Drunk on the Power of Full Time Homesteading

Spring hits me as hard as Fall does. When I could be enjoying-for just a brief moment-the emerging green grass or the flush of beautiful fresh eggs,  I am instead rushing mentally ahead making lists of all the tasks which must be done these next six months. This year, my level of HTA (homesteaders task anxiety) is particularly high. I reason that it is due to the shift in our roles here. I am now home a hefty part of the week, while Keith is working one full time job and one part time gig.

The "job" provides us with income. The time spent on the "gig", is bartered for animal feed. A decade ago I worked off farm and Keith was here (or there since we lived somewhere else), and I pretty much left the farm decisions up to him. I helped when I was home but bringing in the cash and keeping up with household stuff, was my domain. Now, the house, the homemaking, my writing, a good ahre of outdoor animal chores, and soon enough, the garden, will all be my primary focus.

While concerned with how it will all get done, and it never does, does it?, I'm feeling a bit drunk with the power. I imagine that while Keith is at work I could...

  Rearrange all the fences to allow for lovely pathways through the property
  Construct adorable pasture gates out of bent willow branches and old jewelry.
  Paint all the out-buildings a matching shade of lavender.
  Attach flower boxes outside the chicken coop.
  Teach myself to weld and turn all our metal garbage into charming fake flowers or reptiles
          or garden gnomes!
  Pile all the burnables into a big hill and have the most awesome bonfire where my female friends
          and I will drink dandelion wine and dance nak...never mind.
  Build a village of treehouses or old campers for our grandchildren to hang out in.

Pinterest.com

First though, I'll have to deal with the fact that I don't have the same building, welding, repairing skills my husband has, and there is still, despite my loud letters of complaint, only 24 hours in the day.



If I jump into the above outdoor fantasies, I'll have to give up the cooking, food prep, laundry, writing, helping out with grandkid babysitting things I am currently neck deep in. Not to mention, but ok, I will, all the outdoor projects. Like the new milk house that must be built this summer.

What to do, what to do. How do you all structure your time? Have you given up sleep entirely or have you self actualized to the point that you can enjoy a cup of tea without filling a notebook with more "to-do" items. How do you find real peace, and how do you make it last longer than ten seconds?

Mucca's Big Jaw

This is Mucca

Mucca is Italian for cow.

Last week Keith noticed two areas of swelling on her, one on the right side of her jaw, and the other on the right side of her neck. He asked me to look at it closer and I was baffled. The one on her jaw was small, golf ball size, but very hard.

The one on her neck was larger, softer. Neither felt warm, as an area of infection might, and there were no signs of puncture wounds or cuts. She wasn't having any trouble eating or drinking either. But, we were concerned about parasites and because she is pregnant, due in a couple months,  we made an appointment with our vet.

To save the cost of a farm visit, we loaded up Mucca a couple of days later and drove her 30 miles to the vets office where he was able to see her in the back of our livestock trailer. I may have mentioned it before, but we love our vet! Been using him for over twenty years and he's so good and kind with the animals, and super patient with my nurse fueled questions. and Keith's experienced dairy man inquisitions, "So, should we try this? " or "Do you think it's this?" and "How can we avoid this?"

He tried to aspirate both swollen areas with a needle and syringe but got back nothing more than a bit of serous fluid. Looking at the cells under his microscope he didn't see any bacteria and because she wasn't acting sick, he guestimated it as a couple of hematomas (areas of blood collection) due to an injury of sorts.

We were relived it wasn't serious and that antibiotics weren't needed. We were also relieved that the total bill was just $87 . It's still over our monthly livestock care budget but Jan and Feb expenses in this area were low, so Mucca gets a pass. After we got her home I spent more time watching her and noticed how Alpha Cow Liz can be pushy with Mucca especially at hay feeding time. Both cows have horns and so it's likely Liz gave Mucca a push and hit her right side with her horns. Liz's horns are blunt tipped, which is consistent with the injuries seen on Mucca.

So, we'll keep an eye on her and hopefully the hematomas will absorb back into the bloodstream as they should. We also added another large Rubbermaid feeder in their pen so they each have their own feeder to dine from. Of course, they aren't doing this. First, they eat together out of one feeder then they mosey over the other feeder and eat out that, together.

Cows. If it's not one thing, it's an udder.

March, in like a lion.

Yesterday, the last day of February, was as crazy as the rest of the month. Too warm, too windy and too unpredictable. Tornado weather.

Usually that hits us here in Central Illinois towards April and May, but this whole winter has been off kilter with unstable and variable temps bringing ice storms, fog and most recently, temps so warm tulips are popping up two months early.

High winds started yesterday afternoon and tornado warnings began screaming across phones and radios around 5pm. An F3 (winds of 130-160 mph) hit the town of Ottawa about 30 miles north of us,  killing one person while causing loads of damage to the rest of the town. You can see that news report and more photos HERE.

We had minimal damage on the Poor Farm. Some of our feed buckets and barrels were tossed out in the fields, but the critters were all fine. Doing chores was a pain as I got far more hay blown back into my face and eyes than I managed to get into the hay feeders! Inside the grain bin I could hear the wind but the circular shape of our home greatly diminishes the noise. Sometimes we'll be sitting on the couch downstairs and not even realize the wind is blowing until we look out the window and see the trees being bashed about.

This is both a good thing and a worrisome thing. In our old farmhouse I tell just by the degree of window rattling how severe the storm was and whether or not I needed to round up four kids and a barn sour husband to get them all in the basement.

Now, the kids are grown and we have no basement. Oh well. I think the grain bin would do well in a tornado what with its super solid concrete foundation. Or,it might spin around a bit,but no worries, I
 always was  a girl who loved a good Tilt-O-Whirl ride.

mchaelochs.com

In two days they're predicting snow and after that we'll probably experience a tsunami. No, we're not anywhere near any large bodies of water, but this winter's weather has been so out of sorts, nothing would surprise me.

Ticking Off the Car god.

My father was a strong Catholic who worshipped one God, most of the time, as long as the mechanical heap he was driving  didn't get a flat, or a hole in it's radiator, or a squealing belt, a wobbly sort of frame, an oil spewing gasket. You get the picture.

When those things occurred, and they did fairly often in our household as extra money for newer cars didn't exist, my father would make reference to another power. One that waived about a large pair of channellock pliers in his omnipresent hands-one known as-The Car god. (Sorry, too many years in parochial school for me to be able to capitalize  the "g" in  any other god, even one with greasy hands and the breath of antifreeze.)

Dad would rationalize that our cars broke down when perhaps we had been negligent about making appropriate sacrifices to that ever lurking Car god. One who had the power to both inflict, and relieve vehicular injury. But, he also believed in the law of averages. After a run in breakdowns, he knew a good streak was due to follow, and when it arrived he enjoyed it. Often by driving too fast and picking up too many hitchhikers.  He never could never pass up a fellow on the side of the road with his thumb out.

This past month Keith and  have been slammed with car/truck repairs and we're wondering ourselves, what have we done to tick off the car god? First my little car needed new brakes, then a new power steering belt. Then last week my car started spewing transmission fluid as I motored down the road. A few days later Keith's truck sputtered, coughed and gagged while he was delivering a load of hay for a friend of ours.

Expenses were piling up. What could we afford to repair and what could wait? Could we dump my Dodge Neon with its 217,000 miles and just get by with Keith's fifteen year old truck? Were we healthy enough to chuck both cars and just walk the ten miles to the nearest grocery store? 

We decided to try our hand at mechanical repair ourselves after getting  the $300 estimate to fix the transmission fluid issue on my car. Turned out hoses and a new radiator was needed. Keith has many, many talents but he is the first to admit he's not so good with engines. But  he talked with our    repairman, ordered the new pieces, grabbed me for assist (I am really good at holding bolts and pointing out where one doohickey doesn't look like the same doohickey we removed and now replaced) crossed his fingers, and slid himself under my car.



It took us a couple hours, but we did it.  We replaced the radiator in my car, and nobody died.            Even filled it with antifreeze AND connected all the right hoses AND replaced all the transmission fluid lost. Know what that darn car did? It ran, just great, and still is a week later. We were so fortunate  that it was super warm that day, we didn't miss our old machine shed with shop quite so much.

                                                                         Shiny  new radiator in place

What about the truck you ask? We decided not to push our luck and took it into the garage yesterday.  We'd  hate to totally tick off said car god with our mechanical independence.

So tell me. Who does their own car repairs? Oil changes? Tire rotations? Can you even fill the tank with gas or do you bribe the fellow at the station to do it for you?

Disposing of the Disposables

Now well into our second month of cut rate living I've realized how far we've come in regard to ridding ourselves of disposable household items.

How far is that Donna? You might ask.

Far. Really, really far. Like, way out there. For example, we no longer purchase any of the following: napkins, plastic baggies, aluminum foil, wax paper, parchment paper, Q-tips, hand wipes, paper towels, plastic wrap, SOS scrub pads, paper plates, cups or silverware.

We did not accomplish this overnight, it took time, the real motivator was money and lack of it. With a grocery store budget of less than $40 /week, which includes all household non-food items like cleaners and disposables, it came down to this. Did I want to spend our money on paper towels or more fresh veggies?

The cucumbers and spinach won out. So here is how we get by without those items mentioned above. We use dishcloths for paper towels and napkins, we re-use plastic containers that come to us free with some of the groceries we buy (like cottage cheese), we recycle every plastic bag that comes through our door like with any packages that arrive or with any veggies or fruit we buy. I use nifty nylon scrubbies, a handmade gift this past Christmas, over and over. Like the dishcloths. they are washable. And speaking of dishcloths, the one in the pic above was made by Martha Witcher in Metamora Illinois. Handwoven and gorgeous, her items are high quality and meant to be used and washed over and over. Their durability is fantastic. Check her blog out HERE.

I've also become very creative with newspaper. There are three free ones we get every week. I cut them up into strips and use them to coat cast iron pans and baking wear with butter or oil, I use half sheets to wash windows and mirrors, I use whole sheets to drain greasy food like fried chicken.

We never need aluminum foil since we have so many left over plastic containers to store food (and I hate the stuff) plus I use our glass canning jars to keep quite a number of things fresh in the fridge. Yes, I do wash dishes often since we don't use any disposable dishes, but it's only a matter of keeping a sink full of hot soapy water. I wash, or simply rinse, dishes as soon as I dirty them.

In case you're wondering though, we still buy toilet paper, we're not complete barbarians.


So, tell me what disposables you live without and what you use in their place.

The Only Winter I like is Edgar

He looks like his surname does he not? All pale and cool, wind blown and aloof. I was reminded of dear Edgar when I was out doing chores this evening, in the cold, blowing snow. Just one of my favs of the 70's back when being cool had nothing to do with the insulated coveralls I wear now. The insulated Camouflage coveralls. Oh yeah, I'm so cool now.




The fact that we got a little snow dump today is all my fault. Yesterday, when it was in the 50's I was whining about the mud, and the dreary overcast sky. I even said to Keith, "So where is all the snow this year? A little white sure would be a nice change." I was tired of looking at the yard debri and rather than spend a day picking it all up, I just wanted it covered up.

Idiot.

The snow started this morning and at first, was a lovely layer of powdered sugar, but by evening we had several inches. At least afterwards it brought some sunshine. Fortunately the wind was just enough to make small drifts, not too hard to walk through, but if it picks up tonight we'll have issues. In these flat plains an inch of snow, accompanied by high winds, can cause white out conditions.

Which, in times past, I did not mind. I had no problems driving in bad weather, just chalk it up to years doing home nursing. But now, on our limited budget, I'm not so careless about venturing out on snowy or icy roads. What if I slide in the ditch and have to pay MONEY for someone to pull me out?
Now that...would be a disaster.

Dreary last evening

The brighter, whiter today.

So, big deal, we have snow. The animals will be ok, good shelter with deep bedding is all they need, but we human mammals will whine a bit more I'm sure. All in all though the winter of 2017 has been mild here. . No long cold snaps like Illinois winters of the past, and no serious snow storms (yet). Only a couple of icy rain events. I experienced  far worse in the decade I lived in the Black Hills of South Dakota. There, you could enter a restaurant at noon when the sky was clear and blue, and one buffalo burger later, find your car buried in a ten foot drift with the dreaded Jackalopes hopping back and forth over the top.

 Which is why any cowboy worth their salt lick would keep his snow mobile gassed up, ready to go, and secured with baling twine, in the pack of his outfit (aka pickup truck).




Sometimes, especially in the plains around Belle Fourche, SD (which I still lovingly refer to as The Armpit of America ) the storms would roll in so fast, livestock would freeze where they stood. So when my fellow Land of Lincolnites complain about our tough winters, I tend to scoff.

Here, until this morning, it's just been grey and overcast for weeks. Enough to bring out the deepest Shakespearean  angst at times. Oh well, if we didn't have winter, how would we ever appreciate Spring? (with it's rain and mud and bugs...)

Shakespeare: my favorite drama queen

A Milk House Made of Tires

earthship.com

We need a milk house, desperately. A building where we can wash up all our milking equipment (which is being done in the Looney Bin now) and store all our root veggies and canned food overflow, as well as place for our freezers and an extra fridge for all our milk products like cheese and yogurt. Contrary to popular belief, a milk house is not the place where we milk our cow or shelter her. That takes place in another small cow shed.

Most normal folks would use wood and drywall to build a milk house (that's how we built our first one in 1999) but no, we have to use tires. Why?

There are three basic reasons:
          1. There were numerous tires left on our property when we bought it and after reading about
              the EARTHSHIP CONCEPT in the southern part of the US, we decided we eventually
              wanted to do the same.
          2. Before we attempt to build an entire home based on tires, we thought building a "prototype"
               would be beneficial.
          3. After comparing the costs of other building types, we can get more space for our
              dollar by using tires as the main walls of our milk house build, and by building into a hill
              to save heating costs.

earthship.com

This build will start, we hope, in early summer. After the sale of our other farm we had a small amount left over for this build, so it's a capital expense that shouldn't affect our regular monthly budget. If we plan everything down to the littlest screw, it shouldn't. If we do the majority of the work ourselves, it shouldn't. If we don't have to pay a ton in fees and permits and waivers, it shouldn't. We have just $5000 to build a 24 by 12 foot milk house.

The milk house floor plans are in flux right now, one of our sons is tweaking it on his CAD program. When he's done I'll post it here. In the meantime we have a lot of ground work to accomplish. The Illinois EPA won't allow us to build anything with tires until we complete a BUD (benefit use determination) application, not even a small doghouse. Yes, I asked. This seven page document requires us to document where the tires came from, how we plan to use them, how their use is more beneficial than conventional materials and on and on and on.

We also have to work with our own county on building permits. I'll be chatting with the same guy who dealt with us on the building of our grain bin house and who is currently working with me on the permits I'll need for our family graveyard. You can imagine how thrilled he'll be to hear about this new project!