Some perspective on "off-grid" living

OK.  I admit it.  I like the modern conveniences of life.  Indoor plumbing, a refrigerator, washing machine and dryer, lights, TV, computer.....

But, I grew up in the 1960's.  In rural Pennsylvania.  On a dirt road, in the woods.  We did have electricity.  Thankfully.

The old homestead, barn, out house, chicken coop.

 We had an outhouse (a 3 holer!)  And a chicken coop, there's also a little building down by the creek off to the right of this picture.  We called it the "pigpen" even though we never had pigs.  When we got a pony and horse, it became the "stable".  The field to the right was the pasture.

The old red barn was torn down during the early 1970s.  There was also a cow pond off to the left, just off this picture.

This was a 39 acre homestead, I lived on this property the first 18 years of my life.  I loved that place!  Most of the property was wooded, but off across the field shown on the lower right here there was 5 acres of blueberry bushes.  YUMMY!

Behind the house was a covered back porch.  Off the porch was the well.  Complete with a little well house, windlass and bucket.  We even had a church pew/bench in front of the well house for us little people to stand or sit on.

That well went dry every summer.  Which sucked!  No water.  That means using the outhouse.  When I was little, we didn't have a phone or TV.  We did have a radio.

The dirt road in winter

 This is a portion of the road we lived on.  I think we were 5 miles off the "blacktop".  The road was well maintained, but could get pretty icy in the winter.

 

And in summer

Here's the same section in summer.














Now I want to show you OUR house.

NE side of our 12 sided house Spring 2013

 We live in rural NE Arkansas, on a long gravel drive.  We're 1/2 mile off the highway.  Our property is 42 acres.  Mostly wooded.  It's very hilly.

Front porch 2013

 We have a nice covered front porch.  Complete with rocking chairs and dog houses.  Our well house is off behind the house, near the south property line.  I've posted pictures of it before.

North flower garden, veggie garden & workshop.

This section of my flower beds is off to the north side of the house.  I planted lilacs, in honor of the bushed I loved playing under as a kid.  They were located to the left of the house pictured above, beside the large corn field.

Anyway, our beds are filled with edible plants.  Herbs and strawberries.  The guineas and the dog ate most of the berries before we ever got to them this past year!

The same view during the big ice storm 2009.

Here's the same view, in the aftermath of the big 2009 ice storm.

Now, here's the thing about "off grid" living.  During this storm, we were without power for 10 days.  We do have propane heat and a freestanding fireplace in our den.  We also have a bed in the den, and another bedroom off the den as well as a bathroom.

But, no power means NO water.  And for several days, we had NO PHONE.  No cell service.

Our driveway during the big ice storm 2009.

 Our drive was blocked by fallen trees.  It took us 3 days to cut our way to the road!

South entrance 2013.

Here's the south entrance to our home.  This bed is in full sun all winter.  And mostly shade in the summer.  Which is great, because my indoor plants get plenty of sun in winter.  And they don't cook in the summer.  I like that.

I over winter my cayenne pepper, and night blooming jasmine, basil, a tomato, and aloe.

South entrance 2009.

 

During that ice storm, we made a fire ring and set my husband's Grandma's old cast iron laundry cauldron up.  That way we had a constant supply of hot water.  Luckily, we had a cast iron clawfoot tub in the bathroom off the den.  We filled a "solar shower" with hot water and could take a nice hot shower.

My brother-in-law Joey and his family, and his friend Randy drove all the way from Georgia to help us out.  My step-son Joshua worked at Lowe's at the time, so he got us a large generator that Joey brought out.  So, now we could run the water pump.

We cooked food for 7 people in dutch ovens in our fireplace.

The house was nice and warm.  We had 5-gallon buckets with melted snow/ice  to flush the toilets with.
We kept the freezer and fridge cold with the generator.  We only ran it when necessary.  I mean, come on!  It was 30 degrees outside.  The freezer's on the unheated back porch... a no brainer.  No need to plug it in, when it's already COLD.

The 7 of us did just fine during that storm.  John and I had set our homestead up so that we'd be prepared during bad weather.  We have home canned food.  We had 2 small generators, but needed that new bigger one to power the water pump.

We have dehydrated veggies.  Flour, butter, milk... and chickens for eggs.  We have some solar panels and batteries set up for solar lighting.  Hand crank radio, rechargeable digital TV, hand crank generator for cell phones or laptops.  Hand powered kitchen appliances (old fashioned ones and/or brand new ones).  Our new summer kitchen building has a wood cookstove.  It keeps the building VERY warm, and the oven is big enough for a pizza!

Do I want to live without electricity?  NO!  Without my Roku?  Or the internet?  NO!

Can I live without it?  Yes.

I love living in the country.  Walking in the woods.  Sewing on our treadle sewing machine.  Baking bread, making cheese, making butter, canning, spinning, knitting.

But do I ever want to go back to needing an outhouse?!  NO!!!

Do I have a wringer washer? Yes.  Do I have and use a clothes line?  Yes.  Do I want to stop using my washer and dryer in the house?  NO!

People who have NEVER lived in the woods, on a homestead, in really primitive condition make the whole experience sound very romantic.  In truth, it's damn hard work.

Would I want to try raising all my veggies without a gas-powered tiller or the tractor?  NO!  Could I?  Yes.

Would I want to do my canning in our 1960's pressure cooker on the wood cookstove?  NO!  Could I?  Yes.  I could.

Do I want to stop using our propane heat?  NO!  Could I?  Yes.

Sure, we could put the woodstove back in the great room.  We still have it, and all the required stove pipe.  Do I want Josh to have to chop and split wood to keep the house warm, and so I could cook?  NO!  Could we?  Sure.  But, that's hard work!

Could we butcher a few deer, squirrel and rabbits for our winter food.  Sure.  Could we catch and process fish, and store it?  Sure.  Could we can all our own veggies?  Sure.  Make all our baked goods.  Sure.

But here's the thing.  I want to do it when I want to do it!  Not because I have to.  Maybe I don't WANT to mess with cooking today.  Maybe I want to go to town and have Mongolian Bar-b-que.  Maybe I want someone else to cook me chicken fried steak.

I like living in the modern world with modern conveniences.

I'm very greatful that I grew up the way I did.  I learned a lot.  I know how to do a lot.  I hope to keep all these skills alive and teach them to others.  But I don't want the modern world to go away.  That would be a hardship.

Deer Cam photos

It's hunting season.  Our neighbors, River View Farms, is an 832 acre hunting club.  The members of River View Farms have become good friends over the past 8 years.  We sure lucked out buying property next to them.

Our neighbors to the west are also hunting properties.  So, our little 42 acres is surrounded on 3 sides by hunting property.  Which is nice because that means we actually live surrounded by over 1300 acres of forest.  Nice!

Anyway, one of the ways hunters know what location is best for finding game is by using a game camera.  These cameras are strapped to a tree, and are triggered by movement.  They take color photos during daylight and black/white photos after dark.  We've gotten some very interesting pictures on our cameras in the past few weeks.

"Big Buck" white tail deer

John was hoping to get this big guy, but our friend Joe Barnett of River View Farms got him instead.  That's ok though.  There's plenty more out there.

Here's who came to visit the camera yesterday.

Doe white tail deer

But here was the real surprise!

Bobcat

 

Do you see the bobcat, center frame?  Notice that's at 3:04 in the afternoon. 

Who else have we seen in the past (not our actual photos, since we didn't save past years images)?

Red fox

Grey fox

Skunk

Racoon

Veteran's day

We're well into Fall now here in the Ozarks.  The leaves are turning and falling down in great piles.  Hickory nuts, walnuts and acorns litter the ground.  With all the trees in our yard, walking is a bit hazardous!  Those hickory nuts just roll under your feet!  I've come close to falling on my kister several times...  The dogs think it's pretty funny!

Today is Veteran's Day.  It always seems like a sad day, to me.  Memorializing all those dead... And there are a lot of dead military people to remember.  And many living.  Being a Veteran, and having been raised in a military family,  I'm very aware of the sacrifice many have paid to our country.

When I was a young child, my father took me to a memorial in Wilkes-Barre, PA.  It names each person who died in the Wyoming Massacre.  One of those people was my ancestor Elisha Richards.  Wow!  I have a Revolutionary War ancestor.  Very cool.

My grandmother, Virginia Wyans Cragle is a descendant of Elisha.  She passed away in an automobile accident when my dad was 3.  So I never had a chance to meet her.  But I met her brother Paul, who ran a little museum in his house.  Again, very cool.  I always enjoyed going to visit him.

Family history has it that the Cragle family are descendants of a Hessian who served King George and was surprised when Washington et all crossed the Delaware.  Since that was a disgrace for the Hessian's, they remained in Pennsylvania.  This same history was found in a book my younger sister found while doing a report in high-school.  I haven't read that particular book, so I'm not sure of the title.  I guess some research with the Osterhout Library in Wilkes-Barre would reveal it though.  Ousterhout Free Library

I also grew up knowing that one of my Cragle ancestors served in the Civil War.  And one in WWI.  Several of my uncles served in WWII.  My father served in Korea, Viet Nam (3 times), and was in Guantanamo Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I have several other family members who served in Viet Nam.  I was in the Navy during Desert Storm.  I wasn't deployed, but many of my coworkers were.  Our friends Kevin Stout and Jim Saxe were.  And, we have several friends' children and 1 cousin who are still in the military and serving in the Middle East.

When I started working on my family tree through Ancestry.com, I discovered I have wartime ancestors on all sides of my family, in all our wars.  From the French and Indian war, up to the current conflicts.  We're a military family.  That's just how it's done. 

I've been to Gettysburg 3 times.  Every time I'm there it wigs me out.  I guess I've seen too many of those pictures with the dead horses and dead men lying everywhere.  Knowing that creek was so full of blood it clotted!  And when I went there, I could see it very clearly.  Back to the bus for me!  I could do without THAT image being burnt into my brain.

I know a lot of people don't understand American History.  They don't understand the conflicts our military have been involved in.  Or what it's like to be in the military.  I found that Naval service had some benefits, and some drawbacks.  I learned a lot.  I met a lot of good people.  And some not so good.  I was able to go to college on the GI bill.  I was able to buy my first home with a VA guaranteed loan.  I met my first husband, Curtis Brown, while I was stationed in Newport, RI.  He was also from a military family.  We were married for 25 years.

But, Veteran's day always makes me sad.  So many dead people.  All those war movies on TV.  Most of them glorify war.  Watch Saving Private Ryan or Bat 21, or watch this Youtube video listing the top 5 recent war movies to see what war is really like.  Best Modern War Movies.  Personally, I can't watch Black Hawk Down.  It's too real.