Keep it secret...keep it safe

For those of you that have never tried Geocaching....you've got to give it a chance!

Although we have had the link up on our blog for sometime now, it was just the other day that we actually tried our hand at it. What is Geocaching you ask?

(from their website)
"Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment."

As far as the "high tech"goes it is true that you need a GPS device; luckily for us we had one that we purchased a few years ago. I haven't looked at prices on these things in some time, but I believe you can get them pretty cheap. Ours is a Garmin Nuvi 200 and is very basic, but it does the job. All you need is to be able to type in coordinates and most dash-board GPS allow this.

So, how does it work? You go to their website, www.geocaching.com and register (easy process). From their you can type in any postal code or town and it will give you lists of Geocaches in that area...and their is usually a ton. Just in our small town their was a lot! At that point you get the coordinates, put them in your GPS, and away you go..

We have found 6 geocaches so far (in 2 days) and all 6 were within a two mile radius of us. A couple we couldn't find, but we'll be back again for another try:) Once you find a cache you can take/leave an item, then log your visit on the website. My description may come off as a little dull, but believe me it's addicting.

In fact, if you like to walk or bike, have free fun, and enjoy nature...it's really the way to go. Next time we'll take some photos so we can share them. I hope if you try it you'll have as much fun as we have had.

Are we there yet?

The guy we purchased the pigs from came over yesterday. He said the pigs look great and we could butcher them now if want. Although he said if it were him he would wait another 2 weeks to get a really good chop out of them. So the countdown begins! We have 2 weeks to find our butcher (which he recommended a good one) and the biggest most important thing to find some one to buy our other pig to cover the cost of the one we keep. He said we are looking at about $1 per pound hanging weight, plus the cost of butcher. So we hope to get about $300 or a little more. That will work perfect for us!

Oh and on a funny note....apparently he said we have 2 boys (brothers). Not a boy and a girl...poor black one has had an identity crisis all this time.

The $2 Chair

A while back someone asked for close up photos of the chair I found at a yard sale. Sorry it took so long to post them, but here they are. I bought this chair for $2. It's super cool and seems pretty easy to build. You can even sit in it, though I have a plant on it by my front door.

They keep growing and growing and growing....

The garden is taking shape! We have the following growing successfully; watermelon, onion, 3 kinds of tomato, acorn squash, pole beans, potatoes, corn, 2 kinds of cucumbers, peppers and radishes. Crossing our fingers for the lettuce to come up. We planted strawberry's that were already established in a bed and dug up and given to us (Thanks Norm). They seem to be doing good.

We were unsuccessful with our first batch of onion, cauliflower, broccoli, seed peppers and carrots. I think we planted the seeds to deep in the ground with the combination of the not-so-warm weather here in Michigan. We even had a frost in June.

A few things we have learned:
1)Plant seeds inside before season starts.
2)Plant like package says or what fellow family/friends say who have grown it before.
3)Check the weather to see if rain is coming, no need to waste our own water.
4)Don't always count on the weather....LOL

MIL says we should be able to harvest the radishes soon. They were our first crop to be planted and looking nice.

Oh the NOT so little, 3 LITTLE PIGS. Yes they have grown. The are so damn big I think we will be butchering them sooner than expected. The guy we bought them from is coming out today to let us know what he thinks. We were told it would take from March to July to fatten up. About 4 full months. I think ours did it in about 3 and 1/2 months. So far the girl (black one) has fattened up a bit larger the the boy (white one). We still have to make a final decision on the butcher. We've had lots of info thrown at us. We need to keep our costs as low as possible. We halos need to get rid of the other pig. Our plan was to eat one, and sell one to pay for the one we eat. Well at the very least cover as much of the costs as possible.

A few things we learned:
1) Pigs eat ALMOST anything. If they get good scrap, feed and can graze, they leave the greens (grass/weeds/corn husks) til last and may not even eat them at all because they are full.
2)Pigs are pushy and taste test everything. Walk into the pen and suddenly you and your tools become a food samples.
3)Even a big heavy feeding trough and water trough get knocked over. Better to have them nailed to the fence.

Little Enlightenment's

You must plant seeds like the package says. Even if you think you have a green thumb.

Drying laundry on the line does not take as long we thought!

Tools break the more you use them, buy quality to begin with.

Struggles

With so many things that have happened over the last month. I struggled to decide which topic to write about. I decided how ironic it was that I struggled, when that is kinda what I wanted to write about... struggling. LOL, I know I'm not making any sense, but hopefully that will change.

It seems that lately we have been overwhelmed with things... things to do, places to go, people to see, jobs to do. I have found that the hush of winter is not at all as bad as I once thought is was a few months ago, when I was bored out of my mind. I have found that things when thought about or dreamed about are oh so much more romantic and well lets just say it...EASY. But you add the above "tasks" to your dreamy little wonderland, and you have struggle.

Yes I know we were warned that things would be hard and they are, but I don't want to lose sight of the goal. It gets overwhelming when the journey is not enjoyed, when all you want is the end of your task to be near.

Money struggles. Yeah I know cry me a river, but we all are going through it so I though I'd share our story, it's our blog after all! We've not been desperate yet, not starving yet, but we have gone without, and a bill or 2 have been late. It's definitely not for lack of trying, just didn't balance the budget properly and my work is unstable at best. We have managed to keep our heads above water thankfully for now. But it has put jobs behind, like the chicken coop. We have yet to finish that, so it sits partially done and we still have no chickens.

Garden struggles. Ok we all know that this is new territory for us. We've NEVER done the majority of things we have attempted to do, but yet we still try pathetically. The garden, oh the garden. She's a force to be reckoned with. It's a love/hate relationship we have with our garden. So far she has been planted for about 1 month. Well the first half of it anyway. The out come in 1 month is 3/4 of it didn't sprout, so we replanted a bunch and cheated and got some starter plants. Well it was MIL who got them, I think she felt bad for us slaving away and getting no results. The second part of the garden is all Pat. He has been a regular ol' farmer!! He's spent hours sowing, and weeding, and just loving it and it's worked. And the result...we have growth!! Well I should say sprouts, but it's growing and that's all that counts. Now we're told the hard part comes, the bugs...haven't had to deal with that yet, as nothing had grown before. But we're armed and ready with piles of books, magazines, and precious advice from loved ones.

Time struggle. Where does it go? I remember sitting by the fire this winter and anxiously awaiting for the sun to warm us and spring to get sprung. Obviously summer is nearly here and you can tell by the looks of our barren blog that time has gotten the best of us. I think time is one of the hardest struggles of all. But we have all been through it and I'm sure all want and need more of it. But alas...that's life right?

So I thought with this post, I'd put a few pictures of around the homestead here at True North. Hope you enjoy..

Better late than never

So it's been damn near a month since we posted. The month of May is jam-packed with fun things and we got a little caught up in all the excitement and found no time to blog. Mothers day, my b-day, memorial day, highland festival and planting the garden. We'll post about them all when we stop to take a breath. The pigs are gigantic. Still haven't gotten the chickens yet and we've been learning so much!

One Mans Trash.....

The past couple of weekends marked the beginning of Garage, Rummage and Yard Sale season. I love this time of year. It's like a sport for me, hunting down that treasure that's oh so needed.

I picked up quite a few things for us this time around, couple shirts and a great pair of $100 coveralls for $9. I especially like if for finding clothes for Gabrielle. You know she's still stuck in the name brand world so that's what I keep my eye out for her, 3 shorts 2 shirts...score!

Household things are pictured here. The chair is by far my favorite find for $2. Pat's going to try and replicate it so we have a few more around the homestead. The planter was .50 cents and the cupboard was $4. I did practice bartering a lot, everyone that I made an offer to accepted. So offer away, it really works! Great deals for great stuff wouldn't you agree?

Here Comes The Sun...

For the first time ever...here at True North...we are harnessing the awesome power of the Earth!
Let the northerly winds howl and the golden sun blaze, for no longer will we sit by and watch as these magnificent natural energies elude our grasp. We have captured them...sun and wind, and bent them to our needs!!

I have built...a Clothes-line.













I know it seems funny and for many this simple device is and has been a part of their lives, but for us it is new and amazing. Yesterday, as me and Melissa hung our first load of laundry out to dry we couldn't resist being excited about our newest endeavor. Instant savings; from washer machine to clothesline, we eliminated the energy hog known as the dryer. Why hadn't we done this before? I guess we were just too busy to save ourselves money. It's nice having the right perspective now...working to save money versus working to earn money...

So today I put on my first clothes dried by nature, and lo and behold, I didn't notice any difference in them. Except maybe the fact that they smelled better, felt better, and frankly looked better.

I did have to invest some money in the materials for the clothesline. Four 8' 4x4 treated posts and clothesline, but that minimal cost should pay back dividends in the months ahead. As far as construction goes...it was pretty simple. Again, I can not believe we hadn't done this before. It's too bad that T.V. never made hanging your clothes out to dry a cool thing to do. It is, and I feel like I've been missing out.

Re-Volt

It was at the beginning of November 2008 when we decide to get serious about reducing our debt...and in order to do that, we had to get a hold on our monthly expenses. Our electric bill was at the top of the list...so that's where we started. At this time though, I was still truck driving cross country, so what follows is really a testament to Melissa's and Gabrielle's willingness and determination to lower one of our most costly bills.
Our entire house runs on electric; heat, air, lights, well pump. We have two meters. One is the Main meter and the other is called the Dual Heat meter. Only our furnace runs on the Dual Heat meter, and everything else is on the Main. The good part about that is we get a slight discount on the Dual meter. Needless to say, our electric bills were quite high, especially in the winter and the hottest parts of summer when we ran our air conditioner.

One of the first things, and the most important, that Melissa decided to do was turn the thermostat down to 63 degrees, bundle up, and supplement the heat with our fireplace. Of course we had never seriously used the fireplace before...it was more for decoration and mood, so there was not exactly a lot of wood laying around for her to burn. Luckily, I had a few days off and was able to cut up some wood before I hit the road again.
Yes it was cold. The fireplace did an ok job of warming the living room, but the rest of the house was quite chilly. Yet, my wife and daughter persevered; extra clothes, big comfy blankets...and very rapidly the electric bill began to plummet.

The second thing we discussed and put into action was our appliances and such. We of course switched all our light bulbs over to CFLs...and then we started doing some in depth research on other ways we could save when it came to our appliances. Most of them (fridge, oven, washer...etc) are older models and there was no way we could replace them with newer, more energy efficient ones, so we had to find a way to deal with what we had.
I looked into the water heater and learned that we only needed to have ours set at 120 degrees. The installer had ours at 130, and with a little turn of a dial I reduced the electric bill. Amazing. One article I read said you could save as much as 6-10% by reducing your temperature setting in this way.
Next was the washer. We always had it set on hot/cold cycle and again...with a flip of a switch...turned it to cold/cold, and set the wash cycle to the quickest setting. I can't be sure how much this has saved us, but using less hot water (hot water heater) and having the washer run for a shorter period has to be doing something. Amazingly, our clothes are just as clean as they where before the changes!
There wasn't too much we could do with the dryer. It was winter and we couldn't hang anything outside to dry even if we had something to hang them on. We did debate unhooking the dryer vent and letting the heat circulate inside the house (another article suggestion), but opted not to do that. However, we did set drying time to 20 minutes and would check the clothes to see if they were done, resetting the time if needed. We used to just put them in for an hour whether the needed that much time or not. Btw, I'm in the process of putting a clothes line up right now...the dryer will be semi-retired very soon.
The dishwasher was easy...we just decided to not use it anymore. There where some conflicting points of view as to whether or not hand washing dishes is more economical then using a dishwasher, but I have no doubts that with judicial use, hand washing is way cheaper than having that machine chugging away. Not to mention our dishes are cleaner now then they ever were before.
Electric can opener...Gone! Seriously, I swear I had more problems using it than the hand held one we use now. Maybe not a huge hit to our electric usage, but now it's not any hit at all.
Refrigerator was next. We had read that a fridge should be 36-40F, and the freezer should be 0-5F. If a fridge is set 10 degrees lower than needed (or freezers set 5 degrees lower than needed), it can increase energy use by as much as 20-25%. Since the fridge is the second largest user of electricity...right behind the air conditioner, we got on this one right away.
With the research we had also learned that having appliances, lamps, TVs, computers, etc...plugged into the wall...even when not on, still used electricity. someone had coined the phase as "Ghost Amps". Apparently, these devices, while plugged in, sit there sucking your hard earned money right from the wall. Solution...we unplug them now when not in use. Some of our stuff, like the entertainment center that has multiple devices in one area, all got plugged into a power strip. That way we can flip just one switch and they all get shut down.
Then there are the other things. We shut off lights when we leave a room, take quicker showers, use towels more than once, watch less TV, use candles, and probably a number of other things I can't think of, because now, in just a short period of time, using less electricity has become second nature to us.

Our electric bill used to run us anywhere between $275 and $350 per month depending on the season. Last year at this time we were using 130 Kwh per day. Almost immediately we saw a savings. The first month we had dropped our daily usage drastically and now we average 70 Kwh per day. For us it's a big difference...our eclectic has been cut in half! Since we wont be using the air conditioner this year we believe that we can get the electric bill down below $100 this summer. When winter comes we'll have a real wood furnace, so hopefully that savings will continue. All that savings and it doesn't really seem like we're doing that much different.