesline poles had been, as well as where the bird feeder poles had been. We raked tongs over the home site with the tractor and went over it with the magnet more times, so we could make sure that there were no embedded nails left. We took the dirt off of the outhouse hole that we had put on before, made sure it was filled in completely, there was no “fluid” left, as it had already been absorbed. We buried the dirt inside the hole and took dirt from the home site area and covered the entire area of the outhouse, leaving a small mound over the actual area. We packed this down several times and walked over it MANY times to make sure it was safe. We then took shovels and rakes and smoothed the area out into a nice smooth mound, packed it down and 3 of us walked over the mound over and over to make sure it was safe and secure. After this we did a final walk though, made sure every concern had been addressed and corrected. I took about 40 pictures of the area.

We covered the debris in the wagon with a tarp, Chris got on the tractor, Don behind him in the truck and trailer and Lakota and myself in the car. We pulled out at 1:58pm and out of the gate at exactly 2pm. Lakota got out of the car and latched the gate behind us. Bill and others were with Hazel on the porch as we pulled out. I took a picture of Bill’s truck and tag, since he was the main one to harass us on that day, just in case it was needed.

We got through just in time and it was a good thing too, working in the sun for 5 hours straight took a toll on us. We would not let Don do much lifting and made him take a lot of breaks because of his age and severe diabetes. I had some heat exhaustion moment in which I became light headed, fell to the ground and it took about 10 minutes to be able to walk a straight line and Chris at 1:40pm started staggering and his speech slurring due to the heat. However, we stuck to it and was able to accomplish the task and get it completed before the deadline. I cannot imagine they could have anything else to gripe about. The sites where the house, wood shed, outhouse and chicken coop were is nothing but level ground with dirt. No debris, nails or wood of any kind are left. I even raked up all of the bark scraps and ashes and such and we shoveled it up and put it in the trailer. However, Bill made some pretty snide remarks while we were there working and I have no doubt he will find something he is not pleased with.
I just hope that it is all over with now and it can end. We have a great opportunity to have the peaceful life we desire on the farm we have purchased. We have yet had the chance to even enjoy being there as we are trying so hard to put this bad experience behind us. Maybe, just maybe they will tire of this as well and put an end to it all.

So that is done and we will wait until Friday to find out of it pleases the masses. If not, we will most likely take her back to court for contempt.

Meanwhile….on the farm

We found a large snake yesterday evening when we were taking a break. I figured to use it as a learning experience for Perrin and called him over to observe the snake. After my teaching lesson on why he should watch out for them and avoid them….he stated in his ever most excited voice how happy he was that I went to the pet store and bought him the snake he wanted! The child wants a pet snake so bad for his birthday this month. He watched in amazement as it climbed a tree and headed out on a dead limb to relax. Maybe….just maybe Perrin will listen to me and not approach any wild snakes. I wonder what makes some children not fear something like that and want one from such an early age?

Other farm news…. The gutter system proved to work last night. We had a storm come through in the middle of the night that left me with a nice 55 gallon barrel of fresh rain water just off the front porch! I will use that particular barrel to water animals, plants and general hand washing and things. We plan to work on the other water collection systems this weekend. We plan to go fishing on Saturday morning and make an attempt to catch supper. I will possibly be canning some beets or veggie soup this weekend as well. As summer approaches, we are starting to see just how well the house does in the heat. It gets a little bit stuffy in the late afternoon, but the front porch is totally shaded, so we just sit out there or down by the Spring where it is cool. Cooking and eating the evening meal outside helps to keep the house cooler on hot evenings. It cools off pretty good at night so sleeping is not a battle of fighting humidity and sweat. LOL So I think we will be OK for the summer, we shall see as time passes. Thank goodness almost every bit of the work that needs to be done is all in shaded areas. We plan to down some trees this weekend and I plan to make an honest attempt to stay away from places that sell plants of any variety. LOL The cats are adjusting to being outside, the fish are OK in the pond Chris set up and Cletus had a run in with the snake yesterday, but is fine.

Posted in Daily Journal (Preparing to Move) | No Comments »

Chatting over the milk

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

I was getting my milk yesterday from Addamae, my Amish friend. Addamae is married to Levi and they have some of the most beautiful daughters I have ever seen. If anyone has been to the Mennonite Market in Delano, Addamae’s daughter’s are the ones who bake all of the breads for the market. When I first met them, they lived in the back of their barn. They were saving to build the house and had been living in a few small rooms in the back of the barn with their 11 kids for about a year. At that time, Addamae was 42 and expecting her 12th child. It was another daughter and possibly her last. A few years later they got the house built and moved in. They were one of the last families to get their house finished when they moved from Decatur to Delano.

 

As I was pulling in yesterday I realized I had not changed out of my work clothes. My heart sank. I would never disrespect them by showing up at their home without being modestly dressed. The khaki pants were fine, but the sleeveless paisley shirt was not. Thanks to Chris’ quick thinking, I did not have to embarrassingly turn around and go home to change. I pulled facing away from the house and he quickly took his shirt off and I slipped it on over my shirt.

 

So Addamae and myself were talking about Perrin breaking my glass milkjug and how hard those are to find, I learned that Salad Dressing is not as bad as Mayonnaise when it comes to spoiling. They never buy mayonnaise, but use a lot of Salad Dressing. She said putting it on a large rock in the dark pantry will help keep it cool and she has never had any go bad. Well YAY for that bit of info, as I would love to have that for potato salad and to make dressing for fresh salads. I certainly do not need the gallon container that she has, but a small jar in the Spring will be nice. We talked about not having electricity and she asked me what I missed the most. This made me think.

 

It has been a little over a year now. WOW….an entire year without electricity in our home. What a learning experience this has been for us, what a dream and what an adventure! One entire year has passed. So I thought about it. It is certainly not TV, radios, video games or even computers. I have come to accept that using a computer at work is something I have to do and in order to share this journey, this life, with the good people I have met online, I have to use that access in order to accomplish that. I am not against computers, I think they have a good purpose to be honest. But also to be honest, I am glad there is not one in my home. Chris and I met via computers, over 4 years ago now. We were both on the computer way too much. So much so that when I got home from work and on weekends, I was on mine in the bedroom, he on his in the living room, and often hours would go by. Something like that is not good for a relationship. So I am thankful we no longer have computers in the home. Lights? No way. I much prefer utilizing the natural light of the sun and when that is not available, oil lamps work fine. After thinking awhile I realized the only thing I really miss is ice. Yeah …. frozen water. I drink water about 90% of the time and before we made this choice, it was always COLD water, ice water. I craved it and still do. There is nothing more satisfying than good, cold water. So I would say, that is the one thing I miss. However, moving to the new place has helped in this. The Spring is fairly cold and keeping water in the cold water easily satisfies my craving for the cold ice water. She said she missed that at first (she was not born into the Amish community), but she has found that she digests food better if she does not drink cold drinks with her food. She said it seemed to help her asthma as well.

 

Then she asked what we have found to be the hardest thing to do. This one was not hard to answer. Laundry is by far the most difficult. If I did not work 40 hours a week, it would not be so hard to do the laundry by hand. But with me working so much, laundry becomes difficult to complete. Laundry, when done by hand, is time consuming. You have to boil water, get the laundry ready, set up the wash tub and rinse tubs and fill them. After separating the clothes, you wash from cleanest to dirtiest. You agitate the clothes in the tub, pressing them to the sides, tackling stains with the wash board and I will just tell you now…. Your knuckles need some tender loving care when you are done! Then you wring them out by hand, put them in the first rinse water, rinse well, then the second rinse water, rinse completely then wring by hand again before they go onto the line. Jeans are my worst nightmare and I have discovered I wear them less now. I much prefer a silk or cotton skirt and I know women many generations ago were probably thankful when they did their laundry that the simple knit and cotton dresses were in the basket….it gives you a nice break before you tackle those filthy jeans! As the water gets dirty, you try to get it all done without having to change out, but if it becomes necessary, you just take your first rinse water and make it your wash water and put fresh water in the tub for the last rinse cycle. When the clothes come off the line before bed, you are so tired you can barely press the clothespin together to release the clothes from the line. But…you are never too tired to enjoy the fresh smell of the clothes as you fold them and put them away.

 

So back to yesterday, we talked about slaughtering hogs and canning as opposed to smoking meat, different types of washers and even the difference in rain water vs Spring water. It was a nice visit. Meanwhile, Chris was in the car without a shirt, ducked down because 3 of the beautiful daughters were heading home from the kitchen where they do the baking and he did not want them to see him without a shirt on.  I made my way back to the car and gave him his shirt back. We dodged bunny rabbits running from the gardens as we left the long driveway  and I became emotionally thankful that I have this choice to live like this and that I am actually doing it. My mother had this dream, for so many years, and never had the chance to live it. It just turned into a regret for her before her death. I am thankful I took this chance.

 

When I first got home from work yesterday, I was greeted to a huge surprise. Chris had spent the day hand digging the huge hole in the front yard for one of the molded ponds we have. We are turning the front yard by the porch into a flower and herb garden with the two ponds there. He had one already in the ground and full of water. He carried every gallon of that water (about 100) in buckets from the branch, up the hill and steps into the pond. It was ready for some goldfish and we added 10 to the pond last night. We had supper with Amanda and Perrin at the picnic table, fed the scraps to SadieMae, Cletus, Flat Cat, Cutie, Azrael, Drop Dead Fred and watched Perrin play on the old wooden swing. It was a nice evening. I love the farm, I love my family….I love this life.

 

Perrin enjoys the old wooden swing at the farm

Perrin enjoys the old wooden swing at the farm

Posted in Bringing The Farm Back To Life | No Comments »

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