For all my troubles....

At least there are still the simple pleasures.

Like a basket (Or three) of fresh tomatoes and peppers and such from our backyard. By the way, that's a 3/4 lb tomato sitting there... 12 oz! Not too shabby...

This year has not been our most productive, nor our least frustrating (Did I mention that we had yet ANOTHER broken bone on second boy, and then the third one, C~, has been in and out of the Dr. with some frustratingly elusive mystery ailment that causes lethargy, 101+ fevers and head & belly aches???) but to still be able to walk out back, harvest fresh food and enjoy it...
Well, I guess when all else fails you, you relish in the simple things.
Be well all!
P~

Answer II - Where we're going

OK...I know I was way long winded on my last answer post. I'll try to keep myself in check here.

Q1: As I've been following you for some time, I know how you got here. I'm more curious about where your going? Where do you and A see yourselves, say, 10 years from now....ideally.
~farm mom

A1: A~ and I are dreamers. It is one of those things that we've loved about each other since we first came together. I can't think of a time that we weren't planning what we wanted to do or accomplish or where we wanted to be. Through time some of the plans stay the same and some of them change, but still we always seem to have a goal that we've talked about at great length. I like to say that "it's hard to get anywhere if you don't know where you want to end up."

At some point in the future, A~ and I want to move to a place with more land. Either by moving further into the country to a place with 10 or 20 acres, or perhaps just finding a piece of land locally that is in the 2-5 acre range, we're open to the possibilities right now. We want to be able to continue to expand and improve on our homegrown foods and sustainable, self sufficient lifestyle progression. Ideally we will find a good piece of land with no home on it and be able to build an earth sheltered, alternative structure, semi off-grid home where we can maintain a productive garden and keep a few basic animals. In a few years, A~ wants to be returning to the workforce and I would like to seriously look into some type of career change. Whether that means taking the root duties that I have now, I'm a web based applications programmer, and applying them toward some business that I am truly passionate about, or changing completely and perhaps indulging my passion for growing and working the earth, I don't know yet but have no doubt that it will happen.

On a more personal level, I have a lot of goals that I hope to realize in the future as well. We'd both like to complete the Master Gardener course at our local extension office, and I'd like to start a community garden of some sort and generally become more active in my community. I also want to expand on my writing. What form that will take I don't yet know, but I enjoy sharing my thoughts with others and think I would get a great deal of enjoyment out of it.

Whatever path our life takes us down for the next ten years, I'm sure there's bound to be changes to our plans. The point is, we have plans. We have dreams and goals and we thrive together as we work toward them. And hopefully, entertain you as as well as you get to read my sharing of it all.

Q2: I'm also wondering about the boys. As my kids are still little, this life seems completely normal to them. How is it for your older children? Do they love the changes you've made over the last few years? Do the goals you have and the changes you've made make sense to them? Or are you the "weird parents" they have to explain away to friends?

I actually went to the source on this one, the boys. They don't seem too scarred, and at times I'd say they actually enjoy it. They said "It's cool." but they don't like only getting candy on Saturdays (that's a thing we do.), and regularly complain that the clothes line ruins football games in the back yard. They do seem to realize that they're being raised a little different from their friends too. They love to have their buddies go out with them to check the chickens for eggs when they come over to visit, and regularly tell us how their friends at school say their spoiled because they get homemade cookies and bread all the time. I think they probably do have to do a bit of explaining from time to time, but I honestly can't see that it's ever bothered them. We like to talk to them about why we do the things we do, that way they are invested in the process as well; they are participants, not victims. The times that are the hardest are the times when they get caught up in the "stuff" that some of their friends have. We basically explain to them that we made a decision to be able to spend more time with them, rather than to be working all the time and be able to afford whatever we wanted. They get it, but their still kids after all and it can be hard.

I think it would have been great to have raised them this way from the start, and as far as the frugality things we really have. The rest, food production, sustainability, etc. we have implemented slowly over time and haven't been a shock to them at all.

Well, I hope that answers that for you. And I hope I didn't blather on too long like I did before.
Till tomorrow.
P~

simple...not easy

This weekend we did a lot of work around the house. Cleaning out the garage, pulling weeds, double digging beds, harvesting and canning spaghetti sauce, pickles and beets and making more progress toward our garden expansion goals for next year. It wears you out some days you know.

As I was working the garden beds this evening I was thinking to myself that this decision that A~ and I made last year to simplify our life together; to take more ownership of our food supply and to live a little lighter is a complex one. To say it plainly, it's called "simple living"...not "easy living". Oh we could just go about our way like everyone , maybe just have a little kitchen garden for some fresh tomatoes and peppers, you know, a hobby garden. But we chose to go big. Last year we headed off down a path that I don't think we really know where it ends and is a hard one to follow. We do, however, believe that it is what will be best for us and our family in the long run. Are we 100% in all of our goals? No. Are we improving every month? Yes.

I see around us, both in the neighborhood, and in the online communities, a surge in interest in this way of living. I want to make sure that, amidst pretty pictures of garden harvests and homemade goods, I give a realistic perspective on this stuff. It's a lot of hard work. There are times when we're tired or have an ache, or really just aren't motivated to get out and do what needs to be done. Plenty too are the times when we, or more specifically I, have to talk myself into completing the project I'm in the middle of because I'm just tired. This isn't our living, that takes the first half of the day. This is extra.

The rewards are plentiful though and are what really makes it all worth it. The surprise of gathering in fresh eggs everyday, taking our "garden walk" together every night after dinner or watching our boys learn responsibility and work ethic through caring for our animals and working in the yard. A~ and I enjoy exploring this journey together and learning what we can do and produce on our own and I think we're constantly surprised at just how independent we really can be. So be realistic if your thinking about taking these challenges on, but be optimistic too. It can be done, it can be enjoyed, but it will take effort and a measure of dedication.

Good luck and Grow On!

Web Ringers.

I just wanted to take a second and say hello and welcome to all the new readers that have been popping in from the Urban Homesteading web-Ring. I am so happy to have you here. I hope you're able to learn something from what I do, and more than that even, I hope you'll share with me so that I can learn from you.

For one reason or another, we've all started walking down an uncommon path. Let us be company to each other as we walk it and talk and share and see where we end up.

Take a look around, leave a comment if you like and please, hurry back.

Namaste.

P~

Earth Hour 2008 - Lights out.

This morning A~ informed me that Earth Hour 2008 was scheduled for tonight. We found out about it too late the last time it happened and we missed it. So this year, we planned ahead of time to spend that time in the dark. Or at least without electric light. So tonight from 8-9:00 pm Mountain time we went "Lights out". The kids weren't necessarily looking forward to it, but we plied them with cookies and games. We put a few candles out on the table, took out the scattergories game and had some of A~'s very tasty no-bake chocolate cookies. (See even the snacks saved energy!)

We all noted that it was funny how trained we were; we kept instinctively starting for the lights for this or that. Even when I went to take this picture. Even though I had taken out the tripod so that I could take a no-flash picture in low light without blur, I still went for the light. We never turned it on though, and we had a great time. After the 9:00 hour had passed, we kept the lights out for a bit and just talked. We talked about school and choices, and about what the kids thought about the Earth Hour experiment. They had a great time and are wanting to do it more often. I suggested doing it at least once a month, but they thought once a week would be better. We'll see I guess, but either way we'll certainly do it again.

We also talked about what it must've been like before electricity, and I got to thinking. Wouldn't this type of exercise get us more prepared for events like blackouts or unexpected catastrophes? It's similar to the idea of living for a week or month from food storage to get a better idea of the things you don't think about, and makes obvious the areas where you are lacking in skill.

Did any of you also participate in the Earth Hour 2008 event? If so I'd love to hear what you did, and what you thought of it.

Till tomorrow.
P~

Chemical Sensitivity

What a difference a year makes? Well, almost a year anyway since A~ and I decided to make the move from chemical based cleaners, paints and home accessories. I've mentioned before that I feel like our general health has been better because of this, and I think so even more today. Our oldest son C~ who had missed nearly 3 weeks of school last year from asthma and allergy related problems has missed approx 3 this year thus far and only one of those days was because of respiratory problems caused from a classmate spraying a chem-based air "freshener" in the classroom. This alone makes the changes worth it.

Yesterday I noticed an interesting thing though. I too have become used to living in a cleaner environment. I've worked as a military mechanic, a printer and in various service industries that use a lot of chemical cleaners so I've been exposed to a lot of chemicals in my day. I've never had any real reaction to them at all. Yesterday however, half of the building that I work in was being repainted and Ugh, the fumes! I had such a headache toward the end of the day that I left an hour early. It was the weirdest thing. I've never had that problem. After getting outside and breathing some fresh, albeit very cold, but fresh air, I felt much better.

I guess I've become spoiled by a clean environment. My challenge to you is to take the opportunity to make a few changes in your habits this year and see if you don't feel healthier too. I thought that in order to clean with non toxic products that we would need to buy a bunch of hard to get expensive organic cleaners and such. YOU DON'T! (Although I do really enjoy some of the green products that my sis sent to our family for Christmas. That was the most well thought out and thoughtful gifts I think she's ever given us.) We use a vinegar and lemon based cleaner for our everyday spray and wipe stuff, washing powder instead of bleach in the wash, baking soda with essential oils in our baths instead of chemical fragranced bath products, and a pot with a little water and fragrant herbs boiled to add a little scent to the house to name a few. The products are cheaper, they work as well or better, and are absolutely non-toxic.

Give your home a once over and see where you can make a change that won't impact you too terribly and give it a chance. Then when you get used to that one, take on another. Little by little you'll see that it's really not hard and you'll feel better in the long run.

P~

An orderly home / A healthy child

We're not there completely, but we did clear out the things we had identified as "need to go" things this weekend. All the decorations and old frames that we had went to a nice lady we met through freecycle and a desk went to a friend of mine from work. The rest of the things went to our local charity thrift store on Saturday and lo and behold, we began to feel a little freer and had a lot of extra garage space all of a sudden.
Another thing that we have been doing so far this year, is to make specific plans with finish dates. This has served us so well It's amazing. It's like the world favors the prepared. We planned to take a trailer load of trash that's been sitting in the side yard since early fall before the first weekend in January, and we did. The day after we went, we started getting snow, and we now would not even have the ability to get the trailer out. Good timing. We also planned to take the last items to the Thrift store this saturday afternoon, and we did. The next morning, surprise, unexpected snow storm that would have been a pain to move stuff in; again, good timing.
A~ and I have really been happy with the way the new year has been shaping up. How's it going for you?

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

On the heart murmer front, we finally got the news from the echocardiogram. (I previously referred to it incorrectly as an electrocardiogram. My mistake.) It seems we have a healthy and active boy with a slightly leaky heart valve. In short, nothing for us to worry about. We will need to monitor it by having it checked every couple of years as he matures just to be safe but there are no expected issues.
Thank you all for you caring posts and encouragement. It means so much to have people we've never even met send us such well wishes.
I'll post more soon, I'm almost done with the catch up on the woodwork and will be a little freer with my time.
P~

Food Storage

From the standpoint of food production, storage, handling, and the Lord's counsel, wheat should have high priority. (God, Family, Country, p. 269)

I agree. My wife and I have talked a lot in the last few months about wanting to store up some wheat. We have a good quantity of stored foods such as beans, rice, flour, sugar and water, but wheat is one of the great multi-purpose storage foods that we have not had in it. We don't just want to store it though, it's something that we want to begin to integrate into our regular diet. That brings me to a point I'd like to make about food storage, eating it. There are a lot of people that have begun to put up food of late and the more volatile the circumstances around the world become, more and more people will begin too. How many people eat these types of foods on a regular basis however? So many people don't really know where their foods come from anymore, let alone how to produce it themselves. If we don't take time to learn how to use these foods, we will not have the luxury of learning to use them when the time comes that we need to. Now in our home we are by no means experts, and probably still have more to learn than we have learned so far. There are a lot of things that we can do to take action towards learning though.
Last week my wife and I attended a educational opportunity surrounding the many uses of wheat that our church put on. The family that put on the presentation is one that uses wheat regularly in their diet. We learned about the benefits of sprouted wheat and watched them make a delicious whole wheat bread from freshly ground wheat. This is a bread that we have eaten before, a neighbor and friend regularly bakes it and we've been the lucky recipients of a loaf from time to time. We also got the opportunity to try what they called "wheat meat"; this was an interesting concoction that they made from hydrated wheat, ground and seasoned, then fried like a burger. The flavor was good but the texture could have used a little something; however, it was definitely something I'd like to experiment with. Towards the end of the presentation they showed us a couple of very interesting ways to cook using less fuel, and espoused the benefits of juicing wheat grass. It was a good time and I learned a lot of things that I didn't know.

Another thing to think about with regard to food storage, is the type of storage that we choose to have. Wheat, beans, legumes and other dry goods will last for a very long time in our storage with a minimum of effort. These are things that have been found in the pyramids of egypt still viable and good. A cool, dry place and careful rotation are really the biggest things to be concerned with. Also, these foods with not be effected if there were widespread power outages as frozen foods would, and are much more versatile overall.

Over the upcoming winter months I'll be experimenting with some of the things that I learned and of course passing on my findings. A~ and I hope to be able to become much more skilled at incorporating these foods into our regular diet and using them to move towards a more sustainable and vegi-centric diet.

If you don't have wheat or plentiful dry goods in your storage, I encourage you to look into them and learn about them with me. If these things are an active part of your home storage and even more so your regular diet please share with me your knowledge and any tidbits that may be able to help me as I move forward.

Turn Off, Tune Out, Be Happy (Today)

Well here we are, Today. What did I learn? How has is benefited me?



Today:

Well, today I think I’m the happiest I’ve been in my life. I was never truly miserable mind you; after all I have a beautiful wife and children, a new home in a good neighborhood, and a challenging job with people I like to be around. Today however, I am focusing on those things and on the positive, possible things in my life. I feel challenged by myself to think and learn and grow. My health is better and I’ve lost nearly thirty pounds with no dieting, just a more healthy diet and active living. I have built a small but loyal group of readers and friends that I enjoy chatting and learning with. I’ve also learned that what I consume can truly have an impact on my happiness. More does not mean happier and easier does not mean better. Spending time and work to grow a garden really does make for a better salad, and the time it takes to bake really does make better bread. Of course we need things, I am realistic after all. It’s the pursuit of things as a goal in themselves that I’m talking about. There are so many people out there that are not able to have some of the basic things like shelter, clothing or regular meals; perhaps instead of throwing out that “old” coat we could donate it to someone who needs it. Few things increase our appreciation of our blessings and of the things we have, thereby increasing our happiness, like sharing with others. Slowing down and simplifying our lives can bring us so much fulfillment it’s hard to quantify it. I hope I’ve been able to shed a little light on my own journey and that perhaps it will help some of you to reflect on yours. I leave you with this…



Happiness is being where you are,

Take stock what you have and appreciate it,

Focus on the good and the possible in your world, and how you can increase it,

Slow down, participate in life and stay challenged.


Namaste
P~

TurnOff, Tune Out, Be Happy (Recovery)

Yesterday I told you about how I found my self becoming unhappy. It wasn't something that I was conscious of, it just came on me. I was lucky enough that the same fates that brought me to this point, presented me the opportunity to change my course.



The Recovery:
When earlier this year I started to blog, one of my primary reasons, honestly, was to have a place where I could rant about all of the things that I was so angry about. I had things to say about politics, world issues and the downfall of society… you know real happy stuff. I found that it was much harder for me to make the time to actually sit down and write out my opinions when they came from anger than I had expected. I’ve always enjoyed writing and it’s also always been something that’s been able to help me organize my thoughts. When I write I have the opportunity to look back and read what I’ve said. It gives me perspective on what I’m trying to convey rather than just spitting it out. I guess reading my own words helped put in perspective how I was thinking. After realizing that there were so many wonderful blogs out there dealing with things that I was passionate and interested in like gardening, homesteading and alternative energy for example, I began to focus more on these things. I began to find my voice again and it was a positive one. I moved to Blogspot as my host in roughly April, and adopted the title “A Posse Ad Esse” or “From Possibility to Reality”, in order to remind me to focus on the possible in life. Not long after I moved the blog, my wife and I also made the decision to cancel our cable subscription for the summer since we would be gone for 3 weeks on vacation and saw no reason to pay for it. These two things, vacation and cancelling cable, combined to thrust me into a cold turkey withdrawal from the news and a strange thing happened; I was happier. I wasn’t walking around with a perma-grin on my face or anything like that, but I was certainly happier. I decided to explore this further and began to earnestly avoid the things that I found causing me unhappiness. I found that even the local news became a mental drain as nothing makes the news like death, misery and misfortune, of course they’ll always throw you that little fluff piece at the end to leave you feeling good so you’ll come back again tomorrow. I made the decision to tune-out of the talk radio and listen to music again and found that I arrived home with a smile more often, and was in a better mood overall. I decided that I may never be able to get the small hobby farm I dreamt of (the dream persists, but not at the expense of today.); but I do have a beautiful home on a ¼ of an acre that I wasn’t making the most of as it was. I began to spend my time in the yard as though I were on my farm. I planned and worked it, composting and tending. My obsession with what I didn’t have became one of gratitude for what I did. I took part in a “Low Impact Week” challenge put on by another blogger that encouraged me to try a new way of daily life. I began to ride my bike to work, consume less, and eat a more local and primarily vegetarian diet. My wife and I began to wean ourselves off of chemical cleaners and started using home made natural ones. All these things, each one small in on its own, began to move me towards a more simple way of living. I began to feel more in tune with my community, and more connected to what I was doing. I was thinking again.


As you can see, making decisions and taking action, combined with focusing on the positive things in life and a little lucky opportunity helped me to dig myself out of the mire. We can all do it, life is a choice. Tomorrow, the last installment, Today.



P~

We lost our TV

No , not really; but we did take it out of the bedroom. We decided to try "living" without one in the bedroom. I know a lot of you may think that this is just obsurd. Not the idea that we are taking it out, but rather the fact that we had one in there in the first place. Of course a lot of you probably have one and think we are nuts for taking it out, who knows? I have been slowly trying to wean myself off the tube for a while now; I always feel like there is something I didn't get done at the end of the day, I have a lot of reading that I am trying to get through for instance. Thats not even counting the blogs that I haven't had a minute to catch up on. At any rate, I got the wife to concede for a short period to give it a go. She loves to have the noise in the room when she goes to sleep, and I guess my clattering away on the keyboard isn't enough. It's been nice the last couple of nights to get into bed and get to focus on something other than the news, or some re-run, Although I will admit that I miss the documentaries. We love documentaries and all the best ones seem to come on late at night, almost tempting you into insomnia. This is just one little way to try to simplify life a little. we'll see how it goes.

Just out of curiosity, how many of you have tv's in your rooms? Lurkers, you chime in too OK. You don't have to leave your name, I'm just curious as to where I stand.
Thanks.
P~