It's raining!

And yeah, we need it, but ... but ... but I had PLANS to get outside and DO things, darn it! How am I supposed to do things outside with the garden if it rains! Not that I mind the rain, because we do need it, just ... can't it hold off till I'm NOT trying to get things done, haha? Oh well, just means I take a nap today after hubby leaves for work, because we worked till 4AM again, and I'm whipped. With my enlarged heart (I have LVH - Left Ventricular Hypertrophy) and skipping heartbeats going on, I can't take all the caffiene stuff that most of the people I work with can take, like Yellowjackets and Black Bombers and Mini-Thins and the like. They would increase my heart rate to dangerous levels, and I could easily end up in the hospital for it. No thanks, I'd rather avoid that. So instead, I get extra sleep when I can, which also helps fight off fibro flares (which totally are rotten ... you feel about twice your age and move like it, too).

Since I took the domes off the seed starter trays a few days ago, I'm going to have to dump out the excess water and tie the domes back on for a bit. We're expecting a lot of rain the next few days and I don't want the seeds that haven't sprouted yet, along with what has, to drown out. I do really need to get so many things done, but with work and all, it's difficult. I really want to get at-home income up to around $200 or so a week, because that would replace my income from work. I actually make around twice that, but with not having to pay for gas and other extras that come from working off the property, it would save a lot. So $200 a week is my goal. Anything over that is just icing on the cake.

Speaking of stuff that's popped up, I'm seeing lots of little bits of green in those cell packs out there. I can't WAIT till things really get growing in the next few weeks. And my Arkansas Traveler tomatoes have really started to bloom well. Yet another reason I need to get some tire beds set up - they're getting a bit crowded in that big pot they're in and I need to carefully separate them and transplant them in individual spaces - which I would have done to start if I'd had the time to get things done like I wanted. Grrr. (Hang on - rain has stopped for now - gotta go put the domes back on quick before it pours some more.)

Ok, I'm back and whee! I have an acorn squash up now, too! Some things that still haven't come up yet are starting to bother me, as they are late. As in nearly a week late. If they don't come up by this weekend, I'll replant. Among about a zillion other things that need to get done. Sure, I'll just slot that into the schedule, too. My to-do list grows all the time. I need an it's-already-done list to grow, haha!

We did do some looking and discussing and deciding over the last few days, on what to do about a place to buy. With our credit the way it is, we are not likely to be able to get a mortgage. This despite that we pay all our bills in full, on time, and even ahead of time. Oh yeah, it's that "no credit cards around here" thing again. So, instead of saving for years and years and buying a place outright, we're going to save for a year or so and buy bare land. It will likely be about like this place, minus the house already on it and the trash piles from former tenants - basically trees and ticks. Then we'll buy a plot outright (saving a bundle on no interest from a mortgage). Then save up to have a driveway area and about an acre of land cleared for a house, toolshed and garden start, along with having the driveway, parking area and probably the house area done in poured concrete.

That only takes a couple of days to cure, so then it's have a Derksen cabin brought in and dropped on the house pad. While that's a bare bones cabin, it could be camped in, more or less, once we got a small solar system set up to run bare bones of TV, internet/laptop, his alarm clock, and recharge our cell phones. A 500-watt system plus batteries, MPPT controller and an inverter won't cost a whole heck of a lot and will power the basics. A good generator for power tools, the microwave and etc. wouldn't get run much and would cost less than $800. Derksen cabins don't require any credit checks or downpayments ... so buy the property and within three to four months later, move in and fix up the interior as we live there. The only other alternative for a house would be to buy a used trailer which means a "mortgage" and a big downpayment. It would be a finished house and all, but that "mortgage" on it really would kind of bite. There's still one on the Derksen, but with no credit check like buying a used trailer would require, we have a shell of a house.

Besides, we like the Derksen cabins. If you are homesteaders and like the cheap route, they are good. Graceland cabins are basically the same thing and about the same price, so if you want a prefab cabin exterior, go with either one, as both have the same payment options and all. We just like Derksen better as the local dealer has an actual office staffed by him and his wife. The Graceland dealer just has display buildings out and nobody staffing the place. Easy choice - I want to talk to a real person when I buy something.

So there's our plan for getting a place of our own. Within two years, we'll be starting over again, but on our own place. It's going to be a heck of a ride in the meantime, but the good news is we can take all the lessons we're learning here and apply them THERE, wherever there ends up being. And honestly there's land around here in good sized chunks we can get for around $12,000, so that really isn't out of financial range! Some of them are even partly cleared already, which would cut down on a lot of work.

My, I'm glad I took a moment to cover the seedling trays back up - it just started drenching outside again. Gonna be a wet ride to work. But I have to go look up books and try to get a short nap in and all, so time for me to quit being a wordy wordsmith, cuddle Smudge The Afraid of Everything Cat, and get busy on other things. Hugs, all!

KINDLE FREEBIES OF INTEREST


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