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We’re on the Homestead!

Well… it has been a hectic month. We have driven over 4500 miles, criss-crossing the southern U.S., hauling our belongings, pets, kids and selves from Georgia to New Mexico.

The first leg of the trip began on Easter. After playing and directing the choir for Easter Sunday Mass, we loaded up the kids, dog and lizards into the two vehicles and started out. Behind the dually, we had the gooseneck trailer hitched (loaded with 2 bulldozers); the Tahoe pulled a rented U-Haul trailer with the WWII Harley WLA motorcycle strapped inside. We stopped in West Monroe, LA for the first […]

Pack ’em up… move ’em out.

This week has been marked by large quantities of stuff being packed into cardboard boxes. I have long said that the only advantage that is universally true as a result of making a geographical move is that it forces you to sort through your stuff.

Each time this happens (this is move number 19 for us), I am amazed at the amount of stuff we have that we don’t really need. Things I might have thought would be useful to have ended up stuffed in drawers or cupboards… only to be discarded on the next chance to examine it in […]

Things to Do on the Homestead

Things to do on the homestead when I retire

Aside from the normal day-to-day life maintenance things we all have to do, and the extra tasks of managing the homestead; garden, animals, trees, water collection, firewood procurement, we plan on leading a life rich with adventurous projects and time-consuming activities. Among them are the practical applications such as welding and blacksmithing, and vehicle maintenance. But there are others, such as learning how to make a timber frame home, fully restoring a WWII Clark Airborne Bulldozer, learning glass blowing, brick making, sculpting and a host of other things.

Practical

There are […]

Advent is Drawing to a Close…

Preparations for Christmas are almost complete in our household… As the boys get older, they do more and more of the decorating and gift-wrapping than ever. This year, our oldest boy put up and decorated the tree single-handedly. Both boys have taken turns wrapping presents… for each other and for us. I can understand now why my Mother always enlisted one or more of us kids to do the gift-wrapping at Christmastime…

There is a very respectable pile of presents under the tree now (including a carburetor for the bulldozer and a lot of airsoft equipment) and two very happy […]

Divinity perfected…

Yummy, white fluffiness… melts in your mouth.

As long as I can remember, my Mom’s Divinity was a candy we all looked forward to at Christmastime. Guaranteed to send a diabetic into sugar shock, its light fluffiness never fails to satisfy that sweet tooth craving.

Once I was old enough to help with Christmas candy-making and baking, I always took part in helping to prepare this recipe. Mom always made several batches of it each year so that she could share with neighbors and friends, so there were several opportunities to learn the skill along the way. So, I […]

Shoestring budget

How do we get to the place where we spend every bit of income we earn (and, in some cases, more than we earn)? While we were re-evaluating our lifestyle, I was reminded of the contrast with our finances in the beginning. In the early days of marriage, when we were living on 2LT pay, and trying to make up for a few bad decisions, we lived on an amazingly small amount of monthly income.

Let’s just put it into perspective: When we were starting out, my husband’s gross monthly income was $1088.80, plus $280.70 housing allowance. After taxation, […]

Background

We’re moving home

In 2012, we’ll have been married 30 years. During that time, we have never lived anywhere longer than 4 1/2 years, and several times we moved from temporary to permanent housing within a very short period of time. Yes… we are making our 19th move of ourselves and belongings when my husband retires next year.

This time, we are moving back home. Along with our two boys, dog, two leopard geckos, and accumulated paraphernalia gathered as we, like gypsies, moved along to new ground periodically, we plan to make a new life for ourselves in my hometown.

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