Alone

I spend most of my time, on the farm, alone. My husband leaves at 5 in the morning for work and gets home late. We don't live on the road, so I don't see people nor cars. We are in a very isolated location. When we lived in town, the county out here gave out address so 911 could find you. They forgot to give us and address...so, we don't exist. I kinda like that. We did, however, invest in a cell booster and now can get on line and receive phone calls. Now, I'm in touch with the world. This helps with my isolation. We were snowed in twice this winter. There were some frightening moments. My husband made it home from work during a blizzard, but he could not get down the driveway. So he left the car and walked the one tenth of a mile. He said, "I didn't think I was going to make it." He was froze. We could not get out for days. Finally, a man about 2 miles away came by with his tractor and got us out. Luckily we store food and have plenty of wood. Best part. I was not alone for 3 days.

The House

We had a mess to clean and repaired before we could move in. The house was destroyed.

It took months and help to clean it up. But, it is livable now.

We still have a lot to do like running water, refrigeration, and a toilet would be nice. But, I have learned to be patient. We see little improvements every day. Soon things will be better.

On the Farm

It has been so long since I have updated this blog that I am not sure where to even start. So, I will give an overview and in the next few days try to bring you up to date. The layoff did not happen. My husband was transferred to tooling. We have moved back to the farm. We have been here since August. In that time we have created electricity, made the house livable, and been through a lot of problems. Problems like, not having enough electricity, snowed in twice, water problems, chicken problems, broken ribs, house falling apart and more. Things are getting better but it is incredibly slow. We have been waiting for this layoff for 3 years now. God has blessed us with more time and with that more money to get this place in shape and to acquire enough food supply to keep us going. Rumor has it he will be laid of by the end of July. Everything at Hawker Beechcraft will by then be in Mexico. But, we have been through a lot of rumors and all I know is that God will keep the money flowing until He decides we are ready to be self sufficient. It is very windy today which is awesome because we are on wind power, solar power and gas power. Wind means we may not need gas today. We need the wind to blow at least 10 miles an hour for it to produce electricity. We have that today. I will go into the power sources later. It is good to be back on line and to write again. Looking forward to getting this blog back up to snuff.

The Move has Come

So, we are leaving the city soon and returning to the farm. It has been 13 months of waiting for lay offs and it has finally happened. My husbands last day is Friday.

We have continued to work on the farm, but it has been slow. We have planted lost of fruit trees and bushes. The house is a continued mess and more work than I would like, but it will be done. So, I am ready and willing. It is about to happen and I hate it.

Joy

News, is not good. Layoff notices go out this Friday.

We are busy thinking and doing. Thinking of all the things we need to get done and then doing...whatever.

Yesterday, I began looking for information on how to get the belt connected on my treadle sewing machine. You cut the belt to fit but, how to you get the belt to stay together and work. I have no idea and am having trouble finding the answer.

After, I failed at that, I began looking for cheap ways to get my medicine. One of my medicines cost $400.00 a month. No way, we will be able to afford that. Did find some overseas places where I can get it for $39.00. But, then I found a generic brand. So, maybe I will be able to get it for $4.00 here in the States. Don't know.

Today, my daughter and I will hit the thrift stores to see what we can find. We need work gloves, rain gear, and lots of other stuff. What a mess.

I need to find joy in all this but, am finding that to be a struggle. Watching my world collapse around me is hard. My God says, I should find joy in all things. So, today I will laugh and I will find my joy.

Jobs.

This weekend my family met to watch the Superbowl and to talk about plans for the farm.

My son-in-law has declared himself keeper of the windmill. It needs to get up and running so we can have water to the corals.

Speaking of corals, my daughter, A Homesteading Neophyte, has decided she is in charge of that. I came up with a design that I think will work. We have to shelters for the animals, but one is falling down. This will have to be fixed first. She has lots of animals to be moved and with our goal for move in being this fall, we need to get this done asap.

My husband will continue to work on his alternate energy plan. I would very much like electricity. But, we want to stay off the grid. So, we are leaving him to that job.

For myself, I will work on the house. The roof needs fixing and just general cleaning.

We went to the farm this weekend. I were surprised by the Armadillo. These are new to Kansas and if I did not know what it was, I would have died of fright. What an ugly creature. It is living under my house, which I did not like at all and tearing up the year. I hear Armadillo is good eating. Maybe, I will be hungry next time I go to the farm.

Chickens

It has been a long time since I posted on this site. Now, we are facing even more problems so my husband and I are digging in to get back to the farm.

We are facing layoffs now. So, our plan is to dig into the 401K and pay off the farm. We can not live there and pay for it. The farm is a long way from any town or work. So, we will pay it off and pay on the houses in town while we look for work.

We will try and keep the rentals and home we live in for as long as possible but realized that work will be in short demand and that we will probably have to give everything up. We really, do not live above our means, but can not keep up all payments without an outside income.

Right now, we are picking out the style of chicken coop I want. My husband keeps asking me what animals I want. I just want chickens. I am getting older and do not want to be chasing animals everywhere especially in the winter. He wants a pig and maybe cattle. That's ok, but not for me.

So, do I want a portable chicken coop for a stationary? A small coop or large? Still thinking on this. I am kind of leaning towards a stationary. Because, I would like a fence to keep them in when I want to. I like free range chickens but, again do not want to chase them. I figure on the days I do not feel well, I will keep them behind a fence and days where I feel well, I will let them range.

So, at least, I have settled on stationary. I will keep looking at sizes.