The City Mouse in the Country

 Sometimes I think I'm more in love with the idea than the actual practice. I'm basically a lazy man, more in love with the concepts of homesteading and building an edible lawn/food forest than actually putting in the hard work to make it happen.   Sometimes however, things happen that present you with unexpected opportunities....if your smart enough to take advantage of them.   Recently we had a series of wind storms move through the area, the winds toppled trees, caused several electrical outages and even managed to damage roofs and homes in the area.  Luckily no one to my knowledge was hurt and the damage was minimal.  We did lose power for a few hours but never once considered running the generator as we were tucked in all cozy and warm. A decent sized maple tree did came crashing down in my yard on Saturday night and proved the old adage that if no one is there to see it, it does not make a sound.  Neither Sue or myself was aware of the problem till Sunday morning.  It was

    **EDIT**  Someone just pointed this out to me in another group that I belong to that many homesteaders - or those attempting to homestead (or just simplify life like I'm trying to do) have must more to worry about than ceiling fans and paint.   They have drought, predators and wildfires to worry about.   It is a fair criticism.     I am not belittling those facts.   This blog is only about my adventures and worries.   I may have to deal with those things one day.   If I upset someone because of this piece I am sorry, that was not my intent.   However we are all on our own journey.  This is mine and I decided to share it with you.          In the past couple of days Susan and I realized something.   We had goals set for the winter, things that we wanted to accomplish...and for what ever reason, we failed to meet those goals. Even though winter is technically not over yet, the day are getting longer, the weather a little warmer.  We are using our pellet stove a little less, and s

           Happy New Year!  I don't make New Year Resolutions expect for the one I actually keep, which is not to make any Resolutions in the coming year.  Because of that, this post is a bit about our plan for the year ahead.  It's more of a general outline then anything else.       As we move into this new year both Sue and I are looking forward to it.   These past few months I've joined a lot of Facebook groups and other things to learn about homesteading, gardening and 1001 simple little things.   Some things I've found to be helpful, others not so much.       I bring this up for the simple reason that "becoming a homesteader " is going to mean different things to different people. We don't really fit into any one category ourselves.      We are planning on having a garden suited to the two of us come the spring and already have the materials needed to start planting the seeds.  We are planning on canning our excess veggies; and our freezers are fil

   Hey everyone!  Did you know that this page now has a companion Facebook page?    It will have articles, memes and such that interest me that relate to this page but don't really apply.  Be sure to check it o ut!        To be honest I expected errors, I expected mistakes, missteps and even the occasional "oops."   This is new to me, and I'm doing things like I've never done before .       This time however I let myself get carried a way a bit and made an error that could have been costly indeed.             Our wood pellet stove needs cleaned out at least once a week.  You can push it a few more days but the ash does build up.   This time we didn't have the air intake for the fire set right and the pellets built up, all the way to the hopper gate.  This concerns me because we have a friend that had the fire in their auger which ended up destroying their stove.   A rarity to be sure, but if their is one thing I've learned in my life...is that the millio

 we honestly don't know where to go next. Our power was out for over 24 hours.  Luckily our house held the heat pretty well and we did not lose any food or other things.   It did however present us with some challenges and got me thinking that with winter coming, we are going to need some sort of back up power supply. One of the biggest problems that we have with our home is that it's all electric.  We do have some long term goals to help correct that issue.   Everything from solar panels to switching out the electric range for a propane range and getting a tank for it.  It looks like for now though we are going to have to go with a generator, and if we are going to go with a generator we have to ask ourselves what we want from it. The biggest issue that I have honestly is that I know literally nothing about them!!! I have never used one and wouldn't even know that to ask or where to begin. Here are my questions/concerns:   We have to have the following running come colder

        I have to be honest, I wasn't sure if or when I would get back to this blog.   It is easy to make excuses but honestly, I've not done much of anything to improve the "homestead" in over a week or two; and that honestly bothers me. An old Caboose in Stoneboro     I do tend to be a lazy man and I just feel that I should be doing more to help prepare this home for the coming winter, but so far the temperatures have not dropped below the mid 40's and the last  two days have been a pretty consistent rain, which makes doing anything outside unpleasant at best and down right near impossible at worst.      What this has allowed the lovely Sue and I to do however is spend a little time traveling, exploring and finally getting our new pellet stove installed.  Well Sue grew up in this particular part of Western Pennsylvania, I did not.  We decided to go sight seeing, take in the wonders of Autumn and just relax for a bit.       Now generally speaking I would get all

A few days ago, Autumn struck Western Pennsylvania.  The red maples exploded into the blazes of color that they are known for, other trees started to slowly change and the first leaves started to fall. A few days ago, the woods were alive with the sounds of migrating birds, and I wish I had taken out my phone to record the sounds, I found myself thinking of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds.   Although I never had that sense of foreboding or dread, I just wished that I could have seen them and recorded the moment. It was also a morning where I awoke to fog and the sound of small arms fire, which to be completely honest, I mistook as fireworks.  I'm not sure if they were hunting squirrel, which is in season now, or just shooting to practice, but it was a little odd for me.   Susan just chuckled and told me to wait for deer season in November. I am enjoying some parts of country life, other parts...not so much.  Yesterday morning Susan told me that I didn't seem happy living

     It's mid September and already you can feel winter in the air, it lurks like a proverbial horror movie villain just outside the windows.  It's presence is felt in the dropping temperatures and the winds that blow across my neighbors open fields.       I had escaped it's grip twice before in my life, moving to North Carolina when I was a younger man fresh from college, and when I moved to Florida shortly after the 2008 housing crash because I could not get arrested in the Pittsburgh job market.     Now I had returned, perhaps for the last time due to aging family and the wishes of my long time girlfriend I easily called "wife."  The first winter would be hard on me I knew.  I loved the warmth, the sun, the longer days of spring and summer.  I was not someone that enjoyed the concepts of being cooped up for three months hunkered down and waiting for the golden rays to return.     However I could survive it.       It's all in how you prepare for it.     For