Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that the garden planting is complete…finally! I was beginning to think I wouldn’t ever finish the planting that I had planned, due to the rain and overall poor weather. Perseverance and downright stubbornness finally got it done….late, but done. My thoughts are already starting to trend into fall plans [...]
Friday's Wrap-Up: Garden Update, Repurposing Old Materials & Thoughts About 2012
Filed Under: Chickens, Country Living, Gardening, Minimalism, Self-Sufficiency
Simply Living on Less: "Making Do"
I love the challenge of being pragmatic! It’s a challenge more brain-stimulating than a Rubic’s cube! You have a need, but are lacking the standard tool or supply to do the job. If you’re like me, the last thing I want to do is get in the car and run to town for something. Repairing [...]
Filed Under: Country Living, Gardening, Homesteading, Minimalism, Self-Sufficiency
Simply Living On Less: Entertain Yourself
Back in the day, we used to be a “Chuckie Cheese” kind of family. That’s just what you did when a child’s birthday came around, right? GO somewhere to have a party, spend lots of money, completely overstimulate yourself and your children and collapse at home when it was over. We certainly knew of no [...]
Filed Under: Country Living, Getting Out of Debt, Minimalism, Stewardship
Summertime Begins….Finally!
Summer seems to be in full-gear around the farm! This is what I’m talking about! Finally, my clothesline is up and in business! Four lines about 25 feet apart! All the rain kept us from installing this for far too long now, but it felt great yesterday to hang laundry and again this morning. Sometimes [...]
Filed Under: Country Living, Gardening, Homesteading, Minimalism, Nature studies, Self-Sufficiency Tagged With: bird bath, clothesline, Gardening, mulberries, turtles
The Revival of the Clothesline
The clothesline. Simple yet profound. Solar power at it’s best. There has been a huge resurgence of the clothesline. And why not? It’s one of the world’s greatest inventions. Fresh clean clothes blowing in the breeze and gathering the sunshine….it’s the stuff that Norman Rockwell pictures are made of. Yet, the clothesline is also one of the [...]
Filed Under: Homesteading, Minimalism, Savings, Self-Sufficiency Tagged With: clothesline
Is Sewing Worth the Cost?
When I was in high school in the 70′s, sewing was a lot more economical than buying retail. I didn’t grow up learning to sew, and was extremely jealous of my girlfriends who sewed with their moms. Two friends, in particular, had mothers who were gracious enough to invite me over to watch when they [...]
Filed Under: Daughters, Kelly's Musings, Minimalism, Thrifting Tagged With: is sewing worth the cost?
Victory Living: Lessons from WWII
World War II has been the subject of late in our homeschool. May not sound all that interesting, but stay with me. I took away some critical points in how we could/should be living our lives. Have we ever learned how to live? I was struck by a number of attributes and principles that Americans lived [...]
Filed Under: Choosing balance, Getting Out of Debt, Kelly's Musings, Minimalism Tagged With: lessons from WWII
Save Money: Reuse and Repurpose
One of the best ways to save money and lend to the health of the environment is to reuse and repurpose our belongings. This isn’t a new practice, while all the ‘greenies’ would like to think it is. Reusing and repurposing has been a way of life for the American culture since the country’s birth. [...]
Filed Under: Kelly's Musings, Minimalism, Savings
Meet the Carters….
I’m not into “Extreme” anything. The word “extreme” radiates pain through my body. From my personal experience, extremities in life eventually hurt people and relationships, which cannot be replaced with a coupon. However, the words “frugal”, “simplicity” and “balance” are much more appealing to me. At the end of the day, I feel that I’ll [...]
Filed Under: Choosing balance, Getting Out of Debt, Minimalism, Savings, Self-Sufficiency, Stewardship, Thrifting
Prioritized Living: Apples, Football and Teen Drivers
! Rome, McIntosh and Golden Delicious apples It’s Friday and what a week it’s been here at the Tribe! We’ve had engagement announcements, teenagers getting their driver’s license, parent/teacher conferences, an assortment of financial decisions, watering about 3 acres of grass seed, baking for a football team and getting cars in for maintence. All good stuff, [...]
Filed Under: Choosing balance, Gratitude, Kelly's Musings, Minimalism, Savings Tagged With: mindful of our words, Prioritized living, re-phrasing, setting priorities
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