He only loves me for my (from scratch) biscuits

Note To Self:

Next year, make sure the firewood stock is doubled, and make sure it's all split!

Right now, the firewood I have left is buried, tarp and all, under a foot of snow. By the time I get it dug out and split, it's got a lovely coat of snow stuck to it. Then I bring it in and the snow melts, leaving wet wood and puddles in the floor. ugh.

At least I am not trying to drag wood up the hill in this snow, as I have had to do every other year we've been here.

It seems that every year since we moved in, we've not been ahead with firewood. The first couple of years it was due to not really knowing anything about firewood: how much we would use, what kind, what size, etc. Heck, I didn't even know what a cord was. The rest of the time, there were contributing factors, which left me doing my best to gather all the wood on my own, with the help of the girls.

This past fall, however, we managed to lay in a nice stock of firewood. I didn't care that it wasn't split. I only cared that it was brought up the hill, because hauling wood uphill in the snow totally blows.

We did have a nice supply split and stacked, but it went fast. For those of you new to my blog, keep in mind, this is all done by hand: we use a chainsaw to cut the wood, then a wheelbarrow to get it up the hill, then an ax to split it. Sure, a log splitter would be nice, but then would I have these manly biceps? Probably not. But thanks to the Country Wife Fitness Program, I'm buff enough to bust any log!

Every spring, I put off cutting wood, mostly because it's all I think about all winter long, and I'm sick sick sick of it. Not this spring. NO sirree! That wood will be up the hill, split, and stacked, before the first leaf turns. No if, ands, or buts!

I guess that's how homesteading is, though: learning from experience.

Oh, yeah, and about that snow:



What you can barely see in the pic is the fish pond. Remember Little Sis' kiddie pool turned fish/frog pond? That's it. It's 18" tall. It's still standing, not collapsed or anything, just buried. That is a LOT of snow.
And more is on the way early next week. ugh.

The snow! She melts! (finally!)

I think we ended up with more than a foot of white stuff on the ground over the past week or so. It got so packed down that we were walking on it, making the ground seem about 8 inches higher than it should've been. It's really noticeable when you bend over to scoop up chicken food out of the container that now seems way below ground level. Weird.
Finally, it's melting. It didn't all melt, but a lot of it did. I can see the ground in a few spots. But now it's getting cold again, all the melty stuff is re-freezing, and more snow is predicted.
How long till spring??

Forewarned is Forearmed

Back when we lived in the city, we had cable tv. I spent a lot of time watching the weather channel, so if severe weather was predicted, I usually knew about it. If I wasn't watching that particular channel, there were handy warnings popping up on the network channels. Sometimes a neighbor would call and warn me if severe weather were headed our way.

Now that we are in the country and rarely watch tv, we had to find another way to stay abreast of severe weather. It's even more important to know what to expect when you are somewhat isolated and rely on firewood for heat.

Hearing that severe weather is headed our way, we usually bring in extra firewood, make sure we are stocked up on drinking water, and attempt to get everyone bathed in case of power outages. (No power means no water.) I also try to get the housework done: dishes and laundry washed and the rugs vacuumed.

We keep up to date on the weather with a NOAA weather radio. Ours has an alarm that goes off if a warning is issued for our area. The alarm doesn't sound for advisories, though.

We also get emails from EmergencyEmail.org If you haven't yet signed up for this handy service, you should; it's free. There have been days that I didn't think to check the weather; it was sunny and calm. Then I get an email to let me know that there's a watch or advisory for our area. They also send emails warning of other things, such as security threats and product recalls.

Speaking of, we are under a winter storm watch for tomorrow. Funny, because I was just saying that we are about due for a big snow. So far, we've had just a couple of inches at a time. Yesterday, we were supposed to have less than an inch, and we ended up with at least three, which at least a start.

The kids are hyped about the snow; Santa brought new sleds for Christmas. DH has been wanting to drag out the sleds almost as much as the kids. Thankfully, he doesn't work tomorrow.

If we actually get some snow, I'll post pics...if the power stays on.

A New Year

Wow. 2009.


When I was a kid, I thought it was amazing that I could possibly still be around in the year 2000. It seemed so far into the future that my friends and I discussed the hover cars we'd own.


Here we are, nine years after Y2K, and I still don't own a hover car. :(


*shrugs* Just as well. I'm having a difficult enough time with the changeover from VHS to DVD. What the heck is Blue Ray, anyway?


Here it is, another new year. I don't make resolutions, but I do make a list of goals. I've been doing it for a few years now. It sort of started out as a list of things we wanted to do to our home and property when we first moved out here to the country. Then I added to the list: skills I wanted to learn, projects to do, books to read, etc.


At the end of each year, I make a separate list of things we have accomplished. Sometimes there are a lot that weren't on my 'to do' list. I also jot in significant events in our personal lives, as well as unusual weather and anything else out of the ordinary.


I keep all of these in one notebook. I find it very interesting to flip through and look at past years' lists. It's an amazing sense of accomplishment to think of all the skills I have learned in a few short years.

I'm currently working on the Goals List for 2009, and the Accomplished List for 2008. We really got a lot done in 2008. More than I thought. I won't post them all here, but one of the more interesting things I found, in looking back over the past few years, is how self-reliant we are becoming. Slowly, at first, starting when we first moved to the country and realized that we were often without power, snowed in or otherwise isolated due to downed trees or even flood waters blocking the roads. We realized that we are some of the few that stick it out at home when things happen. Which means we can only rely on ourselves, our skills, and our preparedness.

We have learned many new skills: using a chainsaw and ax to split firewood, developing ways to haul the firewood; gardening, growing hay, etc, all without a tractor or tiller; canning, dehydrating, and freezing foods. The list goes on and on.

I think the one thing that really made me realize how far we've come is discovering that, over the past year, we purchased very few canned items. I think once or twice I picked up a can of tuna at the store, and I did buy canned sweet potatoes and canned pineapple during the holidays, to save time. I can't really think of anything else. We did do frozen pizzas, as I mentioned before, but overall, very few convenience items. This may seem like a small thing, but if you stop and think about what most people buy when grocery shopping, maybe it's not so small, after all.

I'm still learning, and we have a long way to go to be as independent as we'd like to be. For this year, my number one goal is to find ways to be comfortable in case of long term power outages. But more on that later. For now, since it really is a new year, I guess it's time to take down the Christmas tree. *sigh*

Happy New Year to everyone!!!