NH Homesteader's journal

[NH Homesteader]

My husband is so nice to me. He worked all day yesterday, all night last night and is working all day today. And he came home this morning to water the animals for me (and then had to go back to work) because the path isn't shoveled and I'm not feeling great about lugging water these days.

So the exciting news for the day is I might be getting a new truck. My Jeep is dying a slow death and I really really need a truck. Hoping to get it before baby shows up. Then we'll probably sell the clunky farm truck and get DH a little 2 door S10 or something because commuting is getting expensive! Hopefully all that works out.

I'm feeling a bit of relief because we've decided this year is the year of doing all the stuff we never have time for, lol. Not having pigs or raising meat birds, or buying much (if any) new livestock will free up time and money to do things like finally fencing in the backyard and moving all the kid's toys there, and sorting through his piles of sorta useful stuff and organizing it. All the stuff that's been stressing me out for years! Lol!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Yay for DH! I don't know how he functions on no sleep...geeze, I am not a fit person to be round after a night or so of sleep deprivation. Hope hope, hope the new truck works out for you!! Do you have to get a 4-wheel drive or is a regular truck ok?

It's always a good feeling to tie up projects that have been in the planning stage...especially the ones that have been on the "list" for awhile!

 

[treerooted]

Glad your DH was able to help out with chores. You absolutely don't want to be straining anything, guess I might be feeling a little overprotective right now, but take of yourself!

And new vehicles are always fun We just sold (yesterday) my DH commuter beater, for a slightly better commuter beater lol. I drive an old (but decent) van, and we've got the farm truck that we try not to use too much.

I think all of our current vehicles cost us about $5000 in total

 

[NH Homesteader]

FEM, DH is cool with 2wd, I am not! The truck we are looking at for the family truck is actually AWD.

We've always had cheap vehicles but are getting to the point where it costs us more money to have DH take time off work to fix things all the time!

Oh, DH can sleep at the mountain, a tiny bit anyway. But he is exhausted!

I cannot account for 3 chickens this morning. Didn't count last night, so.... We'll see who we can find later. Hmm.

 

[treerooted]

We've always had cheap vehicles but are getting to the point where it costs us more money to have DH take time off work to fix things all the time!

Oh ya, my DH is a mechanic so that factors pretty big into our vehicle choices

And sorry about your missing chickens, hopefully they are found!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I cannot account for 3 chickens this morning. Didn't count last night, so.... We'll see who we can find later. Hmm.

Uh oh....hope they turn up alive! I can't imagine the challenges of raising critters with the weather challenges you have. Really, our worst challenge is the mud and the heat....winter is usually just looked at as a welcome break from summer, lol.

 

[NH Homesteader]

My DH is a mechanic too. Not currently working as one, but he is by trade. So he CAN fix everything but he has no time to do it!

The best part about winter- it kills the parasites. The worst part? Everything else! Was 0 with wind chill last night. Will be an actual - 1 tonight!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Yes - I usually hope for a hard freeze and a couple days of below freezing temps because it does help reduce the numbers of pests/parasites.

 

[treerooted]

Ha, that's awesome NH, I feel like I keep discovering things we have in common lol.
Yes, time is a huge factor! It does make a difference if you're able to fix something on your lunch break with all the tools ready at hand.
We leased a vehicle for a few years because of the time factor, it's a huge plus for sure. Having warranty is amazing.

Good luck in your truck shopping!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Lol yes, and we don't have a garage so it's like.... How badly do I want to lie in the snow to fix this?

He does occasionally do oil changes while he's at work at the mountain. Shh, there's a lot of time between snow gun checks!

My goats are out wandering around knee deep in the snow. Except my Nigerian. She's a serious wimp!