Live Ready Now!

If you are a woman I hope you had a great Mother’s Day last week, whether you are a biological mother, a mother through love, service, or adoption, or you have children waiting in heaven. I was blessed to grow up with a wonderful godly mother, which is priceless. I’m blessed with a loving mother-in-law [...]

As our country faces economic collapse, we search for more efficient and economical ways to feed our family and livestock. Moving to our off-grid homestead has been a major learning experience as we look to become more sustainable and less dependent on the fragile food transport system. We are also increasingly concerned about the growing [...]

We dug our well last year with the goal of using a windmill pump. Our idea of living sustainably means we aren’t dependent on the availability of fossil fuels or grid power to exist. Since installing solar panels, we normally run our generator only about 30 minutes daily to fill our water tanks. Our inexpensive [...]

We’ve had a preparedness mindset for a number of years now, working toward becoming sustainable and relearning basic life skills lost to our generation.  We educate our children to prepare them for life…a life that will likely be different than the way we grew up.  But no matter how long or hard we prepare, the [...]

At first I thought it was a joke. But there really is a soap-growing tree! In fact, other plants also produce natural detergent, but today’s focus is on the soapberry or soapnut tree from India, which produces nuts (actually berries) that contain saponins to make soap. A few years ago I researched these trees and [...]

We have learned a very simple idea that greatly reduces the energy (fuel) needed to cook. Stoves take lots of electricity, gas, or wood, depending on what kind you use. What if you could cut your fuel or electricity usage for cooking by 50-70% using items you already have on hand? An added bonus with [...]

We recently made applesauce from apples my parents brought down from Michigan. This is our annual fall tradition, but last year we missed out because we were in the middle of moving here to our new off-grid homestead (can you believe it’s been nearly a year!?!). That means this is the first time we’ve made [...]

If you haven’t already done so, read part one of this series here, and part two here. This post is a summary of the tooth infection story and what worked for us. Silver Oak has had only minor tooth decay the past 20 years, but in his younger years he had many large fillings, especially [...]

Part one of this series can be read here. I was recently reminded that serious infections must be fought in at least three ways. The first is prayer.    The second is fighting it locally (or externally), and the third is attacking it internally. These should be continued two days after symptoms disappear to make sure [...]

Six weeks ago Silver Oak came down with a serious toothache that incapacitated him. That means it was really bad! He had stayed up the night before to finish connecting the newly installed solar panels. He was tired of high fuel bills to run the generator for hours every day, and the electrical work had [...]

Yesterday it happened. Silver Oak was gone and a big rattlesnake showed up. We had practiced just in case, especially since killing one this spring, but I was sure hoping it would never happen. It was naptime and the younger children were snoozing before our traditional Friday night date in town while the children spend [...]

As I write this paragraph I’m enjoying 77° F (25° C) inside our cozy tiny house while Hurricane Isaac brushes past us, blowing and raining. We even uprooted ourselves a few hours ago because a tornado was spotted south of us, and we slugged through the mud holes out to the end of our dirt [...]

During these very hot days it is refreshing to make iced mint tea. I know that is not a common drink to many, but both Silver Oak and I grew up drinking iced tea made from mint grown in the garden. If you think that’s weird you should try it! There’s nothing better on a [...]

The hardest worker of all! Recently we were blessed by several families from our local preparedness group who held a frolic at our little off-grid homestead. In February many in the group had come out for a barn raising. They had set the foundation baseboards and put the first several rafters in place on the hoop [...]

While part of the country has suffered devastation by fire, parts of Florida have recently experienced flooding.  So ironic. Too much of a good thing is destructive, including fire and water. And I must mention the massive storm (super derecho) in the midwest this month which put millions out of power, some for over a week.  My youngest [...]

As Tropical Storm Debby brushes past we are evaluating what still needs to be done here on our new off-grid homestead to completely prepare for Florida’s rainy season and possible hurricanes.  We’re getting strong gusts of wind and just about swimming with all the rain.  We experienced Hurricane Charley years ago, seeing first hand what [...]

  It actually started on the grid, but ended off.  It had been a long time since we’d had a ladies’ tea with Grandma and the cousins, so when the men and boys had their father-son outing for Father’s Day a few weeks ago we decided this was our chance. Grandma (my mom) went all [...]

Hubby and me This Saturday, June 23, at 7pm EST Silver Oak and I will be interviewed on Preparedness Radio Network by Vickilynn Haycraft, author, teacher, speaker, and hostess of “Get Real – Get Prepared!”  What an honor!  We will be sharing how we came to be living a lifestyle of preparedness with our six [...]

The other Saturday when we had help building the new deck roof for our tiny house I hurt my ankle.  I brought the little portable generator up on the deck to run the oven because our little off-grid system was maxed out with the power tools. I know how to start generators by now.  I [...]

For three days we had no deck roof while the new one was under construction.  Wouldn’t you know, during that small window of time the biggest storm of the year so far hit our homestead and our tiny house.  About two hours into the storm, our little off-grid power system shut down. Silver Oak braved [...]