The Teddy Roosevelt of Seasons...

Winter arrived at 2950 this week. To me winter is the Teddy Roosevelt of the seasons. It speaks softly and carries a big stick! 

 In 2013 I learned winters full power. A new momma to a 4 month old baby without power or water for 4 days! It became evident 1 day into this event that our 87 year old neighbor was also in danger with limited food, an electric stove, no power and no water. So as is our family way we always make room for one more and we ended up taking  him home with us for the duration of the storm.

So that year I learned the power of preparation and have made it a point each winter to take a day and prep.

Fresh flashlights and batteries go in hidden places throughout the house because RKR is quite a fan of flashlights. 

 A tub with batteries, lights, candles, batteries, and matches gets prepped.

The fridge is a central location where everyone knows the supplies are so the box gets stowed away.

We also jug up water. We have 10 gallons in the bathroom, and 10 galllons of drinking water on tap.

 The generator moves up to the porch and the firewood will begin to fill the porch and we'll continue
To keep the yard piled high.

What are you doing to prep for winter?

Yours in love, light, and woodstove warmth!
♡AVR♡

30 Days Clean

 I loathe laundry! At the beginning of November between 2 loads our dryer up and bit the dust. We've limped it along for 11 years and it was just time to let it go!
We have a 30 day rule with appliances. If they die we have to do without it for 30 days. If we simply can't live without it we replace it otherwise bon voyage.

A few years back when the washer died I tried 30 days of handwashing clothes. It is my least favorite homestead memory and on day 30 I called the repair man and if he had asked for my 1st born child I would have been open to negotiations.

Not having a dryer requires planning. You have to plan out your wardrobe, and stalk the weather. It didn't get above freezing the past 4 days so drying laundry outside was a no go.

You also HAVE to do laundry EVERY day or else the mass of it will consume every livable space in your home. The day Jesus comes back I'll be doing laundry, but hey maybe he'll fold!

 Also you need 2 sets of sheets because sometimes even if you hang it in the morning it won't be completely dry by bed. And when the sacred "blankie" needs a tubby you stoke the fire and make sure he dries ASAP!

 My favorite gadget is this guy here. It's a bucket lid with holes with clothespins strung through. It's hooked to a carabiner and hangs. It's perfect for socks, undies, and dish rags. It holds a lot!

 I'm also embracing that just because you wore it doesn't mean it's dirty. Jeans and towels do a couple tours of duty before they hit the wash. They require a Loooonnngggg dry time so I like to make it worth it.

Laundry gets done in the evenings at bed time, hung up and dried during the day and then sorted and folded the following bedtime. Sometimes God has bigger plans. I was a total slacker with laundry it would pile up for a week or more. So perhaps this was divine intervention to center me. 

And to be honest.... I don't totally hate it anymore. It's become part of the daily routine and in small doses it's not half bad.

In Love, Light, and Laundry 

♡AVR 

Favorite Things Episode

I heard on the radio an advertistment that Oprah had just relased her yearly list of "favorite things." Since "O" and I live let's say a bit differently it caused me to pause and think what would be on my list?

Of course 1st I'd take the stage and proclaime it's "my favvvooorrrittteee things!" ( you know you just read that in Oprah's voice!

 Grown women would jump until they were winded... then they would weap for joy.. Finally with limited commercial interuptions I'd present my items!

1. Hats knitted by a Mom Mom.

 My Grandmother's are all resting peacefully in heaven, but every local craft fair I find the Mom Mom stand. You know the one with the Mom Mom with the adorable crochet everything. I usually just open my wallet, dump it on her table and say please fill my bag!
So handmade woooollll haaattssss everyone!

2. Diffuser Necklaces

 This cutie is from Kilnfired Diffusers. Check out their Etsy shop. This beauty allows me to diffuse my oils even when on the go. Which with a 1 and 3 year old is pretty much constantly!  So you get a diffuser and you get a diffuser everybody gets a diffuser!

3. A Chicken

 Ok so people might say they are only getting "a few" that translates to 8! I prefer a mixed flock for my own entertainment oh and let's get some ducks too! I mean if you can't be happy in a chicken pen, the we can't be friends. So bring out the chiiiiiickennnss!

4. Popcorn

 If you know my Vaughan lineage you know that popcorn is a major food group. We LOVE red popcorn best, but any ANY popcorn will do! So everyone is going home with Popcorn!!!!

5. Canning Jars

 Have I dug canning jars out of trash cans in strangers homes... yes... yes I have! Canning jars are essential in our life. Here's half of my $1 score from a local estate auction. So 12 canning jars for everyome!

6. A Milk Jug

 We drink raw milk at 2950. We have an ample supply courtesy of Foo Fa and his lovely dairy herd. (No raw milk debating with me folks. It's superb , I know the source, and I'd eat in that barn before I'd eat in some people's kitchens!)
So everyone's getting a gallon of raw milk in their own J-U-GGG

7. Bread Machine

 I don't like "one trick ponies" so an appliance has to be versitle. You can do SO much with a bread machine! I grabbed this guy $10 at the Gucci Goodwill (we gave a goodwill in an affluent area that has killer stuff)
So a bread machine is yours!

8. A Woodstove

 Our woodstove is our religion from October thru April. We worship it daily and spend our weekend cutting wood to stay in it's good grace. It dries our laundry, cooks our food, makes the coffee, and heats the house!  You're getting a WOODSTOVE!

9. Tomatoes

 If you have to can 1 thing that will change your life... can tomatoes!  You don't need a pressure canner and they are incredibly versatile for cooking! So everyone is getting 250lbs of canning tomatoes!

10. A Tula

A Tula! Where do I even begin! LBR is my snuggle bug. I love being close with my ladies and having them with me whether it's the Appalachian Trail, our garden, or the grocery store! Tula has a kinda cult following, but if you get one you'll drink the kool-aid!  So you get a Tula everyone gets a Tula!

I am a momma who is blessed beyond just the material! But... these things are my favorite things I would recommend to anyone who is considering a more simple and joy filled life!

And now back to your regularly scheduled program!

In love & light & woodstove warmth,

♡AVR 

The Greenhouse Volume 1

 Back in the early spring the Homestead Engineer set up a little greenhouse I found on sale at Harbor Freight for $200! We started a few little things, but since we got started late we didn't see much of an impact of having the house YET!

I've decided to give a fall garden a try in there. We are treating it like a big old cold frame. In the small pots we have a spattering of kale, salad greens, and spinach. The big feed tub I loaded up with compost ( my 1st year making compost and 1st time using it!!!) to aid in heating, and planted beets, turnips, and carrots.

It was a ton of fun to wade through the attic of our local hardware store to find seeds. So lesson learned I'll buy some extra next spring to put up for my fall garden.

I'm curious to find ways to help keep it warmer there. My dad once made a cold frame with beer bottles of water so I took that idea and went a step farther.

 At our local discount grocery they had salt 15 lbs for a dollar. Thanfully my friends and neighbors entertain me by collecting random crap when I put out an APB and these jugs were kindly brought over by a friend.

 I did some interwebbing and found 1/2 lb of salt per gallon of water should prevent my jugs from freezing and busting.

 With RKR'S help we painted the wall side black. What I read said to leave the inside clear for better heat transfer.

Then... we "installed" the jugs. Our temperature here was around 45 today tonight 4 hours after sundown the house was still in the 40s.

My ultimate greenhouse goal is fresh tomatoes on Christmas, but I'm loving the fact that even though we've had blustery days and even some snow I can seek refuge in 80 degrees in the greenhouse.

In love and light (because it heats me greenhouse)
~AVR

The Island

Any get together with Nate's family usually includes a story "remember that one year at Assateague." I knew the draw the island had on him way back at the beginning of it all.

Our first trip for him back to the island was full of feelings. Reminiscing of childhood adventures with his cousin his best bud who left this world to soon. It was early in our realtionship and life was taking some turns where we had a choice to face them together or alone. This was a trip that was emotionally exhausting but needed to be. We left I remember him saying "I can't wait to bring my kids here someday."

For his 30th birthday I planned another trip to the island. With a growing baby belly the good times were ahead and I always loved this picture where the island and Nate found each other again in a new beginning with our little family.

Now camping at Assateague is not for the faint of heart. It's primitive camping and....

But this trip was worth every mosquito attack to see the pure joy on Nate's face to be back on the island starting all over again.

With his own tribe on the island and to say the ladies are island babies is an understatement!  They were immune to bugs just like daddy and squealed with delight at every chance to see the ocean or bike ride!

So if you'll excuse me I'm off to continue picking sand out of all my personals and doing scads of laundry and enjoying indoor plumbing!

From our island to yours!

Much Love, 

AVR 

Oh for the love of... Laundry...

I am a granddaughter of the depression. A true mix of Chuck and Beth Vaughan a frugal engineer and an eccentric artist. Grandpa could calculate to the bean the best value for a can of kidney beans.
I carry on this trait as I often waive crowds by as I stand with my calculator in the grocery store.

So there has been a lot of chatter about making your own laundry soap. A friend  was recently shocked to learn I don't make my own... I gave it a whirl a few years back and hated it! It was snot like, required an afternoon to prep, and left clothes smelling sour sometimes and was just to inconsistent.

But it's cheaper you say... oh my friend... get your calculator ready!!!

If you follow the most popular version of the homeade laundry soap recipe found on Google it equates to roughly 7 to 9 cents per load. Let's also factor into this the gathering of pots, buckets, cheese grader, etc. To make it and roughly an hour prep and clean up.

So... I head once a month to a local close out grocery store. I picked this beauty up. At its markdown price it equates to 5 cent per load and it is a consistent product I know gets the crap off my crap. 

Because let's face it... it's way more fun to spend an afternoon making dirty laundry!

Yours in Frugality, 

AVR

This Old House

This old house has been my home for all of my "adult" years. I moved here right after college at the wise age of 22. My RKR was the 1st baby to the house in 92 years!

The L. F. WRIGHT FAMILY

Old farm houses are mystical creatures. Built before a thought of electric or running water. In fact 2950 didn't go on the grid until 1950 becasue the Wright Family simply "didn't need it." A battery powered radio kept them in touch with the world and that suited them just fine.

I love being self sufficient growing tomatoes, foraging for black berries, and switching on the light in the bathroom to take a long hot bath after.


This old house has had an antiquated well system that has been the bain of my existence since coming here. I fondly called it "the pit of despair " We had to pump tons of electric into it to keep it heated all winter, shoo the rogue  heifer off it's roof, and convince the groundhogs it wasn't a time share vacation rental. That all changed yesterday!


After many years we finally hooked a new well to the house! When you embrace homestead ideologies one of the best assets is a supply of amazing friends who are skilled tradesman at the ready in any time of need! We made plans with a friend who is an electrician, bartered to borrow a neighbors backhoe,  and called in a favor to our mule man who also happens to be the best damned well guy around!

For the 1st time in memory  I did a load of wash AND took a shower... a feat never before attainabledue to poor water preassure and a requires recovery time to build back pressure.

It's a happy day indead as I enjoy a long draw of sweet water aftet our first sunshine in days!

These 1st few days we'll have to be vigilant as our pipe system is "talking" a bit with creaks and pops as it adjusts to the new flow of water, but this homestead momma is sure pleased!

Until Next Time,
~AVR