We have the generator in layaway at the pawnshop. We have the kero heater. We looked at small oil lamps we can hang up overhead today at Wally World, so the cats can't knock them over but we can have some light without running the generator. We know what the battery-operated fluorescent lights cost, because we have a couple already. We know how much it costs to get a Derksen cabin (it's just the shell, but it's a start) as a downpayment and what the monthly payments will be. We have an offer to share land with a young couple we know from work who call us Mom and Dad anyhow.
The electric here at the trailer we have been renting is for crap. We would still have no running water, but I've lived with that for 3 years and a little and used a sawdust toilet for the same amount of time. Mind, hubby would have to not be able to tape his wrestling for a month or two until we got a solar setup going to run the receive while we are at wok, but he could watch the clips online anyhow. Internet does not have to be powered 24/7 to work, just have to wait a few for the modem and router to come up when we get home and start up the generator...until the solar setup is going good, then the generator would be just for cooking with the microwave and running the fridge when we were home.
Looking like come spring, we and the cats will be in a 12x20 or so one-room cabin. We would need to figure out how to get packages delivered from UPS and FedEx, which does happen regularly for us, as there is no local UPS Store. PO Box for regular mail. What we pay now in rent and average electric would make the cabin payment, so that balances out; we would just have to figure out how to come up with our share of the land payment which would be about $150-200 a month.
Goodness knows, it would be insane, but a lot easier to deal with than this insanity of kludged up cords and only three working breakers in the whole house and tonight's little funfest of finding out a cord we've used since we moved in decided to start melting it's prongs. /THAT/ close to a house fire. Yes, that extension cord (a heavy-duty one) is unplugged ... no way are we risking a fire if it can be avoided. Good thing we check all plugs and outlets weekly, more often if we smell something as we did tonight. He smelled something burning/melting; I have no real sense of smell, but noticed an off taste to the air and we started checking all connections, which is when we found the near-disaster.
That was when we decided we need to discuss things in detail with Cara and Jesse and go from there. Time to pull together and get the heck out of this place before it collapses (some of the floors are just ridiculous with where you can and cannot walk), burns up or something else happens ridiculous. Moving upward and onward! Someone remind me again why I love homesteading???? Incidents like this give me pause and I wonder, "Why can't I be like a normal person, buy/rent a house or apartment in the city and call it done and be happy with that? Why in the blue blazes do I have to be DIFFERENT?!"
I'm not unhappy with my life choices, but times like this I sigh and either laugh it off with a cynical shake of my head, or hang my head and cry. Though hubby and I have an agreement. If something happens to him and the insurance is enough to allow it, I'm packing my happy butt up and moving back to Michigan. The winters there may be miserable at times, and I'd have to be "normal" about being on-grid and all for the most part, but I'd be close to family anyhow. Now to just work on surviving the winter, because if we get a lot of snow, that's a lot of walking up and down the mountain road. At least at Jesse and Cara's, there's only one small steep slope in and out, and it's paved, so as long as it's kept cleared, everyone can get in and out fine in bad weather. Individual drives are a pain but you have to deal with that anyhow.
I don't mind saying I'm scared by all of this, because I'm one of those people that is scared by major changes. I can adapt, but major change bothers me, probably because my childhood was so stable and rarely changed at all. I like things to stay the same as much as possible. One thing is for sure, that cabin would be getting a major makeover in no time flat, haha. As it's only a basic shell, you get to do all the insulating and paneling and wiring and plumbing ... Whew. LOTS of work.
For those who want to shop with me on Etsy or Amazon, the Homestead Crafter page on Facebook has links to both. Etsy has a tab, and there's a post with the Amazon link (the app to add the Amazon store as an app does not work, argh). I am slowly copying items over from Bonanza to either/both as they fit, so Etsy has about 55-60 items now and Amazon a bit less. Should have been doing this from the start!. As I find more goodies in my wholesalers, I will be adding things like yarn and beads for my crafty friends. I really need to get to the point of the Christmas stuff, but I'm so far behind on everything that is not going to happen this year, I don't think, unless i put off everything else, too. Kind of a six of one, half a dozen of another issue there, though I should work on it more as that might help with holiday sales (though no guarantee). Sleep tight, my friends!
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