Live Ready Now!

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 [...]

Our central Florida homestead is far enough inland from the warmer coast that we get lots of cold weather (for Florida). We’ve had plenty of freezing temps and frost this winter, dipping into the mid 20’s F (-7 °C), and local nurseries tell us it is too cold for most tropical plants to survive or yield [...]

On Easter we commemorate the most world-changing event in human history. Because Jesus rose from the dead, death is conquered for all who receive His free gift of forgiveness, cleansing, and eternal life. Without that Hope we have in the work Jesus completed, life would never hold the same meaning. How blessed we are beyond imagination [...]

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 [...]

February was full of family gatherings, field trips, and travel. We ventured to various historical places in Florida and spent time in Ohio with Silver Oak’s family. We learned many history lessons, topped off by listening to G.A. Henty’s With Lee in Virginia as we drove through that very state. Meanwhile, back on our little homestead our new [...]

This blog has been rather quiet lately. We’ve been spending time with extended family. It’s refreshing to stop and connect with family we don’t get to see very often. But we’ve also made a little headway here on the homestead, so here’s a brief overview. We lost one of our kids (goats, that is) to [...]

This morning I sat in front of our new fireplace that Silver Oak finished just a few weeks ago and I felt much satisfaction and pleasure watching the flames lick the oak logs cut from fallen trees on our little homestead. The backdrop of antique brick on our lovely big deck, sitting in my comfy [...]

I’m having technical difficulties with my computer’s wireless connection, and am borrowing another family member’s to get this post up.  So I thought I’d dig an old post out of the archives which may be of interest.  My comments are closed on older posts to control spam, so please come back to this post for your [...]

We prayed for direction in 2012 and set many goals; some we reached and others we didn’t. I shared much of what we did in 2012, our first year, in “A Year of Work on the Homestead,” Part One and Part Two. Here is a list summarizing what was completed, some of which we had [...]

The last 10 days of 2012 have been a flurry of activity. Four new kids were born and our “new” outdoor fireplace partially installed.  It has been COLD several nights. Temps like 28°F (-2°C) may not be cold in the north, but in central Florida it brings challenges for tropical plants. This property is often [...]

The busy, hectic, holiday season! Every year we hear remarks about trying to remember the real “reason for the season” amidst all the stress and activity. “Don’t forget what it’s really all about….” I’ve often pondered how to eliminate unnecessary busyness so the Person of Jesus Christ can be the focus, instead of immersing myself [...]

Last December 10 we moved into our tiny house, so this week we are reminiscing about our first year as a family of eight living in 350 sq ft. In the modern tiny house movement I understand that tiny houses are generally 500 sq ft or less. Often they are built on trailer frames so [...]

Unlike millions who recently lost power in a storm, we are not affected by power grid failure. But that doesn’t mean we don’t ever have a power crisis. Whether we are on or off the grid we all need to think about being prepared for the unexpected, and not being so dependent on electricity. On [...]

Blossom holds a kid born last winter I was hoping to post this last week, but we rented a skid-steer loader and root rake over Thanksgiving weekend that kept us quite busy accomplishing our list of to-do’s before returning it.  Then we had an energy crisis when all our generators went “kaput” almost at once.  [...]

As we continue to reminisce about our first year on the new homestead, we are filled with gratefulness for the Lord’s many blessings. Here is a small list: – His protection…no one has been seriously injured in our move and all the work that has been done – Family, friends, and neighbors that have given of their time [...]

The past few weeks we’ve been celebrating living one year on our off-grid homestead, memories of moving, and enjoying our tiny house. Just over a year ago our power source was a little 4000 watt generator (leftovers from Y2K), two 6v batteries, and a 350 watt inverter. We had no fridge except the tiny one [...]

A year ago when we moved to our off-grid homestead we thought we’d live in a camper for a few weeks till our tiny house was ready. But we waited a month and a half for it to be delivered, stuck in the sand, unstuck, and properly put into place so we could start remodeling [...]

We lift up in prayer the millions who are experiencing hardship in the cold with no electricity right now.  Let it be a wake up call to the rest of us to be prepared for the unexpected when the systems we trust may let us down. One year ago when we moved to this off-grid homestead we knew we were [...]

Today marks one year since we moved out to our 20 acre homestead on our journey to a sustainable lifestyle. It’s hard to believe it’s gone so fast. Today we looked over all of our goals for the past year and set new ones for the coming year. Our goal was to be relatively sustainable by [...]

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 [...]