Mark Hamilton from The Walden Effect blog (my favorite homesteading blog in the world) asked if we would help him run a little contest to see if we can get in some great ideas for automatic chicken feeders. We’re excited to see what people come up with! The details are below… I made a post [...]
Anyone who has been reading this blog for awhile knows that we’ve been having trouble finding our preferred balance between the “Simple Life” and the realities of being parents and technology professionals in a rural area. Our goals have not changed, but a lot of other things have. We have decided that our goal will [...]
Wow, can you believe it’s that time again! It seems like yesterday that I wrote last summer’s posts on canning peaches and applesauce! Well, it’s peach time once again and I’m full blast getting plenty of them put up for lots of winter and spring smoothies! This is the second year in a row I [...]
I was tetter-tottering back and and forth on whether I wanted to write and publish this post. I didn’t want to cross any ethical lines on whether I should use this forum for personal gain, but after much thought, and reassurance from a good friend, I’m going for it. After all, I assume most viewers [...]
A lot has been going on lately but I haven’t had the will to write about it. I’ve been spending way too much time on the computer doing work for clients and the thought of turning one of these machines on at home to write a blog post just hasn’t been that appealing. For that [...]
I belong to an email list for a local beekeeping club and for the past month it has been hot with folks postings leads on swarms – in buildings, on the side roads, in gardens and so on. It’s amazing how quickly beekeepers get on these leads and immediately snatch them up. Just the other [...]
A friend of mine forwarded me an email of a beer bread recipe he received. As I was looking at the recipe I noticed he, also a homebrewer, inserted his Murphy’s Ale as the beer ingredient! Not having a Murphy’s ale on hand, and not having much experience making bread with beer, I decided to use a trusty [...]
I have a lot of power tools – a lot! And up to this point in time I have not acquired a tool that I could not figure out how to use within the first 15 minutes. Welp, it took at 9″ band saw, several hours of my time, and finally resorting to visiting a woodworker [...]
Even though most of the trees are bare and flowers are dormant, there are still many ways to decorate using what you’d find in your yard. I trimmed a few hydrangeas (correct me if I’m wrong) and put them in a vase to create an artful bouquet. I also broke off some branches that Everett [...]
Today, I said goodbye to my Kubota 43hp 4×4 tractor with all its implements, including a backhoe! I have worked through some feelings around this sale. It’s sad because I loved that tractor and used it all the time, but it’s good to know it will help me get one step closer to being debt free. My life looks [...]
Everett writes about voluntary simplicity. This blog catalogs his search for "the good life" as he tries to strike a balance between work and play, freedom and responsibility, simplicity and comfort.
