Smarter than I thought

Every time I think I do not really know all that much about homesteading, or frugality, or simple living,  or any of the things that go into what I do, I find someone has a question that I can answer thoughtfully and insightfully, and realize once again, that I know more than I think I do.

Today, it came about with hubby that he doesn't like the color of the water I'm bringing up from the seasonal creek. It's not clear like tap water. It doesn't taste like tap water. That is because it is not tap water. I got him to understand it was safe to drink (if the wildlife around here is not dropping like flies from it, and it is what goes into folks stock ponds, wells and the local aquifer, I would say it is reasonably safe). Just because it is not filtered, chlorinated and flouridated and chemically treated beyond belief does not mean it is not good water. It is just like what we get from the well when we have time to haul it up over a hundred feet, and we have yet to get sick off of that water.

Others ask how I can possibly deal with a crappy road and hauling groceries and such up the road, if we have to park half a mile to a mile away from the house. A Coleman camping cart, which is a cloth folding cart, comes in quite handy. It folds up for easy storage, has a removable sturdy base that folds up for storage as well, and holds upwards of one hundred and fifty pounds of stuff in five cubic feet of space when opened. Now, hauling that much uphill is a trial, but we limit to about a third of that. For example, I already went down and filled four more jugs with water while hubby got ready for work. That was just over thirty pounds I dragged back to the house. Then he took the cart with him, as I will stop at the dollar store on the way to work and grab a small back of scooping litter at about fifteen pounds and some extra cans of cat food, so that is about twenty pounds to haul up from wherever we manage to park tonight, depending on the road. It is a lot easier to haul it uphill in a rolling cart (or on a sledge in wintertime) than to carry it in your arms.

My pollen allergies are still in full bloom, so to speak, as the dogwoods have finished up for the year, but now the wildflowers and wild black raspberries are blooming. And yet, I homestead, in the midst of all the green, glorious, pollen-loaded mess that is the backwoods. Go figure. Time to get some lunch, pack for work, and head out for another night of fun messing with the chicken! Supposed to rain a bit tonight maybe, so we will see. At least all this rain means my tomatoes are well watered! Hugs and love all!