In the Meantime...

Life on the farmstead is creeping by, slowly but surely.  We're learning to do things differently with more and less! The lack of internet (a temporary adventure) is a pretty significant change.  I'm remembering things that I seem to have forgotten, like books, newspapers that you can touch, and figure-it-out-yourself-ingenuity.  We're also making do with less space.  Much less space!  We're learning things we should have figured out a long time ago because if one person drops their clothes on the floor or leaves their lunch dishes on the table, the whole house is a mess!
We also chose "less" on a few areas that we hope will really pay off later.  In an effort to speed our plans to build a solar water heater, we installed a massive 2.5 gallon water heater in the camper.  You read that right!  Two and a half gallons of hot water.  And then water fresh from the Antarctic Mountains flows through my shower head.  My first shower was a lot like the trip from a hot jacuzzi to the hotel room in December, but I survived it and have since nearly perfected the turn-the-water-off-to-bathe technique.  Another area we decided to "skimp" in was to skip the clothes dryer installation.  We moved it, mind you.  It's in the cabin.  It works.  If I fold and wimp out, we can always wire it in and plug it up, but for now, it's a lovely floor ornament.  The clothes dryer (like the water heater) is one of the most expensive appliances, so to follow our theme of less, we decided to try life without it.  I've done this before for months at a time, but I always had the dryer at my instant disposal.  Now, if I change my mind, it would require about three days planning.  In the meantime, I am hanging my clothes, all of them, to dry.  I'm a huge fan of line drying, but the rain and pollen haven't given me that option.  So, for now, I am thoroughly enjoying the drying rack that my handy-man of a husband installed for me.  (I've talked about laundry savings before, check it out if you want to catch up! Click HERE to get the nitty gritty on laundry savings! )
Lastly, we've been doing a lot less sitting, a lot less watching TV, and a lot less wasting time.  Now, when Tim gets home from work, we don't veg out in front of the TV.  Instead, we hike and look for adventure!  During a recent afternoon walk, Tim shared how much better he feels already.  He comes home with energy and purpose instead of dread and exhaustion.

We'll leave you with a few pictures to tide you over until we have internet access again!  Until then, I'd love to hear your tales of More or Less!

An old dutch oven that we're restoring slowly but surely!

Tim repurposed old crib rails into an indoor drying rack.

The two youngest enjoying a game at the kitchen table.  They're doing a lot more of this lately!