So Many Projects - Not Enough Time

We are hitting many of our goals this year. It is a summer of work! My husband is working hard on putting up our wind turbine. Actually, the turbine is the easy part. It is the turbine tower that is hard. Lots of hard work and sweat has gone into that. He will have it easy to use and easy to bring down if it needs a repair. Getting this project finished means that soon we will have running water. Running water means I can use my brand new, never used, washing machine. Now that will be a nice thing to have!

Running water for us, will be just cold water for the time being. If the wind turbine and solar panels bring in more power than we need though, the charge controller will divert the power to the water heater. Then we will have hot water! It is a good start for us. Truth be told, I could live with the system that way. Heating the water most of the time on the wood stove is no big deal in the fall and winter.

It has been very hot and humid here this year, but we are getting through it okay. I have been busy rewriting my eBooks and working on my kitchen and pantry. As I cross projects off my "to do" list, I get excited. How about you? Are you getting a lot of projects done this summer? This is a homesteader's working time. My hard working husband has been working constantly. He will be proud of it once it is all done. So will I!

 

Copyright © 2013 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2013  Kathleen G. Lupole

Morning Chores During Cold Weather

Cold Winter 2010

On a cold morning, on our Peaceful Forest Homestead, the first one who gets up must open the dampers on the wood stove. Then the first riser gets a fire going in the wood cook stove and gets the coffee pot on. The coffee pot has been prepared the night before. I am not always the first one to get up. My son is an early riser so since he has been staying with us, he gets up and does those chores. If not, either my husband or I do them.

Fire going in wood cook stove!

While the coffee is perking, the first riser will then add wood to the big wood stove. Then replenish the cat's dry food dish. We usually sit and have our coffee and talk about our plans for the day at that time. After coffee, time to get moving.

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Horses look forward to breakfast!

Horses being the first on the agenda. In the cold weather, horses need their hay for warmth. Sometimes they won't even touch the feed, knowing that the hay will warm them up. While they are eating is the time when my husband will usually clean the barn. There is one big stall for all three, with a big open door so they can go in and out as they please. The manure from this will be put into our compost pile.

Water drained down, handle up insures flow in cold temps

One of the most important chores on our homestead is priming our pitcher water pump. Since we do not have running water here, we cannot afford to lose the use of our pump. Horses need and want a lot of water in cold weather. Snow is NOT a substitute! After it is primed and running, we take fresh water to the barn, to the house and anywhere else we may need it. On cold days, the handle is put back up and water drained down out of the pipe so it doesn't freeze.

Split firewood - a VERY important chore!

Those are the regular chores we do every single morning. If we need firewood brought in or cut, that is usually done at that time also. Then we come in and check our computers and it is time for breakfast. A routine done every day, keeps your homestead orderly, organized and running smoothly........regardless of how cold it is. What about you? Does your routine vary in cold weather?

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

 

Learn Your Homesteading Skills Slowly

We learned about alternative energy!

One of the things I have learned about modern homesteading or living a self-sufficient lifestyle is that you don't have to do it all. Do little bits at a time. Learn to do one thing before you move onto to another. Finish learning before tackling something else. I know I haven't always done that. That is why I know not to do it anymore. If you try to take on too much at once, it will seem overwhelming. You might want to give up. There are no rules, do as much as you can. Little by little. You can do it! I did.

I learned to can!

That is another reason it is good to learn much of your homesteading skills before you move to your homestead. We learned how to can, how to wash laundry by hand, how to garden and how to make homemade bread while living in an apartment. Our apartment was in the country, but in a very busy area and there were many other renters. We were fortunate in the fact, that nobody else was into this. So nobody else wanted to harvest the fruits from the crab apple or pear trees that grew there. It was an old farm that had been turned into apartments.

Our clothesline!

Living there was where I had my first clothesline as a grown up. When I was a child, my family had one at several places. But this clothesline in our apartment ran from our upstairs tiny porch out to a pole in the yard. I loved it! My husband and I did all our chores together. Some of the time I was working a full time job and he was not. So he did more of the chores than I did. Sometimes it was the other way around, him working and me at home. It was a partnership and still is to this day. Working together gets us further down our path.

 

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole