Off the Grid at -30

Tuesday, 11 March 2014

An Ending and a Beginning

I've been putting this post off for a long time. At first I thought I wouldn't have to make it. Surely the doctors would come up with a solution. Nope, it wasn't to be, so here I go.

Last year I started to run into a few medical problems. Nothing that I thought was serious. During a routine medical exam my doctor noticed something not quite right and actually called me personally, twice, during a time when she knew I was out of the country. That kinda worried me but she assured me it was just something that needed to be followed up on and I shouldn't be too concerned. OK... A doctor telling you not to worry is kinda like a cat being told not to chase a red dot. Suffice to say things went downwards from there. So far I've seen five different doctors and had more medical tests than I care to count and still there are more to go. The bottom line is this, at least the way I understand it..... I'm not dying, well at least not yet, but I will never be back to my normal self again. In fact, life as I know it is pretty much over.

So, there it is in black and white. No sense crying about it, nothing to be done but move forward and see where it goes. Which comes to the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Sell our much loved homestead. If you've been following along on our journey you know we've had some amazing times and lots of fun but since I can no longer live that life I have to let it go. So, I am....

If you know of someone who is looking to live an off grid lifestyle, who isn't afraid of getting their hands in the dirt and doesn't mind the winters let them know of this opportunity. Just because my dream is ending doesn't mean it can't be starting for someone else. http://offgridparadise.net/

Off Grid Paradise For Sale

It's someone else's turn to enjoy this beautiful spot.

Wednesday, 5 September 2012

Taking a Brief Hiatus... maybe... sorta...

Sorry for leaving you in suspense wondering where I was and when I was coming back. (You were wondering right? Or is that just my overactive imagination at work again?)

My unexpected trip turned out to be very fruitful and we are now in possession of a "newer" car. One which gets approximately 900 km (559 miles) or more per fill up. I can't tell you how excited I am about that! Fuel prices continue to rise and spending $20 every time we needed to make a trip into town was killing our budget.

Now that I am back however, my poor garden is looking rather overrun and I am in full blown "prepare for winter" mode. Along with all the other farm chores I am slightly (insert quite) overrun on a daily basis and my list of things which must be done now keeps getting longer. This has given me quite a dilemma. I spend at least 1.5 to 2 hours daily on my blog and FB page. This is time a really don't have to spare right now.... sigh....

In order to keep my sanity (although many will say that left me a long time ago) I will be scaling back my time writing and concentrating on my garden and winter prep for the next little while. I'm NOT going away! Just have to get everything done before it freezes!

We started our first fire of the season in our wood stove last night. While it was wonderful to feel the heat and listen to the fire crackle I also felt sad that this wonderful summer has come to a close. Fall is now in full swing and the geese flying overhead are urging me to hurry ever faster to stack the wood in the woodshed and bring in the harvest.

Please be patient! I will post as often as I have time.

Wednesday, 29 August 2012

Killing Three Birds With One Stone (No birds where harmed in the writing of this blog)

First came the house, then the barns and out buildings, now, five years later it is finally time for Mountain Man to start building his shop. But wait! We still need a summer kitchen and a green house! Uhg! So much to do on such a small budget!

Winters here are usually so cold you can't spend much time out of doors which creates a closeness which can be lovely at first but by January we are both ready to pull each other's hair out! Not literally, but we always get a bit of cabin fever in the winter and tempers become a bit short... OK... once in a while if the winter is particularly long, a lot short. Hey, the sun rises at about 9 am and sets at 3:30 pm, I blame the sun....

When you are doing everything on a shoestring it can take a long time to build anything. So, my ingenious man has come up with a plan. He will get his shop for those frigid winters and I will get a summer kitchen for all my canning as well as a green house area to start my plants. He is very busy in the summers and won't spend much time in there anyway.

Being that we are off the grid and power is always at a premium and depended on the sun the windows on the south side for the "green house" are necessary for light as well. We are just making them a bit bigger than the original plan. The wood stove will go in on the side where the garage will eventually be and the pipe from the stove will go through the wall and into the garage side to heat it just enough so the cars will start at -30 and colder. We have traded out or bartered for a lot of the materials so far since cash is always in short supply. (Gas for the vehicles is now up to $1.26/liter ($4.76/US Gallon) and it costs us $20 for every trip to town)

When Mountain Man first came up with his plan I must say I was a bit surprised. How many men would willing choose to share their shop (substitute private domain) with their wives? I'm a lucky woman.

Monday, 27 August 2012

Frugal "I Did It!" Tuesday #7

It's that time again! Time to check out the frugal things that everyone has been up too. I don't know about you but I have been so busy canning I haven't had much time for anything else. Tomorrow I will take a day "off" from canning or at least attempt too and spend some time reading all the wonderful posts and gleaning wonderful ideas.

The most popular posts last week were.

The Unexpected Benefits of Financial Difficulties by Second Chance to Dream

Guide to Free and Cheap Produce by Healthy Frugalista

and

Slow Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes by Mamal Diane

Now, on to the blog hop!

A few rules (I really hate rules but we must have a few)

1. Link up anything that is: Something you made or did that is frugal

2. Link back. Please ensure you put a link back to this page. You can grab the button below or just post a link somewhere in your blog.

3. Visit a few of the other links on the page.

I will share a few of my favorite posts on my Facebook page this week! Enjoy!
If you are receiving this in your email click here to view all the postings.

What Is That Sound?

For the last few days I have been hearing a wonderful trilling call. I only hear it two times a year. The first time it thrills me as I know spring is truly here but this time it sent a chill and a dread through my body. Fall.... Fall... Already? Where did the time go? How can it be fall already when I have so much to do? The tomatoes have not yet yielded up one delicious ripe fruit and yet the call I am hearing is unmistakable.

I went back to peeling and coring apples for canning with a bit of a heavy heart. For many Fall is a lovely season filled with beautiful colors and wonderful harvests. There is no disputing that. For me however, Fall while beautiful is also brief and heralds the time of mind numbing cold to come. I refuse to think about it. It can't be fall yet! The trees are still as green as the tomatoes on the vines.

The calls came again and I in my desire to ignore them turned up the radio and bent my head to my task. Not half an hour later Mountain Man burst through the door, told me to grab my camera and my boots and hauled me out the door. This is a normal occurrence here. He will not allow me to wallow in my self pity but insists that every day, every moment must be enjoyed for what it is. So, we ran... and ran... Across the field which is almost a good quarter mile wide, him spryly and making silly faces at me while I huffed and buffed behind him angry with myself for being out of breath. When did I get so out of shape? Then we stalked silently through the woods and to the edge of another field being careful, so careful, not to make too much noise. There they were! Those shy birds we only see in passing. Sigh.... How can I feel anything but joy at the sight of them? Sandhill Cranes. Wow! I wish my pictures would have turned out better. Perhaps today I will take the time to try to get closer.

With a wing span of up to 7 feet these are huge birds!

At first we thought there were only a few of them. We were so wrong! There were at least fifty scattered throughout the field.

And then we got too close and they took off.

On the way back to the house we spotted this flock of geese heading South. It is official. Fall is here. Sigh.... No more pity parties! I will enjoy every minute of it!

Friday, 24 August 2012

A Cherry of a Problem

If you are a member of my FB page you probably know about the bounty of cherries I was able to glean from a neighbors yard. I love cherries so was pretty ecstatic to get them. There was only one problem... I don't own a cherry pitter, the store is an hour away and I have no plans to go there any time soon. What to do?

I tried numerous make shift items. A skewer with the end blunted. a pen without the tip and finally my fingers. What resulted was a bit of a mess. My finger nails are pretty short due to not wanting to have the milk bucket kicked over by my lovely ladies in the barn. Most of the cherries ended up split apart pretty badly but I kept at it determined to get it done. I was getting a bit frustrated and seriously considered just smashing them all with a rolling pin a few times. About 1/3 of the way through I to called my mother in law to ask for one of her recipes. While on the phone I asked her about an easier way of pitting them. When she told me the implement to use I was shocked and felt just a bit stupid. Why didn't I think of that?

To capture my feeble attempts to perfect this cherry pitting machine I decided to do my very first video. After all why not? I have to hit this milestone some day. So... here goes! No comments about the state of my fingernails allowed! After all these poor gardening hands might get a complex. Don't mind the poor camera angles... its hard to video when you only have two hands and need them for the demonstration. Hmmm... I need to rig a holder of some sort for around my neck.

Also seen on: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House,

Thursday, 23 August 2012

Recipe Thursday - Zucchini Relish

I've never been a great fan of relish. I'm not sure why. I guess I just never saw a need for it. Ketchup and mustard were all I needed on a hot-dog or burger. Mountain Man however loves relish. So, for the last who knows how many years I have continued to avoid purchasing it and he has asked, "Is there any relish?" anytime we have burgers or hot-dogs. Then I ended up with a bumper crop of zucchini. He can't stand the stuff and although I have found ways to stuff it in recipes, short of taking it to my neighbors in the dead of night and leaving it on their doorsteps I had to find a way to use it up.

I would probably have gone with the dead of night leavings but figured the neighbors would realize it was me anyways and just bring it back as I have offered it to everyone I meet. Then while thumbing through an old Company's Coming cookbook I came across a recipe for zucchini relish. I was making burgers and salad for dinner and Mountain Man just happened to ask for relish... again... finally a light went on in my fuzzy canning addled brain. Relish! Zucchini! Yes! I can do that! So I did. The results were nothing short of amazing. I love this stuff! What was I thinking? Relish is fantastic!

There were some things I did change just a bit. The recipe calls for everything to be ground. How do you grind vegetables? I don't have a way to do that so spent a lot of time chopping everything really small. It was time consuming but very worth it. I also doubled the recipe and used one less cup of sugar than called for.

Zucchini Relish

Ingredients:

10 cups zucchini, ground with peel on
4 cups onion, ground
5 tablespoons course pickling salt
2 small green peppers, seeded and ground
2 small red peppers, seeded and ground
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
4 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons celery seed
4 teaspoons cornstarch
3 teaspoons dry mustard powder
3 teaspoons turmeric
3 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Start by grinding, or in my case chopping really small, the zucchini,

and onion

Can you just picture me crying for 1/2 an hour? Thankfully I noticed my eyes quit watering after that even though I was still chopping. Hey! Those little spuds were slippery!

Now place the onions and zucchini in a large bowl or pot and add the pickling salt. Cover it and let it stand on the counter over night.

Then drain and rinse in cold water. Drain again and turn into a large sauce pan. Add the remaining ingredients. Heat on a medium to high heat until it boils. Make sure you stir it often. Boil for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick.

Pour into hot sterilized 1/2 pint jars to within about 1/4 of an inch of the rim.

Wow! I sure am messy!

Process in a boiling water bath adjusting for altitude. 10 minutes for 1/2 pints, 15 minutes for pints.

Place on counter to cool for 24 hours before moving to storage.

Now, finally when Mountain Man asks for relish I can say a resounding Yes! This is a pretty big recipe, you will end up with anywhere from 10 to 12, 1/2 pint jars.

Also seen on: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House

Wednesday, 22 August 2012

What's All The Fuss About?

My babies are not babies any longer. That fact came home to me this morning as I looked out my window, tea cup in hand, to see what the commotion was about in the chicken run. There was one of my "baby" Buff Orpington roosters covering a laying hen I had put in with them. Whoa! My cup almost ended up hitting the floor! That's a first! Of course on the farm animals don't hide when they decide to mate, they do it outdoors right where anyone can see it. He seemed pretty pleased with himself but now I am wondering when I will be able to butcher a few of them as I have way too many roosters and pretty soon they will be bothering the hens all day long.

One proud rooster

"What's all the fuss about?"

So, me being me, I decided to wander outside to take a few pictures of my not so little babies. I'm happily snapping away when another hen, whom I had just put in the run last night, decides to lay me a nice egg for breakfast and then announce her pride to the world. She was making quite a ruckus in the coop and it was echoing off the walls nicely.

The Orpingtons who were used to a nice quiet laying hen, who just laid her egg and left it there silently, couldn't seem to figure out what all the fuss was about and clustered around the door to see what was going on. It was so comical I wish I would have had a video option to record it for you.

At least I finally was able to capture a picture of the whole gang together! She was so loud and noisy even the goats came to see what was going on.

Life on the farm is never dull.

Monday, 20 August 2012

Frugal "I Did It!" Tuesday #6

Yeah! Tuesday it here! This is really getting to be one of my favorite days as there are always so many wonderful posts and ideas to read. Despite my hectic canning schedule I plan on reading every single one.

Here are the most popular posts from last week.

Six Tips for No Stress Canning by A Separate Path

Thrifty Breakfast & an Update by Kathe with an E

and

Apartment Homesteading: Eco Friendly Laundry Tips by Natural Living Momma

Now, on to the blog hop!

4:40 and All is Not Well

I've been tired lately. Really tired.... I think it is just because there is so much to do and I am continuing to try to can at least one if not two canners full of produce daily along with all my other chores. Never the less the reason doesn't matter, when my head hits the pillow I am fast asleep. Which is why when I heard barking at 4:40 am it took me some time to register what was going on. At first I thought it was part of a dream then when I realized there was a dog barking right outside our door my sleep fog started to lift. Picture me sitting up wide eyed in bed and saying, "Dog? Dog? We don't have a dog!" "There's a dog barking at the goat!"

Mountain Man who had been snoring so loudly it is a wonder I heard the dog was instantly awake. (How does he do that?) He jumped out of bed and dashed outside waving the shotgun. Some of you may think this was a bit of an over reaction but remember where we live. We don't own a dog and our lovely Daisy (aka Nasty) is not locked in the barn at night due to her inability to stay in a fence or get along with other goats.

The barking continued and then there was a loud BOOM! Which probably could have been heard miles away. Silence. Lovely silence. Mountain Man came back to bed and promptly fell back asleep muttering, "How can a man get any sleep around here when you send him out to fight zombies?" ZZZZZ. The snoring began and I lay awake until the alarm rang laughing to myself. I sure hope the neighbors dog received enough of a scare that he won't be back again.

I've always found it very frustrating that their dogs wander at will all night long but there is nothing I can do about it. I've talked to them a few times but they just laugh it off as if it isn't a big deal. Thankfully all the other livestock is locked up at night but if they ever get so brazen as to come during the day and attack or kill some of my animals it won't be just a warning shot that is fired.

Daisy seems none the worse for the experience however and is her usual Baaaing self.

Thursday, 16 August 2012

Recipe Thursday - Canning Mixed Veggies

This time of year everything is all about preserving the harvest or preparing for the coming winter. My days are sun up to sun down busy, busy, busy. No time for anything else, however, when all is said and done I will have a lot of prepared foods which will make for simple easy and nutritious meals all winter long. One of the things I am trying year is canning mixed vegetables. Last year I made the complete soups before canning but I have a much bigger garden this year and the produce seems to be ready to harvest all at once which means a lot less time to preserve it all.

The other day I harvested a few vegetables that couldn't be canned separately because there just wasn't enough of each vegetable to make many jars full. I decided to make them into mixed vegetable jars for soup. It will be so easy to open a can of veggies and a can of meat and make a meal in a few short minutes.

The most important thing to remember when canning vegetables is that you have to adjust the canning time to suit the vegetable which needs to be canned the longest time. Remarkably I had harvested vegetables which all required the same amount of time.

These were the first ones harvested. I went back and grabbed some carrots too.

I washed them all extremely well and then washed them again before cutting them up in bite size pieces.

Prepping the veggies takes a bit of time.

I boil my jars in an old canner to keep them hot. Then fill the jars to about 1 inch from the top. Add about a tsp of course pickling salt. Don't use table salt.

Fill with boiling water to about 1 inch from the top of the jar.

Remove all air bubbles and refill with water if necessary.

Place the preheated lids on and process according to your pressure canners instruction. For me it was 10 pounds of pressure for 40 minutes. Pretty easy!

Wednesday, 15 August 2012

Wasps!

Yesterday evening I finished up the evening chores and was sauntering slowly back to the house, milk pail in hand and thinking I really didn't have much of anything interesting to blog about when I heard Mountain Man's voice call to me from the window in a tone I don't hear often. "Go around!" he said in a loud voice, "Go around!!!" OK..... Not sure what all the fuss was about I walked the long way around to get back into the house wondering all the while what the commotion was about. There didn't seem any reason to take the long way but I have learned to trust him even when he tells me to do something kinda strange.

When I arrived all he did was ask for the baking soda. Puzzled I found it for him and watched him quickly make a paste of baking soda and water and apply it to his ear. At this point my curiosity was starting to get the best of me and my patience wearing just a bit thin.

Thankfully once he had his ear covered in this paste he explained. Wasps had build a huge nest behind the wheel of his tool trailer. He had needed to move the trailer and they had become angry and attacked him. Luckily he moves very fast and was only stung on the ear. He had yelled at me to keep me from going near the nest while he treated his ear and decided on a course of action. One thing was sure, they could not be allowed to stay. Finally armed with a large bottle of wasp spray and a long stick he directed me to stay back while he sprayed the nest and then knocked it down.

He was right, it was huge!

This was my first real look at the inside of a wasp nest. Talk about elaborate! I had noticed an excessive amount of wasps in the area but they are always a nuisance here so as long as they left me along I didn't think too much of it.

Now I've been stung many time by wasps so was very glad to see them gone but I had never heard about making a paste of baking soda and water to treat it. Turns out that was exactly the right course of action as it takes the sting out of it almost right away. What a smart guy. Lets hope we don't have to use that remedy again anytime soon.

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Frugal "I Did It!" Tuesday #5

Tuesday is here! Thank you for being a part of "I Did It" Tuesdays. I can't wait to see all the wonderful posts!

The most clicked on posts from last week are:

Vegan Cold Process Soap by Good Clean Food

5 Years to Finish by Kadidids

and

How to Make Coconut Butter by An Organic Wife

Now on to the blog hop! So glad you could join us.

I look forward to reading each and every post!

A few rules (I really hate rules but we must have a few)

1. Link up anything that is: Something you made or did that is frugal

2. Link back. Please ensure you put a link back to this page. You can grab the button below or just post a link somewhere in your blog.

Monday, 13 August 2012

Coming Soon To A Road Near Us

Brrr... I can't get warm this morning. Temperatures have plummeted in the last week and there is a nip in the air I'm not liking. While this cool snap most likely will not last long, yet. It is a reminder that fall will be here soon and we must hurry to prepare for winter. Winter.... That word makes me shiver even more! I refuse to start a fire though. It's the middle of August and I am being stubborn, after all this is supposed to be a hot month so there should be no need for a fire! Excuse me while I get some more hot tea......

Back...

For the last five years we have had this for a driveway.

Not much to look at and wait until it rains! Usually we end up leaving the vehicles at the road and walking or quading the half mile to the house. When it gets real bad even a four wheel drive can't make it through the mud. Five years! That is a long time to deal with this but since trucking gravel in and building up the driveway is so expensive we didn't have an option. Until now.

We knew we had some nice gravel on our land but thought the cost of digging it up might be pretty high. Enter a wonderful neighbor who owns a track hoe and would like us to do him a favor. In exchange he brought his equipment over and went to work. Yes!

Look at all that beautiful gravel! That right there is quite a few $1000 worth of gravel if we were to have it trucked in and he isn't finished yet! So excited! Not sure when we will be able to spread it but just to see it happening is exciting.

Not to mention when this is finally completed we will also have a wonderful swimming hole or fish pond! I sure do love it when a plan starts coming together. Thank you to good neighbors!

Friday, 10 August 2012

Everything Old is New

We love old things, the more ancient the better. Now many people love antiques, but we love them not just to look at or to own but to use. If we can find an antique that is still in great shape and we have a need for it, it will be coming home as long as the price is right.

There is a reason for this. We have found, as you might have, that everything from "way back when" is made better. It is sturdier, heavier, it won't fall apart, the knobs won't jiggle and it won't break anytime soon. Things just aren't made that way anymore. Society has changed. Now products are made, not to last, but with an expiry date so you will have to purchase another one in the not too distant future. The pride of workmanship is, for the most part, gone.

That is why when I looked out the window and saw Mountain Man trundling down the road with something in the back of the truck I got excited. What was he bringing home? He is always surprising me with something! I love presents!

Now many people might look at this stove and go... too small, too old, too something. Me? I went "YES!!" and jumped up and down. I know when it is completely restored it will be a thing of beauty.

It is solid! I help unload it and it weighs a tonne. Well, OK maybe not that much but still... Everything on it still works like when it was new all it needs is some tender loving care and it will be all set for my summer kitchen.

Even the timer works! I had to laugh at myself the other day as I was very busy in the kitchen and needed to time more than one item. I actually went out and turn on this timer and used it. While I probably won't have a summer kitchen until next year I'm so excited to see things starting to come together. I won't use the propane stove a whole lot as I prefer the wood stove but on real hot days it will be wonderful!