After dinner we just sat around the fire for a couple hours and listened to the coyotes come out of their dens and talked and ate roasted marshmallows. Around 10 pm we looked up at the sky and the clouds had moved out. We could see the Milky Way!!! It looked like a mist across the sky, but when we looked at it with the binoculars, it was a gazillion little stars!!!!
With everyone falling asleep sitting up, I think we crawled into bed around 11 pm. We had four sleeping bags. We were each inside one, with another one over the top of us. The dogs were on the bed with us for additional warmth. I threw my coat over my feet and Dakota. Jaeger was snuggled up between Jeff and me. We could lay in bed and look at the stars through the open gable......which also let cold air in!!!!!
Around 2:30am I felt the bed vibrating!!!!! Jaeger, who has a very light coat, was shivering next to me!!!! I climbed out of my bag and grabbed a big comforter that we had thrown on the floor for the dogs (ha!) and threw it over the entire pile of us. He settled down and we got some shut-eye. Sleeping wasn't as sound as it was out there 2 weeks ago when it only got down to 39 degrees. We bottomed out at 28 degrees this time and it was a fitful slumber with trying to keep warm and all!!!
I found your blog via "tiny houses" and am looking forwarding to following you. My husband and I just bought 50 acres in central Georgia and are going to do something very similar with our property. Our drive is only a mere 2 hours though so you have us beat. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the name of the book but if you go to Barnes & Noble or Books a Million or other big retail chain there is a book that they have that is sort of like an almanac that is full of the old farm skills and know how that many people these days just don't know like how to salt or sugar cure meat, etc., farm, and many more informative topics like when is the best time to plant, how to make soap, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnother good source of stuff that probably will be very handy around your farm is a company in Ohio that provides farm implements and supplies to the Amish population in the surrounding states. The name of the company is Lehmans. They have a website at www.lehmans.com It is full of old but new farm implements, wood burning stoves, etc. Hope this infor is helpful.
It's my dream to one day buy some land and set up a self sustaining life. I grew up on a 400 acre farm in Alabama with my grandparents and learned a lot of real life skills that aren't taught anymore. When this economy does bottom out the old addage of "A Country Boy Can Survive" will again ring true. Hope you guys enjoy the peace and tranquility. Don't forget to stock up on supplies, guns and ammo just in case the economy does tank as I forsee in the future because of the continued bad decisions made by everyone in this country.
Oh, I found the title of the book I was talking about and it's sold along with other titles you might find useful at www.lehmans.com the website I told you about in a previous posting. The name of the book is "Country Wisdom & Know-How, Everything You Need to Know to Live Off The Land." I've looked at it before in Books a Million and it's full of awesome stuff. Hope this helps you guys out.
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