An Unexpected Chance For Learning... Butchering a Wild Turkey

Well, I did not expect to have a turkey carried into the yard today! But I volunteered myself to help the handsome gentleman in the picture above (my brother... shhh, he doesn't want me writing about him, let's call him The Redneck) pluck and gut it. It was a very nice tom turkey. Since neither of us had done it before but I was the more educated on it by reading, I dictated how we should go about things. I was so excited to put my knowledge to work!

First we got a huge pot and heated water to about 140-150 degrees and poured it over the bird in a large metal tub outside. It took 2 pots of water to scald him good. Then we hung him up by his feet so we could both pluck him easily over plastic sheeting (makes clean up quicker). After he was plucked enough I cut the tips of his wings off buy going through the joints. Then we hung him by his neck and proceeded to gut. The Redneck did this part and I watched closely. Admittedly, I was still a bit unnerved about the warmth of the body. But I will be gutting 6 ducks soon so I will get over it!

We finished up by cutting the feet and neck off and rinsing it with the hose. It will sit in the fridge for a few days and then I believe he plans to fry it! Fun.

Evil as it sounds, I look forward to processing our ducks... these are survival skills and farm skills. Butchering is something I aim to be good at.

Night all!

A Call to Simpler Living? Or is it Expected of Us All?

When Montana Man and I first started out together we expected to be "poor". And we also expected to be miserable about it! Ugh, talk about making lemons rot. Over the last few years I began to appreciate just having "enough". I still hated the months we fell short and sacrificed or went without, but I am now beginning to appreciate those days too. The Lord has never let us go hungry, naked or homeless. No, we have not always had all we want but we have been provided for, and well at that. To Him, I give great thanks! Here is what I have felt called to carefully examine as we prepare to build our house in the next few months: What is enough? Truly? This a question few people will answer honestly, I believe. I know I haven't always and will not always. The Lord has nothing against "happiness" but He does say it is fleeting and to find joy in Him. I have recently been reading a book of my mom's written in the 70's called Living on Less & Liking it More by Maxine Hancock. She uses her families own experience of hardship and also Biblical reference to show what kind of life style is pleasing to God. I have enjoyed it greatly. Lets explore this a bit shall we?

First a verse:

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Matthew 6:19-21
Who/ what has your heart? Does it change daily or even hourly? It does for me! But He is a jealous God and wants our hearts! And He constantly steers me back to Him and shows me that He is what I need most. Yes, most. And He wants me to serve Him through being a good steward of the life, land and love he has given to me. And money.

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. - 1 Timothy 6:17-19
Simple of it is... money buys stuff! Stuff. The only thing you are going to care about (hopefully!) on your death bed is where your soul is going, not your stuff. Your kids will squabble over that! Well hopefully they won't if they heed to the Lord first ;-)

In the book, Maxine goes through every aspect of living and how to apply principles that are of good stewardship. At the root of taking on this lifestyle is a strong, Jesus centered marriage where the husband and wife are united in oneness. Money, in my mind is not worth fighting about. But Montana Man and I do. We just see differently, I am a saver, he a spender. We are working on it! But we both know we don't want debt, big bills or financial insecurity. It is a goal, not an overnight fix to all problems with money to declare the Lord our focus. But He will and does bless us for our diligence and attitude.

So, then what do you spend and on what??

Food. Bit obvious but it deems further explaining. Food is first and foremost for nutrition and Maxine explains this at length. I will briefly. Don't buy expensive CRAP. Buy whole food and cook. Can't cook? LEARN! Buying ready made dinners and takeout is not being a good steward of money or your body. There are some exceptions to this, like if you are traveling or you just had a baby and need a faster dinner solution. But even then there are creative ways to get around spending a bunch of money and also for others to bless you!

Clothing. I'm going to get in trouble for this one... Clothes are for covering your nakedness and warmth. Yes, they also can be pretty and "fashionable" but at the end of the day they end up in a heap in the hamper or on the floor. If you personally know me you will already know I HATE clothes shopping. It might be because I have body image issues (which is a whole 'nother can o' worms), but I also hate how much they cost! It's ridiculous, $20 for a shirt? $75 or more for jeans? No thanks. The majority of clothing I have worn in my life time have been hand-me-down, thrift or a gift. And I wear them until they are unwearable (sometimes longer hahaha!) Then there is the question of modesty. Told you this was going to get me in trouble. Ladies I'm going to be harsh. COVER UP. Not even joking. Not just Sunday, everyday. Boobs? Cover. Butt? Cover. Belly? Cover. Thighs where they connect to your crotch? COVER. Personally, I don't go above my knees much. Now, I am not saying be matronly. You can still be pretty but "sexy" should not be your focus (I sense another blog post on this one). Besides, beauty should be form within, and yes that really does show. Save sexy for your husband and a locked door ;-)

Housing. This is where being financially conservative people fail big time. No matter how you slice it, bigger here is not better. I will post more on this soon as there is a lot I have to say as we build, so don't start hating me yet. By the way, our new (and final) house plan is a log cabin with a comfy total of 665 square feet with options to grow. Keep your pants on! I know you must be so excited to hear how we will make that work with kids!

Giving. I will not go crazy here. Maxine outlines tithing, giving within a budget and giving with the right motives. Everyone who is a Christian is required to give. We tend to give our time and food because we don't have a ton of money but that will be re-evaluated soon and changed. Then I will feel more comfortable writing about it.

Transportation. The last area I will address today. This can be so broad and hard to manage perfectly. Most of us need a loan to buy a car. Personally we just traded my car for an SUV but I bought a used one with over 100K on it. It is not my ideal color or model, it does not get super gas mileage, but it fits our needs. I don't drive a lot so the greater gas mileage is not a huge problem for us. Our other vehicle is a 1996 truck. It has been fixed a zillion times but it still runs great and my husband loves it. We are grateful... most of the time! When they need fixing we could push them off a cliff. My basic point is, you don't need an SUV if you are single and live in the city, unless you own a bunch of dogs ;-) Buy only what you need!

I would encourage you to track down a copy of the book. Maxine says it so much better than me! But I feel strongly that the homesteading lifestyle demands these principles and felt inclined to share a little. Obviously this is a faith based concept and therefore not all will catch my drift but I would pray they be curious!

Want to share your thoughts? Go for it!

Waiting for Warmer Weather

This time of year is almost harder than winter to be patient. Spring has been colder this year and it has been a bit frustrating for me! But, today made me feel better. We finally got our greenhouse up. It has been sitting waiting for the snow to melt and now we finally had a spot to put it. Now it just needs to be warm enough to keep a night temperature of about 50 degrees for us to be able to put the seedlings out... maybe only 35 degrees for the cabbages. I am praying for warmer weather soon!


Also, we got ducklings and chicks today!!! Hallelujah! I have waited my whole life to have chickens. We had a duck before but he was a pet (and a weasel got him a couple years ago). We now have 6 Pekin ducks (that are 3 weeks old) and 12 Golden Comet pullets that we bought from Tractor Supply. They have all adjusted well their new home and seem happy.



I plan to keep records of the cost to keep all the birds to see if we save any money and see how free ranging in a chicken tractor will help. The ducks will hopefully take to the pond when their feathers come in and enjoy the vegetation in it. The ducks will only be with us until fall, they are for meat... unless a female steps up and wants to make eggs!


Because we are not able to make a permanent coop for the chickens yet we will be making a tractor style coop to allow the chickens to "free range" yet be safe from dogs, cat and hawks. I will post about it when Montana Man builds it.



This will be a great learning experience for Puzzle Boy! He is fascinated by the little birds.



Even our Morgan horse Bub had to check out his new barn mates!



I had to share another picture of our beautiful stallion. He is quite plump right now from all his free choice hay ;-)


Today felt like such a leap toward our goals. The prospect on of our garden and now eggs and meat are such a triumph after years of inability. Now we are getting somewhere! Anyone want to share their spring adventures?

Going Back to Gluten Free... This Time Me Too.

So after nearly a year off gluten we tested Puzzle Boy to see if he could handle it again. After about 3 weeks the answers was very clear... nope. He needs to be gluten free for his own well being and ours as his caretakers! But this time I am going to be joining him! Recently I have just been feeling "blah". You know, sluggish, tired, gross and well... fat. Attractive, huh? Yeah, I don't think so either. So I am back to being diligent on myfitnesspal.com and I have done a bit of research on Blood Type Diets. I was vegetarian for a period when I was younger as well as attended a yoga class weekly and felt amazing. Granted I wasn't a mom at the time and I had the time to really focus on my well being. But, now it is imperative that I get this figured out. I need energy! I am going to be doing a loose-ish version of the diet for my blood type (A positive). This includes a mostly vegetarian diet with limited fish, chicken and turkey, no processed foods, no wheat except sprouted wheat, limited dairy (mostly cultured). I am not going to be restricting veggies and fruits at all, except ones that clearly bother me. Life without any tomatoes? Uh, no thanks. So while I will not be super strict GF, I will be mostly GF.

Luckily, we have quite a bit of gluten free baking mixes and flours left. When those are gone I will be trying out making my own flour mix using aramanth, brown rice, millet, oat, soy and sorghum flours and sweet rice, tapioca and arrowroot starches. Mixing my own will result in about $1.55 per 1000 grams of finished flour which will save me about $5.64 per batch compared to buying Bob's Red Mill AP gluten free Baking Flour. See! I can still save money even on GF! May not be as cheap as regular flour but healthy is worth it for me and my little man. I am sure I will play with different flours and such for different baked goods but that combo will be my starting point. I will share the recipe for it when I make it :-)


Have a good week!

Organic? It's for Us, is it for You?

When I first was introduced to "organic" food I was immediately intrigued. Was this hippy fodder? Was it twigs and berries or just another way to squeeze a few extra bucks out of your grocery budget? As I splashed around in the shallow end of the organic scene before I had kids, I began to glean knowledge and realized it was a little of all of it! Certified organic food is regulated to certain standards of chemical free growing and earth friendly growing. It all around is more healthy and sustainable... it just takes a bit more elbow grease. Depending on what is grown and methods used, organic growing can be really expensive or really cheap.

Now, I will not try to claim we are fanatics about organic food. We like to eat that way as budget and availability allows. But I still eat McDonald's on occasion. Shoot me. When we are able to grow and raise more of our own food it will be with organic practices, so it most likely be a pretty high percentage of our daily diet. Right now we focus on specific things. Organic dairy, organic eggs, nitrate free, antibiotic free, hormone free and GMO free if we can. I try to get our root vegetables organic as well as most of out produce except bananas (they really are a low risk food). Cold cereals and more "processed" foods are a splurge and not something I frequent. Frozen veggies usually are organic too. Baking flours and grains, yes. Um, so most of our food I guess! Probably 75%-85% of our home prepared food is organic or at least all natural. We do not go so far as to use organic body care products unless they are a gift or are homemade. I do, however, prefer homemade cleaning products that I can control chemical exposure with. You'd be surprised what you clean with vinegar and baking soda.

Thinking about giving it a try? Start with the dirty dozen and see if your budget can take it!

Bonus! Seedling update pictures:

Unexpected but Nice!

Wow, a nomination! Sadly, I had no idea what it was I am nominated for. It is a blog award of some kind! But said nomination has required me to answer some questions provided by my nominator and provide 11 random facts about me. So, here we go!

1. In 5 words or less, why do you blog?
Because I love to write.

2. Are you a spend-thrift or a cheapskape?
Um, somewhere in the middle? I like to save money but at the end of the day I know it will not be coming with me when I die so no use getting to attached!

3. I follow your blog, do you follow mine?
Yes. Yes, I do.

4. Most productive time of day to blog?
When my children aren't wailing for food or booty changes (aka, nap time/ bedtime).

5. Do you want to have a big money-making blog one day?
Not really my intention but if it "happened" I would not be disappointed. ;-)

6. What is your favorite comfort food?
Currently, it is a weird one. Rice, spanish olives, cheddar cheese, green chiles and chicken mixed up in cassarole form. Had it for the first time at my best friend's in-law's house in Arizona and I ate it all the time pregnant. SO GOOD.

7. Do you have a piggy bank (and where do you hide it)?
I don't, my kids do. I have a "grown up piggy bank" in an undisclosed location. It is anything but full though! Lol.

8. Do you have a garden?
Interesting question. I do not have a "garden" currently but as soon as snow melts and ground thaws we will! I have lots of little plants waiting!

9. Are you one of those preppers??????
(Nervously looks around) Heh heh, no...

10. Just how cheap are you?
I'd say I am a tepid cheap warming to a balmy wood fired hot tub cheap.

11. What color are your eyes?
Greenish. I don't really know! Ask my husband ;-D

Random Things:

1. I am the younger of two children.

2. I was married at 20.

3. I can knit and sew.

4. I started cooking when I was 3 and was making full dinners by 12.

5. I am cynical about any organized social structure (i.e. medical system, government, school systems, etc.).

6. I have owned horses since I was 14.

7. I dream about things like milking cows and canning a years worth of food.

8. I was an extremely awkward child, I think I finally got it working for me now though!

9. I loved my birth and I daydream/ real dream about the next one. Freak, I know. It was awesome.

10. I can sing. No really, I can.

11. My housework can be a bit bi-polar. Or maybe that's me... I do wonder sometimes!


Well, that was fun! Hope you all have learned some handy/ interesting tidbits about me. Nothing to exciting I am afraid! Thank you D. Marie from Lessons on the Cheap!

What Does "Modern" Homesteading Mean to Me? And... Seedlings.

I have been thinking about this while we have been contemplating what to do about living arrangements. What are our priorities? What are our beliefs? What makes us "homesteaders" and when will we think we are there? Nothing makes you take a good long look at what you are and what you stand for than a hardship and uncontrollable circumstances. Where we should live and what is available for options has become just that. We are at the mercy of time, hard work and creativity. I won't post now about what our plans are at the moment but I will document along the way this summer and perhaps see if you can guess what it is ;-)

Any who, I have been thinking... and when I started this blog and titled it "Modern Homesteading" the thought I have in my mind was old fashioned ways with a new date and maybe a solar panel or two. But, recently, perhaps by growing maturity, I have re thought this. I think it depends on the family! Each will have their own values and skills and comfort levels from hardcore make-your-own-underwear-from-your-home-spun-yarn-from-your-home-grown-sheep to growing-a-single-tomato-plant-on-a-tiny-city-fire-escape-landing. We are not currently where we would like to be. We are living un-independently in my parents house with limited freedom to have animals and the like. This is going to change this year. Everything is going to change this year. We have come to the breaking point of waiting or doing. We choose do. We are choosing to take control (Lord guiding) and start living how we feel called. It is a leap of faith for more than just comfort but also safety and sanity (for me... I have been know to be *ahem* unstable). And please pray for our extended family to understand what will come, I am dreading their reaction, mostly just 'cause I am sick of hearing "you can't".

Next, we have seedlings! And how I chose to pot them on this year. I used 4 ounce yogurt cups. I was feeding Mini Me the other week and it just clicked that the plastic cup in my hand was the perfect size to pot on a seedling. Usually they just go in the recycle but now I was going to be the recyclist. And you know what? It worked a treat.


Notice the mold? Not intentional.





Fork lift. Heehee





So cute.

That Dirty Little Word...

Credit. It can be your best friend or it can be that superficial evil that keeps you from living a "normal" life. Gone are the days my grandfather talks about when he walked into a bank with his father and walked out with a loan. To get a loan for a house these days you practically have to give them your first born and half your liver. Ok, maybe not your first born, but you get my point here. We are faced with changing tactics in order to get us in a house of our own in the near future. First let me tell you about why we can't get a loan. It will make you run and check your credit report...

When my husband was a young thing, just out of high school and trying to make it on his own, he racked up some medical bills far out of his budget (no insurance) and a couple of utility bills from a roommate situation gone bad. Fast forward about 3 years and all of these bills are now in collections. Collections. There is another dirty word for you. This is not an uncommon scenario, many young adults left to fend for themselves end up with at least one collection. What this does to your credit in addition to a lack of positive history is detrimental. And you won't get a house loan. Period. Not even an FHA or RD. Sorry, Charlie, it just ain't your day.

So what do we do about this overwhelming hurdle? Well, you have to spend some money and do some waiting. First you have to get rid of all those collections. Yup, all of them. If they are older than 7 years they should get removed soon, so it's up to you whether you want to touch those or not. You want to take care of the most recent ones first, they are doing the most damage. Older ones are kind of a catch 22. When you pay off an old collection it brings it back to a "current" state which makes it look new and scary despite it being paid or settled. It will lower your score, there is no way around it. The only option for it to raise and not lower your score is if the collection agency kindly deletes it from existence from all 3 credit bureaus. So simple for them to do, yet so hard for you to get them to. Most agencies will slap you with "we don't do that" when you ask. There are many ways to tackle trying to convince them. You can go all old school and send a formal "pay for delete" letter which is slow and could be fairly aggravating. You can call and say if you want money you need to delete, which will more than likely get you a nasty retort and "have a nice day" *click*. (I got that one just 2 days ago!) And then you can settle and pay up with as much pride as you can muster, and do that one thing most hate even thinking about... beg. Send them a "goodwill" letter. Basically your aim is to make them feel sorry for you, tell them why you had a collection and why it is ruining your life. This blog explains it a bit better. What have we done? All of it. Has it worked? Time will tell.

Now what can you do to boost your score after you get rid of the negative? You borrow more money. Sounds counter intuitive right? Well, no. Basically a lender wants proof you got your s*it together. If you can handle a small loan or credit card they see you can handle a monthly payment. They want to see 3-6 current/open credit lines at all times:

One, they want to be a major credit card. If you don't qualify for a credit card, get a secure credit card like this one that reports to all 3 credit bureaus.
Two, they want to see a loan. Be it an auto loan or personal, they want to see at least a year if not two of perfect payment.
The third and others can be another loan or another credit card but you need 3 at the least. I, personally, have 3. A car loan, personal loan with MM and a major credit card with a decent limit. I have just about perfect payment on all. And I have good credit. So, what is the problem you ask? I am a stay at home mom. I have NO income. So I can't be a primary on a loan. Even if I was a primary, a joint loan looks at you both as a single unit, if one is bad, both are bad.

So, in summary, we can not do anything until we as a unit have better credit. At this point it is looking like the type of loan we will be eligible for will only pertain to an existing house, i.e. an FHA 203(k) or Rural Development. We will be diligently rectifying the collections, saving money and building credit over the next 6 months in hopes that it will be enough to move (after expected renovations) before late fall.

P.S. A little more about credit cards...

Keep all credit card balances below the 25% mark (30% is the ok but pushing it) but, regularly use at least 20% for maximum credit building.

Pay that bill on time and in full when you can (i.e. not just the minimum).

If you have a high balance, focus on paying it down first, it will boost that number the fastest.

If you can, get a card with cash back rewards and use the rewards to pay off debt or just save it. Don't, for the love of Pete, spend those rewards on stuff unless you could really spare the extra cash already.

A little tip I have discovered about payment and interest is if you pay your balance before your due date and pay it also twice a month you will save big bucks and make more headway on paying down a large balance.

Why We Are Choosing Off-Grid Living

Uh, why wouldn't we? Think about this for a minute. Your house on it's own independent electrical system un-effected by weather(ish), the economy, black outs, etc. In Maine with some of the highest utility costs in the country that is a huge perk. So what stops people? Why isn't this more popular outside of the "hippy" community? Well, I really think it comes down to cost and knowledge. It is a chunk up front, for sure. But, I have to say, the general public spends more each year on a bathroom remodel, vacations, eating out, entertainment and lots more than it would cost to put in a solar system (no not the one with planets, stay focused!). So, then we come to knowledge. Where do you start? Will it look ugly? Will it be hard to maintain? What if the sun doesn't shine for a week? Will I have to start wearing Birkeys and stop shaving my legs? To the last one, NO. To the rest, you start with having an energy audit done on your existing house to see what size system you need. If you are building like we are, you design the house and adjust from there with energy saving things like appliances that are Energy Star, gas or wood heating (including the dryer), DC lighting and sometimes just doing without (we won't have a microwave, but that's a whole other post!). After you figure out your energy demand either contact a solar installation company or if you are handy and DIYish them start research and find a solar supplier. We found the best deals on wholesalesolar.com. We recommend going with USA made products *wink wink*. As for how it looks... well that really is superficial isn't it? But, I get it because that was a first thought for me too. Ideally we will be mounting ours above the tree line on a small tower but we really don't know yet until we position the house and see where we have the best sun exposure. Maintaining systems has become pretty easy, systems come with safety devices to avoid over charging, alert you if something is wrong and to also automatically turn on a generator if the battery bank gets too low. All from your house. It just makes sense to me! Green, independent, and practical.

We like all the above reasons for having an off-grid house but the main reason is that we don't trust that public utilities will always be there for us. Yes, I realize that sounds so paranoid and "lets build a bunker" but it's the reality we are living in right now in this country. It is far from stable. Ever seen Dante's Peak? We are the town, the government is the volcano and she's just clearing her throat. I smell sulfur.

Have questions about solar? Ask away. I will ask my hubby.

Ending the Pantry Challenge

Ok, this was harder than I thought. I am ending a little early here because, well, I just want to. But I think for my first go at it, it was a relative success. My pantry got a little cleaner, as did the freezer. We used things we had been ignoring like frozen diced chicken. And I also rotated and replenished my chicken stock by roasting 2 chickens this month. I didn't bake as much as I would have liked but that was really just lack of motivation. If I bake it I eat it and I don't need a ton of bread and cookies, etc. I do need to make the men some sandwich bread though... I see a baking day in the future.

At the end I was not posting because we really were just scrounging and not making real meals. I have not felt very well recently, not sick per say, but just not myself. I say recently but what I really mean is for the last 3 years! Ugh, you forget about yourself with kids and marriage and everyday duties. I am not a priority to me. And, I have paid for it. Finally, I said enough and am doing a 2 week cleanse by Women to Women. They have varying levels of strictness and I am doing the most strict. After 2 weeks I will phase back in foods and see which ones make me feel crappy. I am thinking I may have a sensitivity to sugar, large amounts of wheat, milk (not fermented dairy, just milk), beef and pork. Chicken and fish seem to be fine and they allow it during the cleanse. Also, caffiene. Must stay away from caffiene!

Soon to come, I will be posting about so awesome news we got when we filed our taxes. Good news, you say? How can filing taxes be good news!? Well, for us this year it was. House here we come.