Shower House

With fall and hunting season fast approaching, our little logging road sees more people as they go on to the other lots behind us to hunt. Last year we made do with a little shower tent to help with privacy during shower time but it was blown away in one of the spring storms we had. They hubby decided it was time to build us a shower room on the shower deck. He used old slab boards that were left on the property and he the oldest daughter constructed this over a few days time. The wall facing the road is solid but due to lack of materials the other walls have gaps but since there is no privacy issue with these two directions, we are not concerned about this. We have a shower curtain that is pulled down to make a door. It’s absolutely wonderful to be able to shower in complete privacy without everyone having to go inside so one person can shower. This has been a long planned for edition.

It has been fair week here and things have just been busy. This blog seems more difficult to get up as life settles more to a routine here and we endeavor to get so much done. Our oldest daughter has never entered anything into the fair and she was so excited to enter one of her woodworking pieces. Our pastor and she had found this piece of wood on the property and he liked it so she did some sanding and smoothing  and we decided it looked like a mushroom. She gave it to him some time ago but he encouraged her to enter it into the fair and she won a blue ribbon with it.

I did do some canning with some tomatoes a gentleman brought to church. I made a few jars of salsa. I am getting better at canning over the fire.

Thankfully we have had quite a bit of rain which is helping my fall garden and our rain catchment. This is definitely a blessing. I love just being able to fill the washing machine and rinse tubs without pumping all that water. I can just let it fill and soak the clothes all while making breakfast.

The rain has forced me to cook a meal or two inside. We have no roof over the outdoor kitchen area. Since I couldn’t bake anything with the camp stove I invented what we called doughnut cakes– similar to pancakes but no need for syrup. They had coconut, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a pancake style batter. They were delicious.

Of course I have been sewing. I finished one of little boy’s pants and have two pairs left to go. I have been sewing my new dress which is an 1840s wrapper day dress from Black Snails patterns. It is completely handsewn with piping all through the dress seams. It is taking quite a bit of time but I really would like a good everyday work dress and I love this style dress.

We are certainly staying busy but making good progress. I do hope everyone has a blessed Labor Day weekend.

Blessings and Wood Stove Cooking

The past couple of days have been quite warm. Monday we worked from morning till evening cutting and splitting and stacking wood. We managed to fill 4 of our 5 rows, the porch and under the table in the house. The hubby had wanted to fill all 5 rows but we were all exhausted. In between waiting on loads of wood to split, I managed to get a few clothes washed and hung. There is a major winter storm about to move through our area and we are trying to get as much done ahead of time.

We were discouraged we didn’t fully accomplish the goal but we knew we had done what we could. Little did we know the very next day a sweet neighbor and her husband would bring us a dump trailer full of seasoned wood that overfilled that final row. How the Lord does bless! We were so overwhelmed and amazed at such kindness.

We have also been working in the tent trying to improve some things. I mentioned in another post that I placed all extra blankets and sheets we had around the base of the inside tent walls to help with drafts. It did help and so did hanging a quilt over the door.

But the walls were still letting in some major drafts. I had heard once that the older generations used newspaper frequently to insulate their homes. I had a huge pile of newspapers. I lined the base of the wall with the paper and then pushed the blankets back against the wall to hold the paper in place. This has worked very well. I wasn’t sure it would because it just seemed too simple a solution but it did work. Our little tent is now insulated against the coming winter storm.

Another new item in our tent is our chamber pot. We were using a plastic bucket with a snap on toilet lid. The lid kept breaking and plastic holds all odors. For a year now I had been looking for a chamber pot but had not found one in good enough shape that was affordable. A week or so ago we found one. It was in almost perfect perfect condition and even had the crocheted cover on top that was used to prevent the metal lid from banging against the metal pot in the middle of the night. The top handle needed some work– it was almost completely broke off. The hubby took some JB Weld and easily fixed that problem.

He also built us a box for the pot.

During non use the lid can be flipped over and a cushion can be set on top to make this another piece of furniture in our tent. I am really pleased with this new addition. The chamber pot is easy to empty and sanitize since it is metal.

Another thing I have been doing around here is cooking and baking again. I am finally learning to use the stove effeciently and this has made a huge difference in my meal preperation. I have decided to go back to the old recipes of the world war years and the depression years. This uses alot of my pantry staples and my canned meats. Things like meat hand pies and open faced sandwiches are very simple but filling meals.

On Sundays we have a desert. This pecan pie was made with fresh pecans given to us and fresh eggs from our chickens. I do not use corn syrup in my pecan pies and they turn out just fine making them the old way. We have also simplified our breakfasts. We eat porridge every morning. This is steel cut oats but we call it porridge. Sometimes we add figs or raisins, sometimes we have sourdough biscuits and sometimes we have pancakes on the side or sometimes just a quick coconut bread i have discovered is easy to make. It doesn’t get boring this way. It is a cheap and healthy start to our day.

Preparing meals this way takes much of the stress of meal planning away. Out here I have struggled with frugal meal plans just because it is so different. I can’t grab fresh meat and veggies from the fridge or freezer. It’s a different way of doing things here. But I am so thankful it is finally coming together and I am beginning to feel confident in my cooking skills again.

I pray you all have a blessed week.

Family Ties

This last weekend was a rather busy time because the hubby’s mom wanted to have her get together for Christmas. It was a long trip back. We decided to swing by the old house to see the improvements that have been made. Nothing had been done. Not one thing. The yard was overgrown and the place was deserted. For some reason, the hubby and I felt a keen sense of disappointment. We had expected everything that we could not afford to do to it to have been done. Instead it looked forlorn and and deserted.  I don’t love the house or miss the place but I did expect it to be cared for and transformed.

While we were away for 1 and half days, we received a text from a friend here that storms were expected. After checking the radar, both the hubby and I spent the rest of Friday praying and checking the weather. Our area was in line for some severe weather and straight-line winds. What would we come home too? Even if the tornadoes missed us, what would such a wind do to the tent? The next morning I opened the news app to see the trail of destruction around our area but none so severe as what Kentucky received. I waited anxiously until a decent a hour of the morning to text our friend but she understood our worries and let me know first thing that the major storms had skirted around our area. We were so thankful!

Saturday was spent with the hubby’s entire family excluding 2 who were unable to be there due to prior obligations. This was an impressive feat for the hubby’s mom. Rarely is she able to have that many of us together at once. Her face lit with joy at the voices calling back and forth around the house– even at the thunderous noise 8 small children made as they turned her house upside down. Her complete joy made the long quick trip worthwhile. She is not a perfect woman nor has she been the ideal mom if you talk to her 3 sons, but she is loved and respected. She told the hubby and I before everyone arrived that as she grows older,  she thinks of how this could be her last Christmas and she is ready to go home– the weariness was heavy in her voice. She is just tired l. She longs to see her Savior and her husband who died many years ago around this time of year. So though the stress of being around family you only see a few times a year and around people who so openly disdain your values and dreams, her joy at the togetherness made it all worth it in the end. We endured the questions and joking about our new off grid life. We thoroughly enjoyed a long hot shower in a modern day bathroom. But oh how our hearts thrilled and we pushed that old red truck a little faster when we turned onto that bumpy old road that let us know we were almost home!

Yes that lovely hot water was nice, yes we could use an indoor bathroom even in the rain, yes there was central heat that I didnt have to get up every couple of hours to feed a fire– but we all decided we wouldn’t trade this life and its simplicity for any one of those conveniences. We are satisfied to make the sacrifice for the peace and contentment we find here on our little hillside. I am sorry the post was so delayed. It has been a week of catching up (on the couple of non rainy days we have had) after the long trip. May everyone have a blessed weekend!