Stir up the gifts

I won the above plaque in a GiveAway, from Hope Ink a few months back. I was blessed with what it said & really pictured it applying to my dreams & music career.

Well, my family is facing some major decisions once again and this verse & plaque keep popping in to my mind. There is no way we should even consider making these decisions with out considering what our gifts are. Doing so will help us narrow our path and focus on things God has not only given us but wants us to share with others.

Our gifts can help us in our business ventures, our off-grid lifestyle choices, in being good neighbors ... really in every aspect of our lives. I am excited about the changes that will undoubtedly take place. I have no doubt that in applying this scripture to our decisions, that God will bless us for our obedience and willingness to seek Him in every aspect. I should say here that we're always wanting to follow God's lead ... but it seems to have a deeper meaning this time. Again I will say I am excited to see where these decisions lead us!!!

Bartering "tool"

What would you consider a homesteading skill?? Quilting? Canning? Animal husbandry? Yes, I'd agree that those are definitely homesteading skills ... but in my mind, a homestead skill can be anything that either helps bring an income to the family and/or something that helps further the homestead & family itself ... like learning something that would take the place of monies paid to some one else for those things. A skill doesn't necessarily have to provide a thing though ... I think it can also be providing a service. You can barter with these skills, charge a fee, bless some one else with it for nothing or use it to benefit your own family.
I don't drink wine but I'd like to learn how to make it. I don't think there's anything wrong with a Christian drinking it either ... but I certainly wouldn't force one to. If some one is convicted to not drink it than who am I to try & force them to commit what is a sin in their eyes.
That being said, I think wine would make a good item to barter with. I could see it being used to not only make money but to save money in not having to pay cash for certain things and services. I'm in the process of looking for information, recipes, equipment etc. We'll start though by seeing how good a chance we have of growing our own grapes. If not, we'll need to find a good source to purchase from. I'll leave you with this ...

Getting back to our dreams

As a lot of you know, my husband & I bought land with a cabin on it. We moved to the land & lived there for a little over 4 months before having to move to a rental due to the extreme weather conditions. Our cabin is off grid, besides having a telephone connection. We will keep it that way! Since moving in to the rental, I've not done anything "homestead" like. I feel like I'm not working toward my dreams in one way but in another I feel like I don't have anything to do that *is* homestead-ish. I'm going to change that tomorrow. I have some things that we can do in preparation to move back to the cabin (which will happen in Spring). 

Our goals this coming year are to: 

• grow a lot of our food (be it animal, fruit or vegetable)
• recycle & reuse as much as possible
• start a new family business (that blends with our homestead lifestyle)
• dad quitting his outside job & coming home again to work the family businesses
• we all want to learn new skills (maybe 2 each)
• purchase new canning items
• build main addition to the cabin
• build work room on to cabin
• build pole barn
• live our dreams

I'm sure there's things I'm forgetting to add to the list right now ... but it is after midnight here. I'll post again soon! I plan on posting regularly ... and most importantly, I plan on getting back to our dreams!

Welcome to the new blog. As you can see, there are already some posts. I imported a few posts from an old blog that I felt would show what I plan on doing here. OMA means "Our Maker's Acres" ... as in the name of our property. I plan to fill this blog with homestead type stuff, home schooling things, bits of my personal journey in life ... and plenty of other things. Be patient as I set the background image, blog style eyc.

A money tree

So here we are ... in our rental house. We'll stay here until Winter is over. By that time we will have had enough time for weatherizing, repairing the roof completely, & getting our permanent power source up & running. I miss sleeping in our home! I miss the sounds of nature lulling me to sleep. I miss the wonder & amazement on my children's eyes when they hear new sounds or find some new creature.

I feel like we've taken three steps backwards  ... we have an electric bill. Ok, during the excessive heat, electricity to run an A/C was important to my health. We have a water bill ... we were hauling water for probably much less. We have cable now too ... I am bummed. Oh sure, there are shows that I love watching ... but really, it's just a giant distraction as far as I'm concerned.

Most people we know have said Winter here is horrible & how we may have trouble getting to & from our cabin because of the snow & ice storms. I don't think the snow will be a problem ... we lived in Minnesota & had 50 below zero Winters. Once we get a food storage area built I won't worry so much about the chance of being stuck at home.

I wish we had a money tree ... or seeds to plant one!

Slam the door on September

If I never see another September, it'll be too soon!!! This is a hard month for my family.  We have the anniversary of 3 deaths to deal with ... then another death being very recent. Now we have to deal with a horrible situation with "neighbors" on our mountain. I won't go in to detail about what's going on ... but will say that I can't imagine why I hate people more & more the older I get (note the sarcasm in my tone). I am thoroughly disgusted with these idiots who are so in life for themselves that they don't care who they trample to get what they want.
It's hard to "love thy neighbor" when they are satan disguised as friendly folk. It's also hard being a Christian in the midst of such an ugly attack!!

The missing link

I have noticed that I have written more in the past 2 months than I have in quite a while. You see my family moved completely off grid. We don't want to pay an electric bill nor gas bill nor water bill etc. So, we finally moved toward our dream. We bought a cabin & some land and are taking steps toward self sufficiency (but being God reliant). Any way ... this is the lifestyle we have dreamed about for years. We love it. We've been busy with "farm" work ... setting up our homestead, caring for animals, getting settled etc. But I always took time to write. Well ... still ... I didn't write nearly as much as I have since moving out of our cabin in to a temporary rental (we decided that because of weather, we needed to move, weatherize the cabin & then move back in) ... any way. I had been wondering why I've been able to write so much. I realized it today ... we didn't have a radio, stereo, CD player, mp3 player ... nothing. I turned my Windows media player on for the first time and waves of emotion hit me. I know it sounds silly but I realized then that for the past 2 months, we've been where we had music or sound other than our the ones we make and when I realized it tears started to sneak from my eyes. I love music ... it runs through my veins & beats in my heart. I'm going to talk to my husband about getting a solar panel & a couple batteries specifically for running our music "station." Eventually I will have a recording studio run off of solar power & a wind turbine.
Life is lyrics waiting to happen. Words will inspire & move you ... but the music can too.

Missing

My cat, Gotti got out of the cabin some how ... and did not return when my family went back up to the cabin to clean up a mess that a wild animal left behind. I am praying that my cat returns home. I miss him. This cat is strange but oh so kool!!! He meows the word "momma" .... and only does it when he's trying to get my attention. Dear Lord ... please bring Gotti home safely! In Jesus name .... AMEN!!!

----------

I am a bit unsettled about living away from our property & cabin. At times I feel like we've failed ... but I know it's good that we are staying in another place while we build. It's just not how we'd planned to do things. Oh well ... we plan & God laughs.

Life's little turns

I posted this to a forum I am a member of ... and then decided to use it for the latest blog post.


**************

Up until a month ago we were living off grid & slowly (but surely) getting things done around our property. We had to leave the property last month (temporarily) due to the extreme heat. We'd only had a generator to power a fan & A/C ... and then it broke. Being with out A/C when temps were getting too extreme is not a good thing. So, we were blessed enough to have a place to stay away from the land & cabin. Our animals are still there so we go back & forth to care for all of them. 

We have since decided that until our place is weatherized & we have a big enough generator to power an A/C & heater of some type, we will be renting a place in town. We're hoping it will be only 6 months. Once the temps cool down we will go back to working on upgrades & building additions ... but until then, we will design some new changes. 

If you dig an inch to 1 1/2 inches down on our property, you will hit rock. In order to build a basement (which is a must for us) we will need to blow the rock out with dynamite. Of course, we need to do this before we build the addition too .... so ... we wait! 

We're accomplishing things ... but it is going very slow. I try to not to lose patience ... but some times it's hard. We've waited 19 years for these dreams ... waiting a little while longer won't hurt, especially since we are actively working toward them. Really, it's the "ride" along the way that is a HUGE part of the dream. 

Our oldest is in California, living with my mom & grandmother. My grandmother had been hospitalized due to the skin near her aorta tearing. She refused to have surgery but healed due to lots of pray! My mom needed help taking care of her so my son offered to go. He has made some great changes in his life ... including rededicating his life to Jesus & expressing the desire to be baptized. 

We start school in 2 weeks & can't wait! Really, I just can't wait to be in a regular, daily routine. As far as a school routine ... it will be similar to last year's. Though we have our day planned ... it's filled with some package curriculum & unschooling things like lap-booking & lessons from life in general. 

That's our life in a nutshell

Meltdown

The heat is rising ... and I have not been tolerating it very well at all. I was actually taken to the ER one night ... presented with extreme high blood pressure & a few other signs of a heart attack. After tests and x-rays & an EKG it was determined that what ever was going on, was not a heart attack. It seems like it's just the heat & how I react right now .... not a good thing!!! We've lived in the cabin for over a month now & still no solar power system connected. As of this morning we have a generator, an A/C & a box fan ... all thanks to an *angel* named Ed. If you think of it, please pray that God blesses him.

As of our last rain storm, we officially fixed the leaks in the roof .... we'd thought we'd already done it but then sprung the leak again a couple rainstorms ago. Any way, insulation & moisture barrier goes up this coming week.  We'll be doing some wiring & plumbing at the same time too. One project at a time ... slow .. some times too slow but at least things are moving. The compost bins are built now ... YAYYYY!!! Another thing we'll be buying this week is a couple burn barrels.

Now that we have a generator I can charge my camera batteries & start using it again. Be expecting tons of photos soon!!!

You live life your way, we'll live our way

Why is it that when some one lives differently than the crowd, they are automatically wrong? The only people that have an issue with living off grid are those NOT living off grid LOL Ok ... so it's a lot of work. If you don't want to do the work, then don't live off grid LOL but who are you to tell any one they can't???

That being said, our family is loving life! We are gathering soda bottles to construct a greenhouse out of recycled items. We'll try to be creative and design a picture with the different colored bottles. How kool would that be?!

Building is stalled still ... but there are other things we can do ... and we are!

I decided to post a song I've come to like. It speaks my mind as far as the first part of this post. We may not chew or smoke or eat fried foods ... but leave us alone. If you don't like the way we live, so be it .. we're not askin you to live it :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLvziNM2eyE

Way Out Here by Josh Thompson

Our houses are protected by the good Lord and a gun
And you might meet 'em both if you show up here not welcome son
Our necks are burnt, our roads are dirt and our trucks ain't clean
The dogs run lose, we smoke, we chew and fry everything
Out here, way out here

(Chorus)
We won't take a dime if we ain't earned it
When it comes to weight brother we pull our own
If it's our backwoods way of livin' you're concerned with
You can leave us alone
We're about John Wayne, Johnny Cash and John Deere
Way out here

We got a fightin' side a mile wide but we pray for peace
'Cause it's mostly us that end up servin' overseas
If it was up to me I'd love to see this country run
Like it used to be, oughta be, just like it's done
Out here, way out here

(Chorus)
We won't take a dime if we ain't earned it
When it comes to weight brother we pull our own
If it's our backwoods way of livin' you're concerned with
You can leave us alone
We're about John Wayne, Johnny Cash and John Deere
Way out here

We won't take a dime if we ain't earned it
When it comes to weight brother we pull our own
If it's our backwoods way of livin' you're concerned with
You can leave us alone
We're about John Wayne, Johnny Cash and John Deere
Way out here, way out here

Our houses are protected by the good Lord and a gun
And you might meet 'em both if you show up here not welcome son

Building our dreams

Having to go to town 5 days a week sure does slow the construction process a lot .... and it gets old really quick. I think the biggest problem I have with not staying on our mountain when my hubby is at work would be that we have no schedule or routine what so ever. I know it's taking it's toll on my children too .... they seem to get crabby easier and earlier & they have more times where they are arguing & not getting along. Now, they've always had their arguing moments ... but I don't remember them being so often. I know once we are home more & hooked in to a routine, that will stop.

 

We have a map of our property now ... hopefully it's what the timber crew needs. They said they'd come out right away, once we had the map of the boundaries. Once we get the timber cut & out of our way, we'll be able to get more done on the mountain. We're only having 4 or 5 acres cut down ... that way we have room for animal pens, a barn, an addition to the cabin & we'll have trees left to hide the property and use for fire wood (for my wood cook stove). We're not sure if they'll grind the stumps they leave behind ... that would be great but we won't count on it. One thing we know for sure though .... we'll be grabbing as much sawdust as we can, from their daily cuttings!!! I wonder how long it will take for them to clear the trees out.

 

The 16 x 24 room we have right now will be the kitchen, small bathroom & living room. There is a really good size loft over the front door. Right now it's our 18 year old son's room. When he moves out (which he keeps talking about doing), it will either be a bed room to the next oldest or we'll turn it in to storage or an office. There is a window that needs to be changed. It's a beautiful big window .... but ... it's too big & too low to the ground. It will get in the way of our counters & cabinets.

 

We have 3 chickens left and 2 roosters ... our 3 year old son has decided that it's his job to feed & water them. I love that he's so willing to work the "farm!" He does a great job watering & feeding them too. He's not even afraid when they flap their wings while running toward him. He always has a sibling with him ... but really, he does the chore by himself most of the time. He really likes it that way LOL (we are blessed in that all our children like the farm chores).

 

I had a dream the other night that we won the lottery & bought every one off our mountain. We paid them well over what their property was worth too. Once every one moved off the mountain, my best friend & her family moved on to the mountain. She really is moving out here ..... I'd love for them to be on the same mountain!!! Really though, I'm just thrilled she's comin out!!!

 

 

Keep rockin,
Retta

 

http://www.rettarizzo.com
http://www.makersacres.com/blo

Blood, sweat & tears

I always knew what that meant ... "blood, sweat & tears" ... but I believe I have a deeper understanding now.

 

Blood has been shed on our homestead ... only a few drops (so far). It sure hurts when the hammer misses the nail!!! My 18 year old son & 10 year old son made the first of three compost bins. The oldest was concerned because it didn't look nice. I'm not looking to be on the front cover of "Better Homes & Gardens" though. I don't care if it looks nice ... I just want it to function as it should ... and it doe! Great job, boys!!! It was made out of pallets. Pallets are free but some of them are hard to work with. None-the-less, they are a blessing. Our chickens are housed with the, compost bins are made with them, & some of our other projects will be made with them too.  Hopefully they'll be no more blood shed!

 

Farm chores get done first thing in the morning ... before the temperature rises! I know that old time farmers got up mighty early ... most say it was to use all the day light hours, but I wonder if the temperatures have anything to do with that too. It gets hot in these parts ... working through the day sure makes one sweaty!!! Sweat isn't a bad thing though .... it's a reward, really ... for hard work. We haven't done a lot here yet but our day is coming. Due to not having a way to contact help in case of emergencies, our kids feel safer going in to town on the days that my husband works ... so ... we go. It's a hassle & I'm over it. I think that the most frustrating part is that when staying in town ALL DAY, we have no structure, no routine ... it's sure showing on my children too.  I've noticed they argue more often & are crabby during the day. I tend to feel lost with no routine ... I look forward to getting our land line & a second vehicle. Hopefully those two things happen quickly. I have our schedule planned for when it does LOL

 

We lost a family pet this week. We were given a purebred MinPin 5 years ago. He'd become one of the family immediately. BearBear was supposed to be mine but he took a liking to my 16 year old daughter. His original name was Pharaoh but some how he became "BearBear." When our youngest was a baby, he became good friends with BearBear ... that lovable dog would let the baby use him as a pillow. The past week, we'd noticed he'd started acting like a playful pup again. He had some "pep in his step" again. He was 10 years old & though I don't know what his first 5 years of life were like, I know he had a great second half of his life. We came home from an already rough day to find BearBear had died. My 16 year old is broken hearted & many tears have been shed. We will miss our beloved BearBear!!!

 

Until next time ~

Plans

So, here we are .... on our homestead ... living our dreams. We are loving EVERY minute of it!!! Is it easy? LOL ... um ... not even close. Is it worth it? By far ... YES!!! Our first project was the chicken "coop" LOL ... more like a hut. Now our goal is to clear the property by selling off some of our timber. By doing that, we get the land cleared for free ... and make money to go toward paying for tools & such. We're not going to sell it all though ... just in the areas we want cleared. We've got pallets for the compost bins but until the land is cleared, there's really no where to put them.

 

Immediate Needs:

 

Insulation

Wall Panels

Generator

Window A/C

Rain gutters for roof

Barrels for water catchment

2 liter soda bottles

 

Every day is a lesson, that we're really enjoying learning! Our goal is to be as self sufficient as possible while being TOTALLY God reliant!!! We've never been more dependant on God ... and how KOOL that He is showing Himself to us in very real ways!!! God is good! We've met wonderful people, who have welcomed us whole heartily ... we have been blessed by many ... both friends & strangers, though I don't think there's such a thing as strangers in this part of the world.

1st cooked meal on homestead ... "Cowboy" breakfast ... farm fresh scrambled eggs with beans

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

Chicken need shelter too

Temporary housing

We were blessed with 6 chickens & 2 roosters. We were expecting them on Saturday but due to weather reports, we got them on Friday. A friend drove an hour & a half to our house to bring them to us. Kathy also brought us a couch with a hide-a-bed & 4 or so eggs. YUM!!!

My children woke up this morning & were so excited that they would get to do "farm chores" today ... they happily went out to feed & water the chickens. They were thrilled to find 4 eggs ... part of tomorrow's breakfast!

We are on our property ... way up a mountain & way out in the sticks. We couldn't be happier!!! We are really "roughin" it. We have no electric but will do our solar power system soon. We have a solar shower & a compost toilet. Pretty soon we'll have the water tanks, to truck in our own water. I can't wait for that!!!

One thing I am finding hard to do since our move ... is getting back to our routine. I mean ... I know our routine is changing but I just can't find our schedule in our day & it can tend to drive me crazy with out it LOL

Most days we're in bed by dark & up by the crack of dawn. Those are my favorite days!!!

I'm posting pictures little by little ... I'll post more as soon as we find the battery charger LOL



 

One of our neighbors lol

S. Dakota

His glory

Not there yet ... just

Not there yet ... just in awe of the beauty in this part of the country!

Deer + loaded down passenger

Deer + loaded down passenger van pulling trailer ... PTL we missed it!
TNT 4-EVER

It's not just a move ... it's our dreams

Wow .. only 5 more days until we move. This is the first time I've ever been nervous about a move ... I guess because this time, it's not just a move. It's our dreams. I'm not worried or nervous about failing at anything though ... I count on making mistakes simply because that's how we will learn the how's & what for's of our new lifestyle. I think I'm nervous just because this move is "the" destination we've planned through out our entire marriage. How huge it is to grasp something that has always seemed so far away.

We're hustling to get some (minor), last minute things done ... but for the most part, we're ready to head home ... home ... what a powerful, new meaning that word holds for me. As of Tuesday morning, our vehicle turns in to a time machine ... & is escorting us back to the days of "Little House On The Prairie." Our lives now, though slower paced than most will shift to the days of our pioneer ancestors. Water heated by the sun or a fire for the first few weeks ... dinner by lanterns, cooking with a camp stove or fire pit until we purchase the most beautiful & effective woodstove ever built. I'm sure we will all gain a greater understanding of, "early to bed, early to rise." The anticipated sense of accomplishment as we plan our crops .. as well as which animals to raise for food.

I've been on the verge of tears all day .. some times a few strays make their way down my cheeks. It's all becoming so real. I am filled with excitment, wonder, amazement and a small touch of fear ... fear because we are moving in to tornado alley. From what we've been told, the area we are moving to has the highest rate of tornadoes .. those most are not "that" damaging due to the trees & rolling hills that get in the way of them picking up speed. Still ... just thoughts of the possibilities could cause me to panic ... so I spend my days thanking God for our safety & His protection on our land.

We won't be completely sheltered from the world or the present times. Our laptop will offer a window to those who want to see how our lives progress ... or should I say, step back in time. We'll be emailing, blogging and playing on Facebook when we have extra time .. HA .. I'm wondering if that will become a thing of the past (at least for a while). We have a TV and a DVD player .. planning on watching only on days we can't be outside due to weather & even then, maybe only a half hour per day. The kids share hand held video games, that won't depleat our power source so that's ok. Hopefully though, they'll desire to learn new skills & find new ways to have fun ... building bird houses, horseback riding, watching a calf being born, maybe just sitting under an apple tree to read a book ... or a moment to gaze out on God's glorious landscape.

I just can't wait to get home!

Testing Email ability

 

Just sending a quick test to make sure blogging by email is active. It will make blogging easier & use less of our bandwidth. Hope this works!

Last minute list

Time is drawing near ... the closer our moving date comes, the more excited we all get! We've gotten a lot of packing done .. the only things that are left, are things we'll use until we're walking out the door.

List of things to do on Monday:

Call electric company for shut off date
Call internet company for pick up & transfer date
Call propane company
Email our local community board to announce weekend yard sale
List some Ebay items
Go to dealership to look at vehicles
Go through paperwork boxes
Set up filing cabinet
Put "For Sale" signs on all vehicles

We went shopping today .. picked up a few things for our new homestead. We've also been "window" shopping ... Windows XP shopping that is LOL (We're looking on Ebay & other online stores, for items we'll order once we get to the homestead).

Once we're done doing the above, we'll be completely ready to leave (except for the items we can't pack until we're leaving)

Some items we're on the market for .... (first purchases we'll make when we get to The Maker's Acres)

• Camping shower
• Solar Lanterns
• Generator

Sleep well ... dream BIG ... they really DO come true!

Contest Giveaway Extravaganza!!!!

Check out The Mommy On The Bus Says ... blog for a HUGE, FUN & KOOL Giveaway!!!