Laundry 5 cents

Ya know those little Primitive signs you can buy,, "laundry 5 cents",, i realize they are supposed to reflect the cost 100 yrs ago, but honestly, i wouldnt do 1 load of your laundry for 20.00 in this here machine... Im pretty sure Im going to have a hard time keeping on my own...

So here it is,, Ive tried it out a little,, ( im not doing all my laundry in it,, haha, ill admit,, i still have the luxury of my other washing machine am enjoying it while its around)

Its definetly very basic.. although if you look at robbs face in this picture he does look thoroughly confused.. well we couldnt figure out which way the darn wringer went on,, and either way you put it on there is still a gap between the washer and wringer, so when you wring the clothes water goes ALL OVER the floor and the clothes you just wrung out,, so you have to almost lead the clothes as you go,, you can just wring and let em hit the ground or they will be just as wet as they were before you put em through the wringer,, slightly annoying, but i figure all these little annoyances will just be second nature sooner or later.

We still need to buy another tub for washing... I will probably just buy that at the local feed,, its a LOT cheaper..

Next nice day i plan on taking this beauty out and givin her another try... I plan to use it ATLEAST twice a week,, get myself use to it:)

as far as the DRYER goes, I have not used that badboy in a month and a half..Im done with it completely...

When RObb and I were pricing solar, (and we are pricing solar base on a 5000-8000 dollar system mind you,, so thats verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry cheap, and ya wont get much. enough for lights and small appliances, toaster, etc..) we were absolutely FLOORED by how much electricity a dryer uses.. and you would be too,, its unbelievable... so from that day forward, i gave it up,,

It realy hasnt been to big of a deal, i hang them out on nice days, and hang them next to the cookstove when its cold out(which has been the past month straight)..

I have no reservations about doing our laundry by hand.. it will be A lot of work,, but im always complaining about my "mom" arms,, and let me tell you after i turned that wringer a few times,, i knew i was going to have some good lookin arms in the verry near future,,:well i hope verrrrrrrrrrry near future,,

our house is on the market, has been for about 8 months now,,, so we are just waiting, and we may be waiting for a long while with the way the economy is...

we are enjoying our time here in the Pisgah National Forest forest though, and this way ill get plenty of hand washing practice in, when the weather breaks and i can wash outside..

Until then Ill be out in my Greenhouse, where its 85 degrees as long as the sun is a shinin':)

Chasing the Dream

well thats what my dad calls it. Homesteading, self sufficiency, off grid , whatever it may be... is known to my father as "chasing the dream". Hearing him saying this makes me smile again and again.,, because he gets it, and so I christen this post,,, chasing the dream.......................

I met my husband 16 years ago... I remember sitting out on our fenced in cement slab patio, off of our tiny shag carpet , way way outdate apt, talking about our future,, most of which included living In a Log cabin in Alaska.. why Alaska?? I really dont know, Ive never been, nor has he.. I really believe we both had this ultimate dream , of living in the in the middle of nowhere,, happy, living off the land 2 kids runnin around..............

well that didnt happen,, atleast not for a long time,, although these conversations continued for the following 15 years, late night campfires talking about our dreams, hopes, ideas of freedom, truth , happiness.. we held onto them kept them tucked in away in a safe place,, because your dreams are sacred.. and holding onto them until you are ready and following through are completely priceless.. ..

Years went by , we bought a house, had a small garden, froze our goodies, and still entertained the idea of "chasing the dream".. but then it was just an idea,, something fun to think about,, fantasize about.. and still seemed way out of reach.

Its hard to "chase the dream" when you are young( and dumb) , when your priorites are going out the bar with your friends, concerts , festivals, sleeping in on saturdays, not necessarily being lazy(we both had full time jobs) but just not having your whole heart in it.....

so years pass, we move out west for a a year, and then move to NC, ,, this is where we found ourselves, what made us happy, what we wanted out of our life...

in 2006 we found a Home smack in the Middle of the Pisgah National Forest.... it was the dream home, the home we talked about 13 yrs prior,(only not in alaska haha)...

and hour to a store, 45 minutes to the nearest gas station,,, wild and wooly it is.....

We have picked up where we left off,, started "chasing the dream " again,,

we now have a decent size garden, egg layers, butcher our own chickens, cook on a woodcookstove , can our veggies and are now the proud owners of 3 bee hives and a sweet lil greenhouse

this BLOG is Ultimately about our OFF GRID journey,,, we have decided to take the plunge,,, and would love to share our journey with ya'll..  now we are preparing and planning:)

Im excited to start blogging , sharing stories about chickens, gardens, greenhouse growin, woodstove cooking, veggie cannin , bee keepin' , and simple livin...

I would be tickled if you would come along, and read my our Blog,, read my ramblings, while we

CHASE THE DREAM...............