The Ten Percent Club

I was reading an article tonight by the great Patrice Lewis (www.rural-revolution.com) about allotting 10% of your income (actually they are committed to doing this) to "preps".  I believe I am going to try that...it is better than nothing.  I get so stuck about where to start.  My list is soooooo long.  Living out of my storage this past year has seriously depleted some areas.  Okay, ALL areas.  I am working on my list and breaking it up into shelter, food, medicine, tools, livestock, miscellaneous (clothes, shoes, etc.).

Actually 30% of our income will be going towards shelter (building the house), 10% to the church (this is the plan), 10% to preps, 10% savings, and 40% to living expenses.  So, roughly $1500 a month towards expenses and $1500 towards those things you see listed here.

I'll let you know how we do.  Making my list of prep items to purchase this Thursday (pay day) tonight.

Medicinal items needed so far:

more antibiotics (see Enola's book)
neosporin
alcohol
peroxide
iodine
immodium
tums
bandaids
gauze
tape
splints
butterfly sutures
dental kits
suture kits

Misc.

zip ties
bungees
pvc pipe
metal pipe
foam insulation
flashing
poultry fence
stock panels (for garden)
galvanized tubs, pails, buckets

The roof is on!

PH, PS#1 and PD#1

PH is finishing up the last piece of roofing

The horses and goats now have some sort of shelter from the elements.

The enclosed area on the right houses the hay, feed, meat chickens in their tractor, saddles and miscellaneous equipment.

With the exception of buying the sheet metal screws it was all done with salvaged materials.

I'm pretty proud of PH and his accomplishment.  Yeah!

With Bated Breath

The kids are waiting with baited breath for Christmas Day.  They think it has taken so long to get here, I don't think it has taken long enough.  I didn't get the opportunity to really enjoy Christmas this year.


We cleaned the house really well today, and did loads of laundry.  Primarily, blankets.  Our temperatures are going to be in the low 30's the next few days.  We stopped by and purchased additional kerosene, in case we run out and brought in stacks of wood for the stove.  The beds are made with the flannel sheets, piled with blankets and the kids are in their flannel pajamas tucked in with a hot water bottle for their feet.

I love sitting here by the fire at night knowing that everything has been taken care of.  The animals have been fed and are bedded down in the barn.  The laundry has been taken off the line, and my family is tucked into a nice warm bed.  Living out here and rarely leaving can give you a feeling that nothing else exists or matters.  I like that feeling.

We have opted to stay home for Christmas, foregoing any outside family celebrations.  The need for reflection and time with my immediate family is strong with me this year.  It's been a struggle this year to deal with others that have chosen not to walk with God, or ridicule our preparedness mindset.  I am usually pretty good at letting things roll off my back, and allowing others to make their poor choices.  Not this year.  As time grows short, I feel a deep sadness that the path they are on is not one God would choose for them.  It is really difficult to see people on a path to destruction, especially when you care for their well being. 

As we approach the day of celebration for our Saviour's birth, I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

Chilly Days, Rainy Nights

Is that a song?  Something niggles at my mind, and the title of today's (tonight's) post sounds familiar.  Now, that our other vehicle is gone, I am driving the old farm truck.  I plan to get the tags for our wonderful van, but haven't had time yet to get them renewed.  The truck sure does drink a lot of gas.  It took a half tank ($40) to get to church and back today.  If I hadn't already promised the PK's to attend a Christmas Party at a homeschool buddy's house Monday we would be staying home.  It's definitely challenging to drive that old truck.  The door takes turns on flying open as I turn a corner, or refusing to open so that I may get into the truck.  PD#2 takes great delight in coming in from the passenger side and kicking the door open for me.


PH started the barn extension yesterday, using scrap metal, and supplies we had lying around the farm.  While waiting for the funds to clear our bank from the vehicle sale, he started measuring, digging holes for support posts and welding metal together for roof trusses.  The new extension is 24 X 20.  So added to our original 20 X 20 shed it will be a welcome place for the goat and horses to get out of the weather.  The original barn is filled primarily with hay, storage boxes around the outside edges, animal feed, and the chicken tractor (complete with chickens).  The PKs and I recently picked up a load of wild melons from the road side.  We are storing a small pile in the barn.  We chop open one daily and give to the pigs as a supplement to their diet of Sweet Feed and the beef grower pellets they steal from the calf.  PH let everyone out of their pens today while he worked on the barn.  It was a pleasant surprise, upon arriving home from church, to see the fields filled with goats, a calf, three pigs, three horses, and a large flock of chickens.  ALL grazing together under the watchful eye of our Pyr and assorted cats and dogs.  It was a huge welcome home party!

On a more serious note, this PW is getting a little irritated at people's narrow mindness.  I struggle with the belief (from time to time) that people just need to be educated, and will then bow to my superior wisdom.  It doesn't always work that way though (no kidding, I am surprised too!)  I understand the concept of free will, but what I don't understand is how people believe in things that have been shown time and time again to not work.  Case in point, modern medicine.  I have very little respect for modern medicine.  It has it's place, but as a LAST resort.  Over my life I have had to visit many doctors for myself and my children.  I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't.  What makes a good doctor, and what makes a poor one.  To me a poor doctor is one who listens to the patient's complaints, treats the symptoms by throwing a drug at it, all within 15 minutes of walking in the exam room door.  It takes a little longer to get at the root of an illness.  An illness is not totally the sum of it's symptoms, but the underlying CAUSE needs to be addressed and CURED.  Not treated.  Cured.  The majority of illness (even diabetes and arthritis) can be cured, but where is the money to be made in that?

Trying to educate people on taking control of their health is very hard.  Years of indoctrination and blind trust has really taken it's toll and people are secure in it's grip. Not a good sign.

Well, off to bed.  The rain has started again, and along with the heat from the wood stove has succeeded in making me sleepy.

**forgot to mention I was given several pounds of venison.  I'd like to cook some for dinner tomorrow, and can the rest in pints..won't be a lot, but I am trying to can more meat instead of relying on the freezer.  

I haven't asked the question in awhile so I will now.  WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO GET PREPARED THIS WEEK?  One for the upcoming winter weather headed this way and two for TMHTF?  We are one step closer to butchering our meat birds, working on a barn extension for our animals, clearing up trash around the place, and taking an inventory of necessary tools/items.  I received a new 23 quart pressure canner for Christmas (I know this because my mom sent to me UNWRAPPED.  I assume I was supposed to ignore the picture of the canner on the side, but I just couldn't.  From experience, I "know" that sometimes the picture on the box is not ALWAYS what is in the box, but this time IT IS!  How wonderful is that!?  I now have 2 pressure canners a 10 quart and a 23 quart, plus a water bath canner.  I am so blessed!

Prairie Fruitcake

 I am reading this book called "A Prairie Christmas Collection".  It is a collection of 9 historical Christmas Christian romances.  Each short story has recipes.  I thought I'd share this one with you for Prairie Fruitcake.

1/2 cup shortening/lard
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
generous dash of nutmeg
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 to 1 cup dried fruit (raspberries, blackberries or any dried tart fruit like cranberries or cherries)
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Extra brown sugar for topping, about 1/2 cup

Grease and flour a 9 X 13 inch pan.
Cream together the first four ingredients.  Mix in the applesauce.  Add the baking soda, salt and spices.  Blend in the flour and the water. 
Stir in the remaining ingredients.  sprinkle additional brown sugar on the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the cake tests done.
Merry Christmas!

http://lorettas57.blogspot.com/

A link, so i won't forget I want to read her blog ;-)

This time of year is frustrating for me.  It gets dark so early, and prevents me from getting a good 4-5 hours of outside work done (sigh).  PH gets about ZERO done around the place once he arrives home from work.  I find myself antsy being cooped up with so many people in such a small space.  You'd think after almost 3 years, I'd have everything under control, but I find that it is more of a downward spiral into chaos, then a good routine. 

We will be working on laundry, and cleaning up storage items tomorrow.  Plus, we have some canning to do this weekend; more tomato sauce to be made.  Organic Roma tomatoes were on sale at the grocery store, and we are about out of tomato sauce. 

I was able to can five pints of chicken noodle soup (minus the noodles) to add to the pantry.  I am longing for the house to be finished so that I can have my stores organized, and I can easily see what I need to stock up on.  I buy things and stick them where there is a vacant spot, then can't find something when I need it.  One of the drawback to living in a shipping container I guess.  Lack of space ;-)

All the animals are doing great, and Wilbur is healed. 

We sold one of our vehicles to raise money for the housing project.  Additionally, it lowered our car insurance bill by $30 dollars.  That's always good. 

We will be working on cleaning up the homestead this weekend.  Lots of things to put away, organized and to trash. 

Christmas shopping is about done, only four more gifts to purchase.  We cut way back on gift giving this year, only our immediate family, and the kids were limited to one USEFUL gift. 

The weather has been chilly a lot lately, and we've been burning pretty steadily through our wood pile.  Our coldest months are still ahead.

Winterizing and Sick Pigs

We are having VERY cold temperatures here lately.  It was 28 "officially", but it's usually colder out here in our little valley.  About a 5 degree difference on average.  (In the summer it's hotter - go figure).  PH had bought pipe insulation, those black foam tubes.  We spent the afternoon putting them on the pipes, and covering the water tank and booster pump (it cracked last year during a cold spell and had to be welded).  PH was also able to bring a pick up bed load of used wheel chocks from work.  They throw them on their back lot and let them rot, so PH brings them home for us to burn.  We were able to get 3 cords of wood this year from these oak wheel chocks.  They are about 2 feet long, some are 12 inches wide and need to be split to fit into the wood stove.  We have plenty of wood, and PH also picked up three rubber maid totes full of pine cones.  There is a huge tree that overhangs the road on his way home.  He picked up all the ones in the street and on the county right of way.  Bedding down the animals with plenty of hay, plenty of food and water, plus making sure they are sheltered from the North is part of our routine when expecting cold weather.  We allow our chihuahua to sleep inside at night during the Winter.  She used to be a totally inside dog (except for potty breaks) but when we moved out her to our "cabin-tainer" the inside pets traumatically (for them) became outside pets. 



Wilbur, our baby boar, is sick.  Pretty sure it is penumonia.  Gave him a penicillin injection and praying he gets well.  More later...PS#2 is fussing and I need to put him to bed.

Shifting Gears

Lately, I have been motivated to try and shop more locally.  My focus has been on organic as being healthier, but I am also concerned about conserving gas, wear and tear on the car PLUS knowing where to get food locally in the case the JIT system breaks down (grin).  Having been a small business owner myself, I really prefer to give my money to a small-town business owner, instead of a big corporation.  I am trying to stay out of Walmart, and can't remember the last time I went (a month ago?) to one.  PD#1 needed new "unmentionables".  We didn't go to Walmart, but to a local San Antonio store for them.  I was very proud of myself.  They were having a great sale too ;-)


Sometimes the prices are higher, but I pay them.  If I drove into town for the item, I'd have to add the cost of fuel into it, and it'd be the same or higher.  Thursday is my errand day and it normally looks like this:

1) Stop by bank and withdraw amount to spend (I don't like to use the card at the stores but pay cash, often I can get a cash discount, especially on fuel purchases at the locally owned oil company (they sell gas about 25 cents cheaper than the gas station, and I get an additional discount when paying cash).  We buy our kerosene here also.  We use kerosene for our oil lamps, and for the heater when the temps are in the 30s and below.  We have the wood stove, but it doesn't heat the back bedroom, and that is the coldest room.


2) Stop by post office

3) Dairy for raw milk, sometimes Farmhouse Cheddar if I haven't made cheese.

4) Meat Market for American Cheese/Mild cheddar.  These are in slices for sandwiches.  My last hold out that isn't organic because I can't get it local. 

5) Poultry farm for a few chickens cut into pieces, instead of whole roasting chickens.  (this is normally a once a month expense)

6) Oil company for gas/kerosene

7) Produce Stand or local farm for produce.  Today I purchased produce at the local grocery store, which I have been trying to stay out of.  I went for one item today, and they have a NEW organic and local produce section.  It's small, but I was very excited.

8) Library

9) Local Mexican/Jalisco Bakery for awesome tortillas (sometimes I make my own, but I like to support this baker).  and sometimes doughnuts.

We did head into S.A. yesterday to pick up my beef order.  I had ordered 25 lbs of organic, grass fed beef from a somewhat local to me (about 50 miles) rancher.  He raises Longhorn cattle and sells the beef through the San Antonio RealFoods group.

Lately, I am also interested in reducing our electrical energy consumption.  After reviewing our energy consumption for the month I was shocked to see that we used 1286 KWH.  I reviewed our history for the year and not surprisngly we use the most during July and August, the two hottest months of the year.  But I was happy to see that last year at this time we used 300 MORE kWH than this year.  Two things I think are a factor is our new pump (it's smaller, so uses less electricity and we aren't irrigating and filling the pond) 2) it isn't as cold, so we haven't used the little space heater in the bathroom very much.  I think we'll keep it off UNLESS someone is bathing.  I have the wood stove going now, and the bathroom door open, so the heat can filter into there.

My goal for this month is to lower the kWH usage by 40 kWH.  This will be the start.  My goal is to cut our useage in half IF possible.  We seriously need a solar or wind source of energy to run the well pump.  I already hang my laundry out, only using the dryer if something is really needed and it's raining (which isn't often here).  I asked everyone to leave the lights off if they are watching t.v., to unplug the laptop when charged, and only plug it in when it needs charging.  I'll be turning off the desktop computer and internet modem tonight when we go to bed, and plan to do so every night.  It will be inconvenient waiting for everything to power up the next morning, but my goal for the month of December is to lower our useage at least a little.  I want to see if we can do it...I thought we would have used less energy, because we only have a 360 sq foot cabin, no central air or heating, no hot water heater on all the time (we have a Tiny Titan) nor a big oven or stovetop or dishwasher, but I'll have to check what the average useage is for most Americans and see if i am up there or not.

We moved the chicks to the chicken tractor tonight. It isn't going to be as cold tonight, and they needed more room.  They are growing fast.  Speaking of chicks, one of the BABY pigs killed one of my older Buff chicks (she was 3 months old).  I could hardly believe that the piglet chomped it and started eating it.  I was very SHOCKED!  I took it away from her and she fought with me over it.  I think she is the one we'll butcher...

I recently purchased six cases of pint jars from an estate sale.  They were $5.00.  I was very glad to get them.  A friend also picked up three cases of quart jars for me at Dollar General.  They were 50% off!  So, $4.25 a case!  I plan to start canning more soups and such so the jars will come in handy ;-)

It's Time for the Give Away!

By putting the names in a hat and having my 2 year (impartial participant) draw a name - the winner is......