A frugal lady.

I haven't been posting much anywhere for awhile because I'm just tired. I need to spend time with Callum, and find routine and get used to my life.

I've been doing great, I think. I still get lonely but that's kind of what I'm asking for from life right now. My few good friends around here haven't been coming over as much on the weekends. Mostly I just see Seth's parents and his uncle Ronnie and some other people occasionally.

Next week I'm hosting a Natural Birth meetup group. I really liked the one I went to in March but that group is about an hour away so I offered to host a meeting for local members in Hammond. That should be great.

I've also signed up for a first aid class in September, and I will probably also get certified in CPR later. In August the local state park is having a few events including a wild edible plant tour, survival skills training, woodworking and basket weaving workshops. I'm planning on going to all of those. At the wild edibles tour I'm meeting up with some other people who are interested in permaculture and survivalism and such.

So I'm really working on being social, I just haven't quite made it yet.

I'm also working on being antisocial, inadvertently, by letting myself become increasingly paranoid and skeptical of my culture. I don't believe in consumerism or big governments or any of the things 'out there' that are contributing to this economic (and human rights)disaster. Seth and I buy food and gas so he can get to work, and in most cases that's all we buy during the month. We pay an electric bill and we pay our mortgage and car insurance.
The one 'splurge' is social more than anything, and that's when we go to this nice authentic Mexican restaurant down the road for dinner and we can both eat for $10 there.
It's not difficult to NOT spend money, except for the fact that everyone's doing it. That's what people do. The more I pull myself away from that kind of thing, the more disturbing I find it. Right now we're poor but we're financially disciplined. Even if we weren't poor, then, I'd want to live the same way because it feels right.

I'm not trying to be a snob, and I'm not really trying to set myself apart from everyone else but as I get more and more comfortable with my frugal way of doing things, I get more and more uncomfortable with the things going on around me.
It's knowing that we can make it on such a small income that kind of liberates us from living to spend, and spending to live, and being part of this big race we don't want to be a part of.

People around us aren't doing that. Even now. It's not a judgment of them, but simply an acknowledgment that it's part of the reason I'm having trouble socializing.

Quite simply, I feel different. Perhaps I relish the "hard life" to some extent. Not saying my life is hard by any means, but it could be easier if I gave in to the system. It could be more luxurious, let me say that.

Either way, I know that I need to take breaks from the internet. The whole thing overwhelms me. Somehow the ability to get in touch with almost anyone at any time makes me fail miserably at doing so.

I'll leave with a few pictures of the beautiful chickens. These little hens and my family and friends really are the light of my world.

The fantastic four

Muriel, one of our Americauna chicks.

New chickens, and a new home for the chicks.

I rented a library book called "Living With Chickens." Seth took and interest in it, took it to work with him and read through the whole thing in one day. He now has an incredible love for chickens and we've spent the weekend getting things situated. Since he has taken kind of a 'backseat' approach to the whole homesteading thing, it's really great that he's so passionate about something and he's been directing things as far as the poultry go.

This morning he started off asking his uncle Ronnie if we could have the rooster and hen he had leftover from his chicken rearing days. He'd been keeeping them in tight quarters and I've always felt bad for the poor things, so we finally brought them over here and they are staying in quarantine in the 'hay ring' where we used to keep our other hens. They are a beautiful silver-laced wyandotte/cochin cross bantams but the hen is somewhat ill so we aren't introducing them yet. Their names are Freddy and Celeste.

The 'fantastic four' hens-- now named Nora, Star, Bella and Janine, have moved to a bigger pen, which we have all just labored and sweated over for the past 5 hours getting it secured for them. We actually picked up the basic structure of this coop from Seth's grandmother, and hauled it down the highway on a trailer while it swayed and threatened to break apart in the wind. It stands about 11-12 feet high, 10 feet long and about 6 feet wide so it was a monster to carry down the road.

We've finally got it here, replaced the most rotten of the boards, secured the wire and we've tucked a tree limb in there for them to roost on (not sure if they've figured it out yet). I'm so excited about the new cage and I hope the ladies stay safe in there.
During the days, we've been letting them roam freely. Hawks are our main concern but I haven't seen any on the land so far, and they spend a lot of time up in the tallow groves so hopefully they'll stay safe.

We also came home from the feed store with 4 more chicks-- 2 Americauna pullets (blue and green egg layers!) and two straight-run Rhode Island Reds.

It's been a long, productive day. None of the hens are laying yet, but I'm much happier knowing that we've got their living quarters all worked out. I cant wait until were getting our own, fresh eggs.

Seven hens, one rooster, and two unknowns. Pictures soon!

No air conditioning

The baby and I have been spending our days without air conditioning. One thing that does to you is get you outside! My only real problem is having a clingy infant grabbing and crawling all over me when it's 90 degrees inside.
I find myself wishing he were a toddler or an older child so I could just set him on the grass and let him run free... but the grass hasn't been cut in weeks now, and ants are swarming and wasps are all over the porch. I'll be honest, outside really isn't much better right now.

My father in law found a fun article about this very subject: The Unchilled Life.

I find the first line quite funny: "TO many Americans, abstaining from air-conditioning is a masochistic folly akin to refusing Novocain or renouncing the dishwasher." We actually gave up the dishwasher awhile ago and TODAY I was mentioning to my grandmother how much I liked her dentist because he didn't shoot me up with novacaine to fill one little tooth.

Oh well, I guess I know where I fall now...

Please send your thoughts and prayers.

The brother of a very close family friend is in critical condition after a sudden illness. We will be keeping them in our thoughts, and ask that you please do the same.

Baking and biofuels.

That's right, baking and biofuels-- but not at the same time! Not right now anyway.

Let's start with the biofuels. Remember the pesky little tallow trees that are taking over the farm? Well, I got carried away with a little more research the other day investigating their potential as a crop for biofuels. Some folks are already way ahead of me on this one, but that's only more encouraging!
They actually appear to be pretty promising as far as that goes. The outer wax can be melted off and processed into a fuel that is essentially the same as diesel. I am looking more into this as a possibility either for personal fuel or for business.

Ok, now about the baking. All I really have to say is that I am on an outrageous baking spree for the past week. It started with a loaf of bread and a batch of cookies. Now I have two loaves in the oven and a batch of dark chocolate coconut cookie dough in the fridge. The cookies are most impressive. I substituted coconut oil for butter and honey for half of the sugar, then dumped almost 1/4 a cup of dutch cocoa into the mix and ended up with great results. Oh, I used wheat flour too.

The added cocoa provides a little iron and the (10% per tbsp!), honey and coconut oil have some of their own beneficial properties. Not saying these cookies are 'healthy' or anything, but if that's what you're looking for in a cookie-- move along.

H1N1 (Swine flu)

Just for fun. In addition to this, I have a pet project where I am keeping an eye on the vaccine technologies that are resulting from this H1N1 scare.
Curious? Learn more: The H1N1 (Swine Flu) Vaccine and You

Goats and milk.

I've started hiking around the property in the mornings and evenings before it gets too hot. I carry little Callum on my back in a backpack and he's calm and happy the entire time. It's a good way for me to get exercise without leaving him behind. Plus, now that he's older he can really enjoy the sights and sounds.

My primary goal out here is to be able to feed my family, and maybe a few others, when SHTF, the depressions really hits, the apocalypse comes, or whatever it is. Having well-established livestock and fruit trees as well as a few native edibles and perrenial food plants will be crucial in making this happen. Food stores of grains and staples will help hold us over until we are someday able to grow our own.
Taking a look at my goals and what we have done so far, I'd say we are well on our way. No, we're nowhere near self-sufficient but we have a lot of things in place and we're adding more and more as time goes on.

I have to have a few long-term plans too. You know, if 'S' doesn't 'HTF', the depression doesn't hit and the apocalypse doesn't come... we're probably going to want to generate some sort of income as well. I'm looking at a lot of ideas as far as this goes.

It seems to me like internet retail is pretty saturated. While that may be a component of what I plan to do, I don't think I could ever rely entirely on internet sales of any product. Since we'll be working with livestock anyway, it seems natural to look in that direction for some possibilities.
I've been researching a bit into the market for goat meat and dairy products. That really appeals to me but what I've found for business doesn't sound too promising. As with most things, though, it is what you make it. I'm not expecting anything to be easy nor do I aspire to create an empire of wealth, I just want to make enough to meet some of the 'outside' needs-- such as health insurances, transportation costs, taxes, things like that.

Locally there doesn't appear to be much available for processing goat dairy or meat so that's another option-- an actual (small) processing facility which could offer potential growth for other local goat farmers as well.

This would be a huge task to take on, on top of the self-sufficiency project, but it may very well be worth it.

I have to admit, Seth and I are considering another child within the next year or so and that would mean that *my* work on the farm would be pretty well hindered for quite awhile. Perhaps with Callum, that's already the case (it sure feels like it), but at the same time... maybe I'm more adaptable and more accomplished than I imagine.
I do have a tendency to feel overwhelmed, but progress is being made around here so I can't really say that I'm not getting anything done.

I have a passion for goats and animals in general. Even if it didn't turn a big profit, if it kept us afloat it would be more than worth it. Everytime I see one of these animals I get giddy, I'M SERIOUS! They are so cute and stinky and mischeivous. I love it.

Aye, but I don't know about the meat part. How will I keep from falling in love with every one of them?

Wild and plentiful.

As far as fruit goes, just a bit of seasonal planning around here would have us covered for most of the year. The blackberries are so plentiful that we have to cut them back and mow them over to keep them under control. Good fruit May-June. Some of the bushes have gotten attacked by "rust."
I've also discovered a few patches of muscadines for late summer fruit, though I'm not sure what type of muscadines or whether we'll even get any if we are competing with the wildlife. It will be interesting to see what happens this year, anyway. Perhaps in August I can also try to root a few vines and plant them closer to the house. Most of those that are growing are pretty high up in the trees.

Aside from those, I have the figs and I would like to have mayhaw berries and plums but I'm still working on finding some plants. I've considered growing some citrus. Ronnie's kumquats are delicious and he's able to grow lemons and oranges over there, but they have been overtaken by bamboo and aren't doing so well. My mom thinks I should grow bananas! We will see about that...

There was a solitary pink wild morning glory plant growing by the road and I was waiting for it to make some seeds so that I could spread them around, but the city came and mowed down all of the plants and I finally found its mangled remains. No seeds, but perhaps something ate them.

There is good news for the morning glory, though not that one specifically. Over at Ronnie's he had a big pecan tree fall down during a storm and knocked down his power lines. As a result, all of the wild weeds in his front yard had to be bulldozed and the dirt was scraped bare. It was mostly privet and air potato vines over there anyway so he wasn't too heartbroken about it.
I wandered over there today and in the bare dirt has germinated hundreds and hundreds of little morning glories. There are some wild type as well as some cultivated (that Ronnie claims he planted years ago in another part of the yard). I find it quite amazing just how many seedlings are popping up, so I'm planning on transplanting a little patch of them to my part of the property to see how they do.

Funny all those little seeds must have been waiting there for years-- waiting to get a chance to touch the bare Earth.

Good bread and work.

I started a loaf of bread kind of late tonight. Seth is in a bad position and I feel guilty for it. He hates change, it seems. The past year has been full of it. I dragged him to Virginia, married him, made him a father, dragged him back to Louisiana, encouraged him to take jobs, and to leave jobs and now I'm encouraging him to switch jobs again. Something that seems like a really good opportunity has come along. He's happy at his current job and things are going well there so I think he is hesitant to leave.
I can tell it's really getting to him.

He said he wanted bread earlier so I started making bread. I forgot it takes 3 long hours to make so I'll be up until 11:30 or midnight I suppose. Everyone else has already gone to bed.

This time I loosely followed the recipe on the back of my bag of flour. I added too much honey and butter but both of those are delicious so I don't think many problems will be caused. The dough feels exactly the same, but tastes a little better than my previous attempts.


It will be nice to have fresh bread again. It's so wonderful homemade, and so wonderful to make. I haven't done it in awhile. I'd call it laziness, or procrastination.

Sometimes I wonder how people have made it so far with infants around. How does anything get done ever?
I guess it does. I guess it does around here, too, but mentally it all just feels incomplete, in-progress and very scattered.
Thus is life, hm? I'd be feeling the same way without an infant, really.

It's actually no different.

The chickens are big now and I love their soft feathers. They are all pretty sweet and tame. Even though it's a hassle to move them back and forth, morning and night, it's the only time we spend with them besides feeding and watering. It's good that they're so used to us.
I really love those creatures.

Signing off now, as I await a warm slice of bread with butter and honey... or perhaps the sound of a crying child.

Compost follow-up

The compost is too wet and not getting enough oxygen. The too wet thing is because we've recently had some rain, despite the fact that we're in a severe drought. The lack of oxygen... well, I often ignore the compost so that's what's happening there.

As usual.

Slow and steady as usual. I've been putting a lot of energy into helping Seth with a job, getting things around the house to go more smoothly, daily chores, and recently I've been browsing the forums at survivalistboards.com. There are a lot of bright individuals over there with quite a bit of good dialogue. I'm also reading some fiction and listening to audio lectures online. (FYI: I'm "ss834" in the forums)
A lot of intake, not a lot of output.

Okay, I have a big galvanized wash tub to use for outdoor washing... dishes, laundry, whatever. The chickens are doing well. I want to get serious about creating a big run for them and when they are old enough I may recruit Ronnie's rooster to breed and start some new chicks next spring. Ronnie has also been talking about mating the pygmy goats. Seth says he heard that pygmy milk is no good, but I read the opposite, so I think it's worth trying.
We'll get a goat yard set up and maybe take a nanny and her kids. That'll do it for animals for awhile-- goats and chickens were our primary interests. Oh, and the rabbits! We have rabbits and Ronnie has quail.




Other than that I've got to get the vegetable bed going. I am thinking about starting with intensive potted veggies and a deep raised bed. I know I need to start small for now, since it is only me, and if some people can do it on 1/10 an acre then I should have no problem growing right off the porch.

The rest of the figs will go in the ground this weekend and that'll be it for my trees that have needed planting.

The other plants have suffered from the heat wave of the past 3 weeks. Though the chives, the trees, the mint and the wildflowers are still doing well.

I'm going to start some tomato seed this weekend as well and whatever else I already have. My compost is getting pretty nasty and awful. I think I'm either failing miserable or succeeding. Its got grubs of all sorts in there and tons of fire ants because they are everywhere and they get into everything. They eat about half of what I put out there.

... sigh...