The Simple Life

I've been on a blogging kick lately, but fear not! After a bit I won't feel like blogging and you won't hear from me for weeks, and just when you think I've died, I'll post three entries an hour for a week straight! :P

Anyways, so I found another blog, worthy of mention in this lovely jabber-fest that is my blog LOL. It's called "The Simple Life" and it is written by a lady named ~Tonia (ever wonder why all the blogs I read are written by women? I actually don't know if it's a man or a woman who posts on ehagart, but that doesn't count).

When I read blogs, I generally start from Entry #1, and then read my way forward, a month at a time. When I first start reading The Simple Life, they were living on a farm they managed. Now, though, they're moving to a place of their own that (acreage-wise) is a bit smaller. In the family there's Tonia, her hubby, her three daughters (the younger two are twins). They mainly have goats and chickens.

My favorite thing about the blog are all the pictures she posts.

American Way Farm

I found yet another blog. I have found a bunch of blogs that are only a few months older than mine. Because of that, I have under a year's worth of blog entries and I can catch up in a day. Of course if I wanted, I could just read the ones on the front page, but I think that you miss so much that way.

This new one is called American Way Farm. It's written by Sandy, who lives in New Hampshire with her husband and grandson and a menagerie of animals. The main reason I started reading was because they use LGDs (Livestock Guardian Dogs) and the other blogs I read don't have any of that. But that's not the only reason I read it. It's also very interesting.

Snowbound Farms

I have found another wonderful blog. It hasn't been up for long, but I'm definitely hooked. It's called "Snowbound Farms Blog" and it's written by Christina. She lives in Northern Maine with her two boys, baby girl, and husband. They're just starting out with the homesteading project (they bought their 165 acre farm in March of last year). So far they have chickens, and they have a garden. Due to the chillycoldness of their climate, it's a constant battle to keep their plants alive and kicking. But they manage quite well.

They also have a website, Snowbound Farms. It tells about who they are, what they're doing, etc. My favorite part is the Photo Gallery page. Especially the chicken album (and quite possibly all the others, too lol).

No More Second-Hand?

While I'm on a roll with all this lawmaking fun, let's talk about consignment and secondhand stores. There's this marvelous new law that says those NO ONE is allowed to sell any products meant for those age 12 or younger if they contains lead or phthalates. Check out these links:

• "New Safety Rules for Children's Clothes Have Stores in a Fit" by Alana Semuels
• "CPSIA Impact on Small Business, Thrift Stores, and the Environment" by Monkey Mama
• Petition to Save Second-Hand Kids' Clothes & Toys
• Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008

P.S. If you want to back up your blog online (in case you accidentally delete your blog, or worse), try this site. And if you use Blogger and want a copy saved to the computer, then go to "Settings>Basic>Blog Tools>Export blog."

Hot Belly Mama

I have a new blog to add to the mix. It goes by the name of "Hot Belly Mama" and it's about a lady who calls herself "Mount Belly Mama" at the moment. She lives in the "Pacific Northwest, USA" (read: Washington, Oregon area). She lives on eight acres with her husband, Bo, eight (or was it seven? nine?) cats, and a lot of chickens. They are expecting a new baby (their first) very soon (like next month-ish). She's interested in plenty of different "alternative lifestyles" like babywearing, cloth diapering, sustainable living...good stuff we are all into lol.

She has an interesting writing style that I enjoy. She's sometimes poetic, other times humorous, but generally an interesting mix of the two.

MBM also co-authors "The KISS Journals" which I have yet to read. ('KISS' is an acronym for "Keep it Simple Sisterhood.") It's a simple living blog all about sustainable life (gardening, getting out of debt, raising chickens, knitting, baking from scratch, getting off grid, whatever) and there are about twenty different people posting there.

Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood

I just caught up on a new blog. This one is called "Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood" and is written by Stephanie. She is a Christian mother of five. She and her husband live in West Virginia with four of her children: Kellen (10), Lydia (7), Nolan (5), and Vivian (3). She has a garden and menagerie of animals including chickens, ducks, sheep, pigs, cows, horses and goats.

Her blog is an interesting read as she homeschools her children and lives in 100 acres of wood. I've enjoyed the read so far and hope for more adventures to come.

She also has another blog that I have not yet read. It's called "Stop the Ride" and it's about "living a simple and frugal life in a world that isn't."

Touch the Earth Farm

I haven't updated the LiveJournal or WordPress sites very recently, especially since I am having trouble with the importer on WordPress. This blog gets updated first cuz it's where I post the original. I import posts into WordPress and I copy and paste for LiveJournal (setting the date & time to match the one here).

I have just finished catching up on another blog. It's called "Touch the Earth Farm" and it's written by a lady doing the homestead thing on a 5 acre farm(ette?) in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and son. They have plenty of livestock and they run a small CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

Her blog can be found here (as well as in the sidebar) and her farm's website can be found here.

Ironwood Farm Project

I have new blog to add to my blogroll! I just finished catching up! Whoo-hoo!

This blogger's name is Jenny, and her blog is called "Ironwood Farm Project." She has two children, a boy and a girl, which she homeschools in an unschooling way. She and her husband live in New Mexico on a 10 acre family farm in an off-the-grid strawbale home (I know all of you are green with envy lol) which is featured in this article. She does Flamenco as a hobby and is working on living sustainably. They have cattle, a pair of pigs, sheep, bees, a garden, and various poultry. Her husband had an awful accident involving his thigh and there are complications at this point. They are also planning on making a living with their farm at this time.

So off with you now! Check them out!

Spring is in the Air!

I have decided to stick to Blogger when it comes to reading other blogs. I have a very difficult time reading back entries on places like Wordpress. It doesn't make any sense to me and I end up getting very lost.

A friend of mine has stayed over every night this week except Sunday night and Wednesday night. Normally I love having visitors and everything, but these specific friends think they don't have to knock on the door when they show up or ask if they can have a specific item of food before they eat it or ask to use the computer. Instead, they just do. I'm not being stingy. I just like people to ask permission. Most likely, I will give permission, but I still think it's good manners to ask and to knock instead of just doing it because you know that the answer would probably be yes if you asked.

I am starting a compost pile. So far I have only found two designs that I can make. For the first, you make a wooden box with three sides. The fourth, open, side is made so you gradually add board as your pile grows. For the second design, it is just chicken wire arranged in a circle.

The chicken wire design would be easier to make but the wooden box might be more durable. I just don't know. I have considered a free standing pile, but I've decided that the drawbacks (like animals messing with it and the vast quantities of wind we have around here) far outweigh the positives (i.e., no time spent breaking my fingers and cursing the building materials and my idiotic mistakes). So the free-standing pile is out. I suppose something like stacked tires or cinderblocks are also options except then I am faced with the daunting task of finding supplies, while the board and chickenwire ideas I already have the supplies for.

Also, my garden is about ready to be mixed up with some nice, tasty mulch. After laying fallow all year and with no one walking on it, the mostly-clay that is my soil is NOT compacted and is, in fact, quite loose and therefore will be at least a little less backbreaking to till by hand (by hand, rather than by rototiller because this spot has never been gardened and probably has more than a few boulders waiting to munch on a nice, expensive machine). I can't wait to plant!

I've cleared out the tumbleweeds that have grown up right next to the fence and I have yet to pull the weeds that are just starting to grow. I also need to start some of the seeds SOON. It never frosts after Mothers' Day around here and so I have until sometime in May to get my garden ready. Some things you plant a few weeks before the last frost date and so those will go in sometime in April.

Now for some celebration. Since today is the official first day of spring and spring is in the air, I am celebrating. As much as I love snow and cold, I am ready for a change, and so I am celebrating the nice weather for a change.

HAPPY SPRING!
(and Equinox...)

Pictorial Springfest with images from Photobucket (a few of the pictures are of my area):

Oh guess what! I've noticed that a lot of people are frustrated with how slowly Blogger uploads pictures. I have high speed and it was slow for me, so I can only imagine how annoying it must be for those who have dial-up. I have since found a better way. Photobucket uploads faster than Blogger, so I upload the photos there and then copy and paste the html code into my post where I want it. And the pictures stay online in case you want to use them again in other posts. You might try it and see if it works for you.

We moved our trampoline from the back yard to the front. Tonight, we're having a movie and game night with everyone. I can't wait for the fun summer will bring!