First Year Update The year has not quite gone as planned. Who am I kidding? Nothing has gone even remotely close to our general plan. I could go on and on – I’ll spare yall the details and just give highlights. By September, we had managed to get the house “live-ably dry”. Is that even…
Around the ‘stead July Update
To say I have been busy busy is an understatement. You would think we would have a custom built mansion. Alas, that is not the case. So what have you been slaving over Ms Belle? Grab your cup, follow me around and I'll show you! We have a fridge! Yall. Seriously. After 2 years being…
Super cute and easy garden box
Yall this was so super easy and super cheap! We're talking less than $20! Sweet! I didn't take many pics because it went together so fast. Which is so weird and atypical for anything I have wanted to build. I used 6 cedar fence boards, lopped off the angled top part. Very accurately (or not...)…
Homestead Week in Review
Things have been busy here at the homestead. Besides doing upstairs (so close to done!), on “ugh I am sick of working inside” days, we have ventured out and completed (and started) a few other things. By 9pm I am ready for bed. It’s not so much the physical working as the mental working of…
The Driveway Part 3 (or 4) – Day 1/7
I was so super excited to see I was not the only crazy dedicated person to sign on to this Blog Every Day for a Week linkup. Apparently there are many slackers busy people in our midst! Feel right at home. I am going to take this opportunity to clear out the Draft folder and…
2014 Goal List
My focus for the year is to get the house finished and the homestead up and running. I had thought about making debt payoff the focus. While that is certainly a valid choice, I think this year would be best spent getting the sufficiency aspect rolling, making the debt payoff easier later in the year/in…
Cooking: The Rocket Stove
Since we are asked all the time how we do things, I decided to go ahead and do a more detailed mini-series to explain some of them. If there’s something you’re curious about, leave a comment! It’s become so life now that I don’t think about how it’s perhaps “not exactly normal”. We do run…
Insulation!!
This has been the day we have been dreaming about, it seems like forever. We finally scrounged up the cash to get it done. Sprayfoam is not the cheapest insulation available, but it is the best and the only way to go for a hot roof design. Being off grid, every dollar we spend now…
July Photo Dump
Cooking with the Sun (Oven)
We have been cooking with the Solar Oven for a few weeks now. Good time to give a review and how we did it!It only took Mr. about a day, 3 2x4's and a sheet of plywood to build this Sun Oven. The inside dimensions are 15"x22" - large enough that I can use my Pyrex…
Together Simply 