Wild Moon Cottage is a small working homestead in the pristine Ozark Mountains. We have dairy goats, poultry, organic herb and vegetable gardens, a start of a tiny fruit orchard, several black walnut trees, wild berries and fields of wildcrafting goodness. We raise our own milk, our own eggs, much of our own medicine and food. I do laundry by hand, make my own vinegar, candles, soap, bread, cheese ........ For a living I am an artist and herbalist. My goal for myself and our homestead is to be as self sufficient and self sustaining as possible.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Electric Poles & Dust Yetis

We've had around 3 hours sleep, if that, and we're 8 to 10 hours of sleep people. Nik's dad had a flat and no spare so we went to get him and take him where he needed to get a tire. I told Nik to stay and sleep but he wanted to come, it was his dad after all. The mechanic showed us a trick to start the Blazer without jumping and thankfully it started up after just a few tries. I'll be soooo glad when the mechanic can get to it. So we spent the early morning bleary eyed and reading while we waited. Nik planned to go back to bed when we got home but he didn't  :)

The day was so incredible! Everything is just beautiful ... the falling leaves, the sun, the cool air and the smell of life all around. I think it would have been very hard to sleep at all.

When we got back this morning I worked in the yard a bit. gathering up more things and trying to decide what stays and what goes. The yard things are fairly easy tho, if they serve a purpose and still function they go because i don't have to worry about storage for them like the inside things.

There are leaves everywhere :) and falling constantly. While I might not be able to sleep I could surely spend an hour or two in the hammock watching them dance.

But I did not. I pulled the last of the vegetables from the garden. 4 pepper plants and a crazy watermelon. There are still Hyacinth beans that i couldn't make myself pull, with their lovely purple vines and lilac colored flowers. I'll leave them and maybe they'll come up next year for the next people who live here.

After a while Nik came out and helped work on a good spot for a yard sale. The house is a cramped mess at the moment, boxes packed to go, some for freecycle and some for yard sale *~* and dust ! dust bunnies would run screaming from what we have. I think dust yetis might even be to small. The top of the fridge was the most shocking and I just cleaned it off a few months ago.

And speaking of thanks! A friend read that i was needing beeswax and sent me a gift of over a pound of some of the most wonderful beeswax I've ever seen, felt or smelled. Thank you soooo much !!! I think my balms and salves will be better this year than ever before :)


Beeswax  :)


I've had a little bad news today. I called the electric people for the 3 room cottage and found out that they will put it in without a well but it will be very expensive. Electric is our best option to start with until I can build up solar and get a propane fridge or some alternative. I've worked out everything else to absolutely acceptable levels except the power. But, altho my heart fell at first, I don't feel defeated and in fact i feel like it will all work out. Limited solar is still an option but that leaves out the refrigerator which we really need and want. We'll see.

I found this very cool site yesterday... the Sustainability Wiki http://www.appropedia.org/Welcome_to_Appropedia I had seen it before but never realized it was a whole site. Apparently you can also choose articles and create your own book from it to download or print for free.

I also love LaMars E-book, which you can find on his Simple Solar Homesteading site http://www.simplesolarhomesteading.com/ I got it about a year or so ago and use it often.

The rest of the day was mostly spent packing. I don't know for sure whether we'll get the 3 room guest cottage or not but I do know that's it's very unlikely everything here will fit no matter where we end up. The Burrow is very small but it's fill to the brim, perfectly so and not cluttered (before I started packing anyway) but filled none the less. I am getting rid of quite a bit, some I was planning to sell or give anyway, but the amount has grown hugely. I'm not terribly worried tho, when we get to where ever we're going I will be able to go more carefully and see what truly is needed in addition to what truly is wanted and in accordance to what truly will fit. Anyway, things will be as they are and we'll just go on from there.

A friend sent me an email today of Old Farmer's Advice. They were all quite sage but my favorite one was this ...

"The best sermons are lived, not preached."

3 comments:

Nancy said...

Love the quote. Everyone has to find their own way in life, whatever works out best. Happy packing!

the wild magnolia said...

Great post! I plan on making some salves/ointments using your recipes. Will let you know how it turns out.

the wild magnolia said...

Everything has it's own time..(Buddhist saying).

Your attitude leaves and open door for the universe to fulfill your needs. I've witnessed this several time in your blog posts. :)

WooHoo.