Homesteading / Simple living / Downshifting... anyone?

[Moabite]

Rocket Stove Mass Heater. If you haven't seen one of these yet, check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfKHVoCY2so
It takes me 10 days, 10 trips to get enough wood to heat my house through the winter. Two trips would be much better.

I'm thinking of building on an outdoor kitchen on the west side of my house using sandbag, poured adobe, cob, type construction. I may build one of these into it to heat it for winter use. I'm coming up with a design that allows me to enclose it. I'd love to break ground this spring, but I have to consult some experts first about laws, drainage, oven etc.

 

[Rathbone]

I just saw your thread and it is exactly where I am in my life right now. Trying to live more simply.
Poverty is making it easier in ways. I simply don't have any extra to spend so I have been forced to think in a new way. I don't want to end up one of those people who is constantly unhappy and crying about how it used to be. Sometimes the only thing in my control seems to be my mindset. So while I wish I were living rurally, growing all my own organic foods, milking the goat and then making the cheese - in reality I live in town because I already own this tiny little house. I saved up and planted a citrus tree to mark the birth of each of my children. I do have chickens - LOVE the chickens. Yes we eat the eggs and the occasional rooster - but they function also as something that makes me feel peaceful, takes away stress.
So while I would love to show all the changes I have dreampt of making in my home setting - the biggest changes seem to be within the four walls of my head.
Excellent thread...I will continue to follow it.

 

[Rathbone]

Quote:
I love the idea of teaching (and learning) to appreciate getting things slowly.
So I don't want to highjack your thread, but one of my goals right now is to have a meaningful, memorable Christmas for my children. This means not much money to spend on toys. I thought of making a list of inexpensive things that would be enjoyed by the kids and doing one each night. We made bread and took it to elderly friends houses. I wanted my boys to learn that Christmas is about giving and not so much about receiving. Another night we nailed holes in aluminum cans and made "lanterns" for the candles.
So...anyone have any ideas I could add to my list?

 

[PepsNick]

Well I'm young and enjoying getting the best out of life now, so I'm saving this until my 50's. But my dream is to own some acreage and live out my poultry obsession

 

[ChikeeMomma]

Quote:
I love the idea of teaching (and learning) to appreciate getting things slowly.
So I don't want to highjack your thread, but one of my goals right now is to have a meaningful, memorable Christmas for my children. This means not much money to spend on toys. I thought of making a list of inexpensive things that would be enjoyed by the kids and doing one each night. We made bread and took it to elderly friends houses. I wanted my boys to learn that Christmas is about giving and not so much about receiving. Another night we nailed holes in aluminum cans and made "lanterns" for the candles.
So...anyone have any ideas I could add to my list?

Do you have a Christmas tree up? If so, then make a garland out of popped popcorn and/or cranberries. You can mix it up and use both or just make it out of one or the other. Take a needle and thread and start stringing! I have only used regular popped corn unsalted/unbuttered (not microwave). If you don't have an air popper just use a pot to pop your corn (there should be directions on the popcorn bag)! It should keep your boys busy and be memorable, too!

Maybe take them caroling around your neighborhood. That would be special to many of the neighbors.

Make these ornaments http://www.handmadecountry.com/ezine/cinnamon.html. There's a few different recipes for them. Buy the cinnamon at Gordon's Food Store, Costco, or Sam's Club. The cinnamon at Sam's Club is $3.88 for a 18 oz container. I am assuming it would be comparable at the other stores. Gordon's Food Store does not require a membership.

Good luck. You are teaching your boys a valuable lesson. We do the same with our girls.

 

[#1California Chick]

Quote:
I don't know how old your boys are. But participating in a food distribution was always powerful for my daughters.

Cindy

 

[Blackbird]

If this hasn't been mentioned yet; You can check out BYC's sister site Sufficient Self. We talk about a lot of this and share plans, success stories, failures, etc.
The link is at the very bottom of the page.

 

[BarredBuff]

BlackBird, Bee and myself have already beat ya to it!!

 

[Rathbone]

LOVE the ideas! My boys are ages 4 and 5. We will try the popcorn stringing tonight. I don't have an air popper so hopefully I won't burn it up in the pan, but we will have fun tonight! I like the idea of distributing food also.
Keep the ideas coming folks...
And to the person who started this thread...I really like it.

 

[OverEggstended]

We are getting there... baby stepping it though. We have the chickens, the compost, the 1200 sg ft garden, a 14,000 gallon koi pond that came with the house (came in handy last winter when we lost power for 4 days... we used buckets of water from it to flush the toilets! LOL). We are renting (trying to get him to give us a price so we could buy)... so we are not doing much to the house. We would like to put a passive heat greenhouse on it eventually, some solar panels for lights, and a root cellet under a sunporch where the back deck is now. We only have about 2.5 acres, and the house and pond take up half of it... so we can only do so much.

We also take our trash to the dump, recycleables all sorted out (they have bins for them there), and burn paper trash. The dogs and chickens and composting means that we make a dump run about twice a month... with 2 large bags of garbage max! They fit in a large rubbermade box that fits in the backseat of the car with no problem!