Ma & Pa Ingalls (and Miss Beadle)

Flashback: March 1991; my (then) fiance & I stood in front of the furniture store, peering in to the windows. We'd spotted the most beautiful furniture carved out of logs. It was a perfect fit for our country dreams. "One day we'll be Ma & Pa Ingalls," we said as we chuckled.

Fast forward to today (Saturday, September 15, 2012). After a year of living the pioneer life, just as rusticly as the Ingalls, I found myself pulling up to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home in Mansfield, Missouri for an annual town celebration. As we pulled up to the museum tears started welling in my eyes & emotion briefly overtook me. I had no clue I'd react like that. My mind flashed back to that moment my husband & I had joked about being Ma & Pa Ingalls ... and then I searched my memories and the trails we've drivenm searching for our dreams. It dawned on me a few years ago, that we'd actually followed the Ingalls trail as far as where we've lived. None of that was planned, by us any way. We have spent our entire marriage searching and pining for a simpler life; one that would bring our family closer to each other (if that were even possible), utilize the old (almost disappearing) skills such as Blacksmithing, farming without machinery and trading with neighbors. This life is not for everyone. Some times I've wondered if it was for me. I've always joked that I was Laura Ingalls, but out of recent frustrations decided I didn't want to be any longer. Well, today's visit to Laura's Mansfield, Missouri home rejuvenated that dream. I have spent my life wishing I was her ... so onward I go. Living the dream ... working harder and loving every minute of it.

We were at this celebration because a sweet friend of our family's was singing there. One of the songs she sang was "Home On The Range" ... and in the midst of it she paused and asked if the audience had ever considered the line, "Not a discouraging word was heard." She went on to state that now-a-days discouragement was almost all that was shared. That was one of the reasons my husband & I longed for simpler times. In simpler times, people helped each other, built each other up and loved thy neighbor.

I cried again as we entered Laura's home. Her kitchen, living room, bedroom ... every room was perfect and would work for us. The house truly is little but every inch was space wisely used! Because this home was later in Laura's life, it wasn't as rustic as the others before then were. I'd eventually like to visit every home she's ever lived in. I enjoy designing floor plans and would love to use a combination of each floorplan to build a dream home on our land.

Before our adventure ended, we were blessed to listen to a young man play Charles "Pa" Ingalls actual fiddle. As the strings poured out their beautiful sound tears slid down my cheeks. I closed my eyes and pictured Pa sitting in his chair and his daughters dancing wildly between him and the fire place. The more I pictured, the more that fiddle bow plucked at my heart strings. It's amazing feeling to reach a dream.

As we spend the next year or so fulfilling our dreams, I will hold on to today and use it as fuel ... as hope ... and as a reminder; nothing worth having ever comes easily ... but it is worth every ounce of blood, sweat & tears.
On a side note ... we met the woman who played Miss Beadle. My girls were so excited to get a picture with her!

Brrrrr

The verdict is in. We LOVE having air conditioning!!! We don't keep it on all day but it helps to come in after some hard, outside work and turn it on. It cools quite fast! It works so well that some in our family actually have to cover up at night. That's what I call relief!!!

We're not doing any major homestead work today. It's a day to get paperwork & other type of business stuff done. I may even get to work on the book I'm writing, if we get most of the stuff taken care of.

I am an impatient person. We have all these things to do, with plenty of time ... but limited amount of money. That's one of the hardest parts about this lifestyle (for us anyway) ... we aren't made of cash & the projects we need to get done require that. We buy what we can, when we can ... but it just doesn't happen quick enough for me.

GREAT news!!!

Two posts from me in one day. Rare but needed today. We have some GREAT news!!!

We have AIR CONDITIONING!!! I am sitting in my house; doors & windows shut ... with the fan & A/C blowing directly on me. Thank you, Lord!!! The best part ... they are connected through our generator & battery bank. This is HUGE for us!!! We just may be able to bypass getting electric, which would sure save us a lot of money!!! Hopefully the house will soon feel like Winter in Summer!

God provides!

Keeping Cool in Excessive Heat

The sun has been beating down on us ... and the humidity just keeps rising. We've actually had an "Excessive/Dangerous" heat warning & it continues until tonight at 7:00 p.m. How did we survive? An ice chest filled with ice ... kept my feet in it all day. It actually kept me fairly cool. The pool also does wonders for combating heat, especially since some of it sits in shade. I knew the pool would be a great investment!!!
We were able to get some things done around the property & are now preparing for some bush-hogging and back-hoeing. We'll be starting our tire & pallet barn soon! We're thinking of roofing with corrugated plastic. Any thoughts on this?

Early Morning

With my schedule being all out of whack, be it because of not sleeping very well in the heat, or staying up too late while working ... I haven't been up early mornings very often lately. I didn't realize how much I'd missed that until this morning. I was actually up early enough to greet the sun. Early morning is my favorite time; especially when it has silvery clouds dancing across the sky.
I could get lost in the clouds & I wonder if angels dance on them .. or at least sit to watch the world from them.
Early mornings is my refreshing time. The house is especially quiet with the exception of two cats, playfully romping across the floor. It's my time to read my Bible, uninterrupted ... pray & then just sit and relax before the hustle & bustle.

Not sure what the plans or goals for today are ... but I'm sure they will be big. Maybe the 5 year old has to go out & save the world .. and the 8 year old will take her babies to the doctor for a cold or fever. Maybe the 11 year old will finally finish (or start) building that mansion he promised me. The 12 and 15 year old's will undoubtedly have time to conquer the world. I love watching & listening from a far, the things my children do, think & say.
On the real side of things ... we are straightening up the yard (stacking tires, picking up trash, moving tings around, leveling the rest of the area where the pool is ... and I think that's it for outside stuff). As for other things ... it's just too hot to do much of anything. What ever needs to be done though; will get done.

Might as well go back to town?

It was stated in a comment that if we plan on hooking back up to the grid, we might as well go back to town. It was later explained that it was because the cost of the grid tie, power pole, wiring etc was expensive especially when you are going to run an air conditioner. We already run a fan when we run the generator .. helps but not enough. Between the cost of gas to run the generator, and the cost of propane to run the fridge and stove .. connecting to the grid is probably cheaper. I'll have to do the math on that to figure it out. I know the cost of the solar panels, wind turbine and battery bank ... add that to the cost of wiring (in any case). I'd be willing to bet that connecting to the grid costs more upfront but less than what we are paying out in gas & propane costs monthly. 


Decisions, decisions!

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.

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