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WRETHA

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I’m back!!!

It’s been a while, a long while since I’ve been here, many things have happened over the years, and some things have remained the same.

I’m still living 100% off-grid, PB and I have been here since Dec 2007. For those who aren’t familiar with us, we moved from the DFW area of Texas to far west Texas. We purchased a piece of property in a small community, just under 6 acres on a mountainside. Yes, Texas has mountains, but don’t tell anyone, it will be our little secret. We are just outside of Fort Davis, the highest town in Texas coming in at 5050 feet above sea level. Our piece of property is higher than that, but being outside of Fort Davis proper, it’s not counted.

 

We started out small…

We started out very small, very primitive, building a 16×16 box on stilts (we live on the second floor of the structure). There was no heat, no running water, no plumbing, we did have electricity, barely. Our electricity came from a few odd solar panels, a charge controller, inverter and some extension cords to distribute the electricity around the cabin.

We quickly built another room as a bedroom, as time went by, we added on and improved, installing a wood stove, plumbing, all the things you need to make a home. PB liked medieval things, castles, knights and the such so he began to turn the cabin into a castle, a true castle since it’s defensible. Today it boasts 2 drawbridges, a fourth floor observation tower. PB said he wanted to build 4 stories tall, I thought he was nuts, but he did it!

The SkyCastle of today…

Our place is still a work in progress, I suppose it always will be, I’m used to it though. I’ve never lived in a truly finished structure, my dad knew how to build and the houses where I grew up were always in a state of construction, not quite ever being finished.

I have many updates to tell you about. I’m hoping to see some of my old friends here, and hoping to make some new friends. Pop in and say “Hi!”.

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Community

Relationship (Part 2)

Today is traditionally the day when men are supposed to show their love and affection for their women by buying flowers, chocolates and cards, then there is the obligatory dinner, if you have more money to spend, maybe a splurging on a bit of bling for your woman…  All month, the world has been filled with red hearts and cherubim flying around shooting heart shaped arrows, all the commercials on the TV and radio has been trying to make men feel guilty if they do not do the traditional things that are supposed to be done by today to make the woman in their life feel complete.

BLAH I say! I had a discussion with PB today about this very subject, I don’t understand why some women feel so giddy when their man spends half a C note or more on a dozen roses and a box of chocolates, in a week the flowers will be turning brown, the chocolate will be on its way to adding inches where they aren’t wanted, then you have to toss the refuse in the trash. I say, if you are going to spend money like this, why not spend it on something that is really useful?

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An overview of the last 4 years living off-grid

This December will be 4 years for us living 100% off-grid, I can tell you it’s been quite the adventure, my only regret is that we didn’t do this earlier. Let me recap what we have been doing these 4 years…

 

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Community

Wow, what a rain!

Living in the high desert means having to deal with long periods of dry weather punctuated by periods of mega-rains. We got one of those yesterday. I was not at the skycastle when this occurred, I was at a friend’s house. My drive home was a bit tricky, our roads are dirt, some gravel, some boulders and several places are clay. The clay is the problem, when it gets wet, soaked, it becomes a car eating muck pit. There are several places I have to cross that have lots of clay, one place in particular is a S-curve just before my place, I avoid it when it’s wet. That means going over an even steeper,  higher, rougher road, but it’s worth it to miss the mucky S-curve. As I was going over the alternate path, I noticed a couple of cars that were abandoned on the road, not a pleasant thing to see where I live. That usually means a long, rough walk for the occupants, unless they are lucky enough to find someone else driving though or are close enough to walk to a friend’s house, that usually means at least a half mile or more walking either up or down steep hills. Did I mention that cell phones don’t work out here?

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Relationship (Part 1)

In a post TEOTWAWKI or SHTF world, having a loving partner will make live much more enjoyable as well as safer. You know the old saying, many hands make light work, it’s very true, and having someone that you can completely trust with your life just may be what saves your life. Having someone at the homestead most of the time makes the homestead a more secure place, while one of you is out hunting or doing what needs to be done, the other can be at home, taking care of things there and being security. You can also take care of the other if one of you gets sick or hurt.

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Community

Stocking Up On Spam

I’m not talking about those unrequested emails that seem to always clog your inbox. It seems that Hormel is having to work overtime to make enough Spam, lately there has been a big run on Spam. The different news sources say it’s because of hard times, but I have to wonder how many preppers  and others are seeing the writing on the wall.

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Community

Our First Thanksgiving…

…in our off-grid home. As far as I’m concerned, this was the best Thanksgiving I have ever had. we have been here for nearly a year now, a few days before Christmas will be one year, it’s been a challenging time, but we have done it, and with style!

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Community

3 of 100 things…

Closet Geek

…that you may not know about me. … This is a continuation of a list 100 things that you might not know about me. Well, let me start out by saying, YEAH I finally got my memory installed! I have waited a long time to get this memory, and I must say, it’s nice to have.

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Community

Baking A Loaf Of Bread pt 2

Hey, were you curious about how that loaf of bread turned out? If you have been following my messages and read the comments then you already know, if you haven’t followed this thread, then you will have to keep reading to find out. ;)

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Community

Happiness Is A Warm Co-op

Being independent means doing things for yourself, seeing a need and instead of waiting for someone else to take care of it, the independent person would get creative and find a way to fill that need.I would like to introduce you to a wonderful lady and independent soul. Her name is Diane, I found her blog a couple of days ago and was thrilled at what I found.

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Community

Baking a loaf of bread…

…the hard way.

Living off-grid isn’t always easy, but it is almost always interesting. We are having a test kitchen today. Last night we tried to use the bread maker to bake a loaf of bread. The way it’s supposed to work is it mixes the dough, it kneads the dough, it allows it to rise, it stirs it again, allows it to rise again, then it bakes the loaf of bread. Well, everything went well until the first rise.

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Community

As Seen On TV

How many times have you seen those wonderful gadgets advertised on TV? These infomercials tend to air early in the day, or late at night, enticing you to part with your hard earned money, if you would just order within the next 10 minutes, your life would be so much easier… but wait, there’s more!

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