Every penny counts!

When you are raising a large family with less than a doctor's salary, every penny counts! It's even harder when the company your husband works for keeps giving less & less hours. There was a time that our internet sales were in full force but when we went off grid, we cut internet service so all that had to be put on the back burner. Now we're back on line & wanting to get our "Trading Post" up & running again.
There are all kinds of things needed on a homestead. In light of recent issues, our most recent need is an electric pole. We've lived just fine without normal electric but the heat is getting to my health. As stated in an earlier post, we are going back on grid just long enough to get the battery bank built so we can store enough power to run our entire house with some modern desires ... air conditioning being the front runner.

There are all kinds of ways for someone to make a living from home. You can sell crafts, home made items (clothing, food etc), wood working, writing, voice overs ... so many ways if you just think outside the box. We are doing a variety of things; from home, from this page and from other sites & blogs. Today I'd like to introduce you to our Cookbook Collection.

We are offering a collection of 21 e-books jam packed with excellent recipes. You'll get Cheesecake recipes, healthy recipes, SBD recipes for each phase, fun.craft type recipes, specialty foods and even the best copy-cat recipes out there. Each book is worth a lot of money but we know what it means to have to spend less and get more. Instead of charging you the suggested retail price for *each* e-book, we'll send you the entire collection for $5.00

BUT WAIT ... 

order now & we'll throw in 5 other cookbooks filled with recipes for Chinese, Mexican, Indian and other delicious cuisine.

That's right folks ... you will receive thousands of recipes all for the low, LOW price of only $5.00

Click on the Paypal button to buy now.

Your order should be sent in email to you within 2 business days.

Enjoy~

Summer is not my friend!

There have been some really big changes around here ... mainly in my thinking. We have lived the pioneering life for over a year now (almost a year spent at our current property). I have decided that I am not Laura Ingalls. She was an amazing person & I am thrilled to be learning the skills she had. We will live our lives utilizing those very skills ... BUT ... until we have a big enough battery bank to provide our power, we will connect to the grid. Yep .. that's right ... I went there. We have power but it's provided by a generator. Not a problem unless you run out of gas. Really we haven't had a need for major electricity any way .. but .. it is Summer. Living without an air conditioner is getting hard. We have a pool now (which the children LOVE) ... but I am not able to get in because of a minor surgery on my foot. So ... that leaves me suffering in the heat. We are working toward connecting to the grid soon. At first I felt like a failure for coming to that decision ... but not any more. There is no reason we have to suffer to reach our goals & dreams.
We will have some of today's technology ... but we will be wise & use as little as possible. Eventually we will disconnect from the grid again ... but only when we can support our needs with other means! We have built some things for our home, that we will continue to use ... such as the solar water heater. It's amazing! We will also continue to use our sawdust toilet. There's no reason to change over to septic. We will compost, recycle and reuse what ever we can. We will move as quickly as possible to go off grid again ... I just know that Summer is not my friend!

What living "off grid" really means

When you live off grid, it technically means you are not connected to the power grid or any utility companies. That can also take on other meanings though. Like ... when your only source of power breaks down. People tied to the grid tend to panic and worry about everything when they have no power. When living with limited power though ... power "outages" are no big thing ... unless you are supposed to make an announcement on one of your other blogs LOL Well then ... the power outage can cause some problems.
Our generator went out yesterday ... fortunately we purchased it from a good company, that stands behind their merchandise! It's actually the second generator from them. The first one died (motor seized) with in 3 days of buying it. We'd had the second one for just over a month when it seized. The company couldn't replace it this time because they didn't have any more. They did have one from China but said if something broke on it, they couldn't get parts for it. No thanks! So ... they gave us a full refund PLUS the cost of the gas & oil that we had just put in it the night before it seized. That company will have a bulk of our business as far as tools & equipment!!! Anything we can buy from them ... we will!!! There just aren't a whole lot of businesses like that any more!!!
There was very little time left in the business day when the generator died, so we couldn't do much about getting another one. So, that was today's project. We made some calls and did what we could to find a replacement ... we figured that even if we needed to get a smaller one, just to get us back up & running ... the problem was that no one had a smaller one in stock ... and the bigger ones ... well, they were double what we paid for ours. We just couldn't swing that. A neighbor & my husband set out on the town, with a mission to find us some power. It worked ... but came from, what I think is the oddest place ... an auto parts store. Who'da thunk?!
Our new generator is even better than the first. It has all the bells & whistles of the first (and second) ... but it has one thing ours didn't. It has a trickle cell charger. For those who don't know what that is ... it's connectors for battery cables, so we can trickle some of the electricity in to a battery bank ... in order to "store" electricity for when the generator is off. I am soooooooo excited about this!!! I'm sure you can trickle charges with any generator ... but I'm guessing you have to rig something to do so. With this one, no rigging needed!
Now to build our battery bank!

OT: We entered a GiveAway

Life is about instruction and adventure for us, among other things ... and when the two can meet, it's really kool! We've entered in to a drawing for what we think is one of the neatest tools! It's a Child Training Bible. It's a color coding kit that breaks the Bible in to topics & answers that train our children. Life is easier when we have answers (or an instruction manual).

Check it out & enter for yourself!

CHILD TRAINING BIBLE GIVEAWAY

Camp Electric (Off Topic Post)

As a musician, songwriter, I am blessed that my children have a passion for music. Their passion runs just about as deep as mine. They've been bitten by "the bug" and we're going to do what we can to feed tat bug. The three oldest at home recently had the opportunity to go see some great Christian bands in concert ... Skillet being one of them (which happens to be the favorite band in our family). The kids had such a great time! While at the concert, they found out about a Christian Rock Camp, where kids go to learn how to play instruments, run audio boards/programs, vocals & songwriting. I've done some research & found out that the camp is really expensive! Worth it ... but way out of our price range. My kids asked for the opportunity to raise the money to go. Dad & I said yes ... so here you have this post.
They will be selling the silicone bracelets ... your choice of two colors: either block with white lettering or white with red lettering. The words "Jesus Rocks" with a music note on each side of the words & will come in youth & adult sizes. The cost is $5.00 including shipping & handling.

Camp is in July so we have less than 3 months to get their tickets purchased.

Purchase by using our "Buy Now" button ... in this post or to the right, in the side bar. 

Colors

Black w/ White Letters $5.00 USD White w/ Red Letters $5.00 USD

Sizes

Adult Youth

Thank you for you support! 

p.s. Please allow 2 - 3 weeks for you order to arrive

Some of the clothing we make here on the ranch

Here are some items from our hand painted line. We offer custom colors at no extra cost. Our sizes range from premie to XXXXL You tell us what you'd like & we'll create it for you. Price list will be posted tomorrow. (Pictures imported from our old blog). I'll update our "For Sale" page with pictures & prices in the next day or so. The first collage is of tie dyed clothing. We can do this with just about anything. The second collage (one with less pictures) is actually hand painted clothing. We can also do that with just about anything. Each type has a separate process, both make for great fun and the possibilities are endless.

Building Our Kingdom

one tire at a time? Well ok ... maybe not "our" kingdom ... but the tires will certainly lend themselves to animal houses, coops & such here on the ranch. They will make great walls and even greater pillars. From the simple to the more complex, it is free building materials that helps keep our landfills a little less full. 

Tire companies pay to recycle their tires. We could go in, haggle & come under the bid of who ever they pay ... but why? We're just blessed to receive FREE building materials!!!

We get tires delivered by the truck load thanks to a friend of ours. e makes sure to bring them as often as possible. In effort to ensure our place doesn't start looking like a junk yard, the tires are stacked, immediately ... according to size. We're thinking about all kinds of structures ... we even joked abut making a pool today. What? It could happen LOL

Are they safe to build with? Yes, contrary to what so many think. 

Fire safe? Yep .. because they are covered with natural materials made from the earth, they can be fire proof.

The pile in the picture looks small ... but ... it's only one half of one delivery. 

Things we'll be building:

• Barn
• Chicken Coop
• Storage Shed
• Hay "Covering"
• Pool (yes, you saw right ... a pool ... keep a watch for this one)
• A "foundation" for our house

Stay tuned!