I am still fighting the fight against the witchcraft troubling my home wireless set up---the problem has dismayed everyone....every repair person, expert, and helper i can find...so i construct this blog on a netbook without access to my photo library. My apologies for only words----

Our homesteading work has paid off for me mentally in the past few weeks.....as our national economic and spiritual depression deepens. Since we have prepared I find myself caring less and less about the state of the nation surrounding me...we have seemingly become sovereigns of ourselves....

Our Prius and bicycles coupled with our home site selection right off of a working downtown makes us immune to increases in the price of gasoline. Our gardens, stored food and the soon to be completed greenhouse makes us immune to food price increases, manufactured food poisoning events and any upcoming shortages. Our long, hard work at becoming debt free allows us immunity from current economic manipulations....our continuing work on solar and wind power for the house will someday free us from energy dependence....
Our rejection of society's demands and propaganda is possibly our most valuable accomplishment....
One cannot be a slave to post Christmas debt if one rejects the force-fed concept of a holiday designed only to feed capitalism.... without a TV who cares who won the super bowl-----the total rejection of what our nation now calls politics allows for individual peace.....It has struck home to me these past few weeks how lucky my wife and I are and how worthwhile our hard work has been.

LITTLE THINGS we've started to do:

My wife and I are both smokers, an expensive proposition, but we have begun keeping a good pair of scissors near our home smoking zone---snipping off the lit end of a half smoked cigarette allows for no wastage from stubbing it out and allows the cigarette to be finished later in perfect condition....

By letting my hair grow (which is now tied back in a ponytail) I saved almost enough money so far this past year to repay the cost of the netbook i am constructing this blog on...

I have shelled three gallons of pecans from our backyard tree so far---with probably three more gallons available by the time i am completed.

I have begun charging all my portable computing devices, mobile phone etc. at work---although i should feel bad about this..... it is liberating. They care nothing at all for the conservation...of anything so why not? Sort of my own 12 Monkeys rebellion.

My wife purchased us a PITEBA hand powered mechanical oil expressor---from Holland...we grow sunflowers every year but this year I'll be hand cranking out free sunflower oil for us to store and utilize...all year. We had been worried about how we could obtain a self-sufficient supply of cooking oil and with the acquisition of this excellent, superbly built tool this is no longer a problem.


Again my apologies for the delay and shortfall of this blog----soon hopefully i will be back on target---pictures of the greenhouse construction to come as well....

warren