Jason closes his journal... Thanks!! I love you!!

[modern_pioneer]

Yet the snow continues to fall, it hasn't really stopped.

The weather is going to break soon and the temps will rise into the 40s and I suspect that the thaw will be slow as more winter weather is heading hear this weekend.

I can tell the difference in the extra insulation I added to the attic last spring, much less icicles hanging down the edges of the roof.

I stayed in my pajamas all weekend, I only came out of them for a shower and to show DS how to snow plow and that was for only a couple hours. We did get all the xmas stuff put back into the attic and did our standard chores around the house to keep it tidy. But was I ever lazy, and proud of it too. I don't get days off like this, I do, but only in the winter.

As promised, I did all the cooking Sunday, w/ having such a lazy weekend, I opted for meals I had already made and froze or canned. So as you can see, it was a well needed rest. While DW was so sick before xmas, and me taking everything on at once, I really needed the time off just to fudge off a couple days. Of course I couldn't sleep Sunday night because I didn't get any calories burned like I do normally. But I am back on track yesterday and I slept much better last night.

I did shoot a rat Sunday afternoon that was coming out from under the cheeckin coop. It was a brown type and I don't suspect that their are any more as its the only one I have seen at all. I slid the kitchen window open, it ran in, 5 minutes later it came out again, and with that, he was gone. When the ground gets warmer, I will move the coop.

I am going to rebuild the coop this spring after I get my first planting in, I want to make it smaller and lighter to move around more easily, as well as get in more locations.

 

[kcsunshine]

M_P. Just finished reading your journal- took me 2 mornings and my husband's ready to divorce me cause I spend more time with you than him..... I wanted to respond to so many of your posts, but realized that responding in Jan. '10 to a post from Mar. '09 wouldn't make any sense.
So, I have only 3 things to say:
1. Gotta love a man who cooks.
2. Gotta love a family man who loves children and small animals, and
3. Especially gotta love a man who eats mayo in pinto beans - yummy!

Don't worry, I'm not coming on to you - I'm 63 and way too experienced for you!

 

[TanksHill]

funny!!!!

My Mom eats white bean and mayo sandwiches.

kc your hubby must be one strong man!!

g

 

[kcsunshine]

He's either strong or a fool. I can't keep him in the house. He's got a woodworking shop and he goes down and builds a fire everymorning and there he stays - going out to bring in wood, give his rabbits water, ets. He's antsy cause he can't get into the garden. On the windies day we've had lately he was out sanding on an old van he's working on. I told him to hang on the the mirrows or he'd blow away. I told the neighbors I thought he was staying away from the house because I was home every day now - they said, no, he is always outside working, working, working. Come spring - he'll kill me in the garden. My boss tried to keep me from retiring by telling me I'd have to spend too much time digging in the dirt - good stuff IMO!

Oh yeah. When I was a kid I used to get up in the morning, spread cold pinto beans and mayo on bread for my breakfast - yummy!

 

[modern_pioneer]

M_P. Just finished reading your journal- took me 2 mornings and my husband's ready to divorce me cause I spend more time with you than him..... I wanted to respond to so many of your posts, but realized that responding in Jan. '10 to a post from Mar. '09 wouldn't make any sense.
So, I have only 3 things to say:
1. Gotta love a man who cooks.
2. Gotta love a family man who loves children and small animals, and
3. Especially gotta love a man who eats mayo in pinto beans - yummy!

Don't worry, I'm not coming on to you - I'm 63 and way too experienced for you!

This journal is a mess with spelling errors and bad grammar. I am pleased that it interested you enough to hang on and read. It will be almost a year in a few months since I started this journal, which is a great way to express my life and or what I want folks to know. Sometimes others will pop in and offer up advice to help guide me or ask me some questions. I email a few folks from here at a personal level talking about different SS skills.

My mom taught me many skills including cooking, though not the healthiest way of cooking. So I am learning to cook healthier and eat better. My wife admits that she isn't much of a cook and doesn't like it as much as I do. But she gets an A for doing so a few times a week. Now she follows recipes and is doctoring them up to suit our taste.

I don't just love small animals, I love big animals too, like White Tailed Deer,

I enjoy my wifes company most of the time, and love my kids from my heart. I like my little family unit a lot and my life is spent with them every evening/weekend. I am not sure who I would be without them, they define me as a husband and father.

I also like this life style that I decided to live, you wouldn't believe the amount of money I am saving as well as better food. With the money I am saving, I am investing in two ways, my future and updating my house one step at a time. I am going to finish up my bathroom this coming weekend or two. Than I have a new kitchen light to install, and its on to the window in the dining room.

While reading my journal, I hope that you learned something or had a good laugh. Though I admit I can sometimes take things to heavy, I decided to just take things for what they around here. There are some wonderful folks around here, and I can't tell you how many things I have learned here from other folks.

I hope your husband is able to make a living from his woodshop as the internet is a awsome medium to sell handmade/crafted goods to the world.

Here's a little plug, I eat only Hellmans mayo, even my own moms wasn't as good as theirs. With any bowl of beans sitting in front of me you will find raw onions and from time to time a huge spoon of mayo. Its just insane not to eat mayo with pinto beans.

As for the last line in your post....

 

[kcsunshine]

He really only spends his winters in the woodshop now. We've never tried selling over the internet, but he's managed to place a piece of furniture or box of some kind in 3 countries and 15 different states all by work of mouth. One lady from Japan (husband was here working at Denso) actually took her measurements of the space she had on the ship to go back to Japan and filled it up with his furniture. She was taking English lessons, but would have to bring her teacher to the shop with her. She showed him pictures, he built. He is very tallented - but now likes to dig in the dirt!

 

[modern_pioneer]

I had a piece sell from a auction house in New York for big money that went to a Japanese client. Also according to nat geo there are more millionaires in Russia than in the USA, oil and gas going to Europe is why.

I am not saying money is everything, look at us here. But it can make things better in some ways. If you saw me in public you wouldn't suspect anything other than I am a average joe, which is the way I like it.

I like your DH enjoy working with myhands and like him, I often sell from word of mouth or when folks see my work in magazines or friends kitchens.

I once sold 3 copper rangehoods to one family, LOL... Sold 1st one to daughter, her SIL saw it and ordered one from me, different style. Than her mother ordered one that was a different style and bigger.

I know a lot of folks that have on line businesses, I also know a lot of folks that just enjoy their craft and will sell an item when they want or get around to it.

I also enjoy tilling of the soil, and the rewards are perfect.

 

[modern_pioneer]

Well during the snow storm, while walking pass the window in the dining room, I felt a draft coming in under the sill. As I felt my hand across the entire sill, the draft was steady if not worse. So with some reason to address the issue, friday evening I ripped off the paneling around the door and edge of the window.

The marble sill fell out, there was a 1/8 gap over the door, and the 1 inch thick insulation was installed properly. I suspect the insulation R rating is R-3 as the thickness/color would suggest. Most of it was put in correct but gaps at the top and bottom allowed air to pass through the walls. I suspect that the whole house has only R-3 insulation as it was the same I found in the bathroom last year.

I had a coupon for the soft touch insulation, as well as 3 dollars off 3 rolls of fiberglass. I got these at the home show, and the savings covered thecost of my entry fee for both me and DW. DW had the same coupons so I went ahead and made all the purchases.

So I shut down the power, removed the paneling, removed the old insulation carefully installed the new R-13 insulation, and I like the soft touch stuff. Though it was easy to work with, unlike standard fiberglass insulation it didn't have the tabs to pull out and staple. Instead you have to pull tight againist the side of the sud to staple it. Now, if I didn't have a 50% coupon I wouldn't have bought it in the first place. I also won't ever purchase it again in the future because of cost and not having the edges. My person view is its a rip off and a lot more work. Its easy to wear goggles, gloves and mask.

I ordered a replacement window that measures 73 3/4 x 54 5/8 it is a double paned with argon filled inside. The cost of the window was $509.74 which was a little out of my budget. So I am pulling the extra cost for a better window from my SS fund. The $130.00 that I am putting will be returned by not using as much firewood to heat the house. This part of the house is the wind driven side, hence the importance of this getting done before the rooms in front of the home.

I am having a sparky come in Wednesday to run new electrical wires to all the old 12 volt lighted switches, this cost is 380.00 and was figured into the budget as extra cost. He will install new 120 volt switches as per code and updating the house.

This total project will still be less than 1,000.00 dollars, and we should start getting a return from our cost right away.

 

[modern_pioneer]

Well sparky came in and replaced that old 1965 12 volt lighted switch system, everything is back on 110 volt switches now. Now everything works as it supposed to, and no more mystery switches. LOL.... mystery switches..... In the hallway, kitchen and living room, there was a switch that never worked or we couldn't locate where it went. Above the window in the living room a stand alone outlet never worked. We figured that outlet was tied to the mystery switches, but we never could get it to work. Well, the switches were tied into the outlet that never worked, and when it was removed, sparky discovered it hadn't been wired in.

I shot and killed a gopher under the coop yesterday, I had shot what I thought was a brown field rat a few weeks ago. Due to my good aiming the head on the first one I killed was destroyed. The one I killed yesterday, now the snow is only an inch or two deep, I was lead shooting it from the run off from the pond back to the coop. I clipped it a couple times and finally got a gut shot which hit its heart. It was a gopher, and I suspect the first one I killed was not a rat but also a gopher. I will not allow anything to live under the chickens, this summer I am going to rebuild the coop using the original materials but a much simpler design which will lighten it up and make it more portable.

As I dug around the freezer yesterday morning, I realized something that I think is quite awesome and worth bragging up here. While searching for some deer meat trimmings for Barely soup, I realized EVERYTHING in my freezer that was a main food (few freezer pops belonging to the kids) was food that I grew, hunted, processed (homemade sausage, bologna, and kielbasa) traded and fished for myself. The berries I gathered and grew, some of which were wild. Although my bread making skills are much better now, I make 3 loafs a week now on sunday afternoon. That number depends on how much we need or using.

I still have many things in my fridge that is store bought as well as some stuff in my pantry. However with what I have in my freezer, we could live on without going to a store. To me, that says something about what I am doing. It was never my goal for this to happen, my goal was to provide as much of my own food that I could. I will continue to purchase some food from the store, and I just thought I would mention my freezer and how good it makes me feel.

So, to all of you reading this, isn't this being SS at a new level?

Doing my SS happy dance!!!!

 

[kcsunshine]

I now crown you "Prince of SS". Heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Sufficient Living.

Congrats