Annarchy

Yesterday as we sat in the wagon listening to the rain patter on the tarp, I finished a small doily and got board. After lunch, a can of Campbell's Beef soup, I put on my drover and went outside. The rain was annoying, but things needed to be done. I looked at the stack of bricks and sighed. It would take those brick a couple of dry days to set. That's life. I got out my hand saw and headed to the trees, sat my butt on the ground and began cutting a 3" tree. The rain had a chill but the activity warmed me up. I could see our camp site, the fire was soaked, the wagon looked water logged, the little lake was grey and the cows were huddled under the lean-to. I wasn't too energetic and took a couple of hours to cut down three. DH came out and chided me for being out in the rain, warning me "You're gonna catch a cold.". "Yeah, yeah, Ok, I'll come back." I responded. He could tell, I could care less. "Rain, rain, go away, come again, another day." I got up and followed him back dragging the trees with me. He just shook his head as I dropped them by the camp fire. We climbed back in the wagon and I changed into dry clothes. He patted the sleeping bag next to him and said "Come here". I sat there for a few minutes with my head on his shoulder before I began to doze off lulled by the sound of the rain. It was dark when I snapped awake. My dearest had the camp stove going in back and asked if I would like a cup of coffee as he handed me a steaming cup. Ummmm, it tasted so good. He handed me a bowl of soup he had made from some jerky and a can of mixed vegetables. We talked for a while in the glow of a candle before snuggling back into the bags for the night. I woke several times in the night and laid there listening to the silence. Around dawn I slid out of the bag and moved the tarp to see what it looked like out, grey clouds still covered the sky. I climbed out as quietly as possible and went over to the fire pit, poked the ash with a stick before deciding to go and find some dry dead wood. I headed for the thickest part of the tree line knowing that if there was going to be any, it would be where the trees were the thickest. It took me quite a while before I found some around and under a large pine where some of it's branches had fallen. I stripped some of the bark off, stacking it in a pile then broke the driest branches into smaller pieces and stacked them on top, then took an arm load back to camp. There, I used the bark and the moss growing on it to line the fire pit, putting the smallest twigs on top leaving the center hollow. Carefully, I put a couple of larger sticks around the twigs and lit it. It took a minute or so before one of the twigs finally caught. Very gently, I added more twigs and a few larger branches before it finally caught enough to add more. I took the larger branches and wrapped them around the pit close enough that they would dry out more, then went back for another arm load of wood. When I returned, the fire had consumed most of the little branches and was almost out. Quickly I added a few twigs to re-kindle the fire then broke more finger sized branches into 6" pieces and stacked them over the flames that were fighting to stay going. I waited, "Should I blow?", "No, let it go a minute" I thought. I grabbed a couple more twigs and poked them next to the flame one at a time, waited a minute before they caught. "Yes!" This time I stacked a little more of the small tinder around the flame before adding the larger branches. It crackled and sparked as the flames licked the moist pieces of wood. I pulled out one of the larger branches we had left over from the other day, that had been rained on and broke them by hitting them on a rock. Those pieces I set around the outside of the fire, by the time the fire was able to handle them, the heat from the fire will have dried them enough to catch. I pulled up a rock and sat there watching the flames, slowly adding twigs and small branches before I was able to add the larger branches. By then you could see some coaling on the bark. The flames were licking up through the stack and vigorously consuming the twigs, so I added more of the little branches and stacked more of the larger ones around to dry after taking the ones that I had first put down to dry and laying them across the flames. Relieved the fire was finally going, I went over to the animals. The cows were standing there looking at me, Little Lady looked expectant, like "Where's my treat?" "Ok, just a minute" I whispered to her, turning to get an handful of grain. We didn't have much left, but she needed all she could get. I sprinkled a little around the chickens and heard the 'peep' of her little ones. "How many does she have?" I thought as I bent down to check. Awwwww, they are so cute! 4 little chicks scrambling to get under their mamma. The turkeys grumbled at me. "I know, I know", I told them, knowing we needed to make a coop for them. Mrs T was still on her nest and Mr T seemed very protective. "Soon enough, and you'll have your home." I went back to the fire, it was finally coaling and a couple of the larger branches had caught. I staggered stacked more branches on it and went to get another armload. This time I headed deeper in the forest, looking specifically for pine, the taller and thicker the better and found what I was looking for. Next to the tree was a smaller tree that had fallen and was partly decomposed. Perfect! I removed the top layer and found the dryer wood underneath and gathered quite a bit of the branches until I had another arm load, then headed back. This time, the fire was still maintaining itself, I dropped my load next to the remaining wood and switched the drying wood for wet wood, putting the dryer larger pieces on the pit rocks and put a small pot of water next to the flames to get warm. Satisfied the fire was going well enough, I went down to the lake, pausing as I passed the bricks. Sigh, hopefully it won't rain today as I looked up at the clouds again. After a few minutes of gazing at the lake, I heard my dearest stirring in the wagon. I met him with a warm cup of coffee as he was climbing out . "Turn about is fair play". He smiled, took the cup and went over to the fire and sat down. With the rain subsided, we marked out where we wanted the garden. He took the axe and chopped down 2 trees while I turned the soil in the garden with the spade. By evening, we had taken a break for lunch, when I had started a pot of beans and put it in the coals to cook for dinner. Tired from a long day, we ate and climbed back into the wagon. We let Frank run around until he got tired and we all passed out.

Morning broke with looming dark clouds all over the valley. I re-kindled the fire to heat up some water, then got a handful of grain and checked on the animals. They were under the lean-to and had some shelter. I stood there a few minutes gazing at the clouds skate by when a tiny "Peep" caught my attention. I whirled around, bent down to the chicken cage and there was an adorable tiny ball of fuzz. The little peeper quickly darted back under mama, so I left them alone. I forgot about everything else at that moment and congratulated Mama hen and gave thanks to God. The sound of rolling thunder in the distance brought my thoughts back to the reality. I scooted the stuff in the wagon making room for us, pulled out the sterno stove and checked to see what canned food we had left. By that time my dearest was up and had a cup of coffee. I took down the tent and put it in the wagon just as the rain started. We climbed in and put a tarp over the front and back. GS808 rummaged through one of the boxes and pulled out a book, looked at me and smiled, as he propped himself up on the sleeping bags. I pulled out my tatting and began another doily.

Yesterday, I woke around dawn to a splash in the little lake. I slipped out of the tent grabbing my duty belt, moccasins and an extra sweatshirt. There was a vague glow of the sky shimmering on the water lighting up dew like steam across its surface. I stirred the coals, added some tinder and a few branches and set water on to warm, then went down to the waters edge. The lake seemed to be about the size of 2 city blocks, ripples were still cascading across the water after another fish jumped for breakfast. I stood there gazing relaxed in the peacefulness of the moment. More ripples drew my attention to the south where the stream continued down stream. The ripples were constant indicating some type of activity was disrupting the water. After a few minutes, I figured it wasn't a threat and turned to walk the shore line north, having to veer in land to go around cattails, cottonwood, and willow trees that were growing close to the water. As I ventured in land, I climbed a fairly steep hill that lead to the top of the cliffs that bordered the area where we had camped. The plateau was another beautiful meadow surrounded by a variety of trees. Curiosity got the best of me, the flowers were stunning. Some appeared to be fruit trees, but I wasn't quite sure if they were peach, plumb or pear. They were scattered along a line of maple mixed with walnut, beach nut, pine and aspen. A closer look at the meadow charmed my socks off, red and white clover peppered the field, mingled with grasses and shrubs, thistles and goldenrod, bluebells and buttercups. I continued north toward the lake's inlet and as the forest encroached on my path I went back down to the waters edge. Here most of the beach was clear sand stretching along it's northern bank. I walked along looking at the tracks in the sand. Squirrel and skunk, deer and goat. And, "what is that one?" Beaver?! "Yes, indeed." As I came to the stream feeding the lake, I was again pleasantly surprised when I looked up stream. About an half a mile up the stream, was a small waterfall over another rock cliff. "Beautiful!" I thought. "That would make a great painting". I turned and headed back, when I reached the plateau, I went to the edge and surveyed the valley below. The fields leading up to the cliffs looked like they would be good for the garden we would need. I could even see glimpses of the big lake over some of the forest. By that time, the sun was edging over the mountain top and I knew I needed to head back before my dearest began to worry. I gathered dead wood on my journey back and had a large arm load when I returned. Nope, he was still asleep, but the cows were now up and grazing. I took a handful of grain to the birds and another for Little Lady. She nudged me, "Ok, ok, hold your horses." I said as I pulled a zip lock out of my pants full of some of the clover I had found. I had to keep the oxen away while she munched. If I didn't know better she almost looked like she was taunting them "See what I got...hahaha". Gunslinger808 got up shortly after the sun hit the tent. I had his coffee ready and we sat there for some time listening to the silence, birds, crickets, frogs, splashes, and the occasional cock-a-doodle-do from the rooster. He sure can break a peaceful moment. We discussed where to begin. He asked if I'd seen clay, I told him I went north and what all I'd found. He suggested after he finished another cup of coffee and woke up more, we'd check the south side of the lake. I took a walk east along the trees with a handful of bandanas and wrapped them around 3" trees that would make good lintels for the roof and on a few of the 6"-10" trees making sure I didn't clear too much of the forest. I came back and he was ready to go. We went back to the waters edge and walked south about 100 feet and found our clay. The bank and part of the incline was red and sticky. We topped the incline and walked south toward the outlet for a little bit, just far enough to be able to see the outlet stream was blocked by a beaver dam, then came back to camp to plot where we were going to make our house. I got out my saw and file and sat by the fire sharpening it. My dearest went up hill another 40 yards and began pacing out the floor plan. He had chosen an area about 200 yards from the cliff face to avoid falling rocks and high enough to avoid spring floods. When he returned, he grabbed the axe and handed it to me to sharpen. After I sharpened it, I got the fire going for some coals and put a pot of beans on to cook. The rest of the day, he worked on chopping down 2 of the trees I had marked while I managed to cut down 4 of the lintel trees. By late afternoon, we stopped on the trees and I got the plastic and buckets ready for the bricks. We decided we were done for the day and sat by the fire until sunset letting Frank roam around his new home. His little tail poofed and he danced around before planting his nose in the ground vigorously smelling all the smells, running back and forth. LOL He's such a riot. Today, I began gathering piles of sand and grasses while GS dug the footings for the walls. By noon-ish we took a break, ate a bowl of left over beans and got back at it. The footing trench for the first room was complete, he gathered buckets of clay, I mixed and formed bricks. By evening we had 30 bricks formed and set to dry. We had re-fried beans and corn tortillas for dinner, let Frank play and we passed out.

Saturday we worked feverishly to finish the roof on the main room and added a 10 x 10 kitchen, both with slanted roofs. While the men were setting the beams, Naomi and I built a fireplace in the main room against the back wall and covered it thoroughly with cob, then turned our attention to making a cook stove in the kitchen. A lot like the kiln except it is flat on top so they can set things on it. By the time the sun was setting we had finished. Sunday after services at the Lodge, James & Naomi began planting cotton in the 10 acres the men had plowed. Gunslinger808 & I took a walk so he could see the valley I had found. As we climbed the strawberry hill, the look on his face was priceless. The Valley was gentle rolling pastures that gradually sloped down to the lake. He really liked it. We wondered around for a while exploring, then went to the lake and sat down on a log watching the water lap on the bank, then headed back to the house and talked with Big D, she was OK with her home, so we would head out in the morning to get our home started. The rest of the afternoon we spent re-packing our wagon. We gathered several of the small & medium logs that were left and stacked them in the wagon. By sunset we settled down at the fire pit and Naomi served Machaca, beans and rice with tortillas. They talked about the improvements they want to make, terra cotta tile floors and another room. Monday morning we packed up Frank, the chickens and a pair of turkeys - trying not to disturb their nests, hitched the oxen and tethered Little Lady in back. Big D gave us a big hug and told us not to be strangers and we headed out. Laughing, she hollered at us "Wagons Ho!" We headed south toward the lodge until the trees thinned enough for us to turn north again. We followed what looked like an old long forgotten trail, over gown with grasses and shrubs. The trail followed the tree line then veered north east across another field then dipped down a shallow valley and crossed another small stream. From there we could almost see the landmark cliff wall that lined the northern portion of the valley. It had taken about 4 hours for our little trip, having to forge the trail, and make sure we were able to pass through some of the areas. We had made it unscathed and parked near the tree line about 100 yards from the lake. While my dearest took care of the animals, I selected an area that seemed flat enough for our fire pit and tent then dug the pit and gathered dead wood. On my second trip with wood he was busy setting up the tent. Three more trips and we had enough wood for the night, so we focused on using the logs we brought to make a lean to for the animals. By dusk we had a temporary structure set up. We got the fire going and warmed up the left over burritos for dinner. We sat there chatting well into the night about our place listening to crickets and the occasional splashes in the lake, before climbing into the tent and retiring for the night.

I found that there is so much to making the great outdoors habitable & sustainable. Gloves, leather work I can do. But it takes time, time that is being used to make a home, care for the animals, cook, and maintain some type of sanitation. I can guess that it would be a year or two before things were able to calm down enough to sit in the house and watch the world go by. Nothing like what we live in today, all the modern convinces that cause us to become complacent. Storm fronts move through and disrupt the normality of it all and people don't know what to do. They panic because they were not prepared. I noticed when I went to the store to do my shopping that most of the people got instant this and that, looking at me strange for getting the basics that I can make 4 meals of the same thing of instant, for the same price. I caught myself getting double/triple of something to restock/rotate my stores. I have learned several 'back woods' tricks to doing things from people we know, and after researching their information found it to be legitimate , and have found a wealth of memories bubbling up on many of the 'how to' things that are happening. Awwww, the memories. I do wish I had pre-planned what we were getting into better.

The day started like any other day. Study, stoke the fire, put water on for coffee, except now I'm drinking mint tea using some of the leaves I dried, it took about a week to wean off of the caffeine, then, let the animals out in their pasture, feed the birds and Little Lady. Her udder is beginning to swell, not very noticeable, but every time I feed her and brush her I check it, hoping she'll be so used to me that when the time comes, she won't have a problem with me milking her. At least now she doesn't kick any more. The sausages were done curing in the smoke house, so I took them down, wrapped them in aluminum foil and put them in the 'drying room' for now. By the time I was done, Naomi and James had come out and were sipping coffee next to the camp fire. They had slept in this morning and suggested taking the day off from the building project. I knew my dearest wouldn't complain, he'd suggested it a couple of times this week. I told them I wanted to explore today, they were fine with it. I got my utility belt, with gun, extra magazines, multi-tool, flash light, & whistle, then got my back pack and packed up some of the sausages, survival kit, a couple handfuls of ziplock bags, lathered on some sunscreen, stuck my buck knife in my moccasin pouch, and grabbed my hat and walking stick. Back at the fire, I asked them to tell my sweetheart when he woke up, I wanted to explore and go to the lodge. I headed north east again toward the little shack, except this time when I came to the stream, I followed it up into the forest. After about 10 minutes traipsing around bushes, briers and trees, I came to another clearing. I had found some Tarragon, Artemisia dracunculus L. also known as Wormwood or Dragon Wormwood, Yarrow, and some wild chives and filled a couple zip locks and labeled them. The clearing was large hill covered in grasses and lush green vegetation. As I made my way up the hill I made a mental note to come back when the wild strawberries that peppered the hill were ripe. Ummmmm. Excitedly I crested the top and stopped in my tracks. There before me was a breath taking scene. The stream I had been following was being fed by a small lake. On the north side of the lake were marshes and what appeared to be a swamp encompassing it. You could see another small river feeding into it on the north east side. Below me was a large field bordered on the north side by a large rock face and forest on the eastern side. I took a moment to spot landmarks then turned due east and picked up my pace. About an hour into my hike, I traversed several little streams, re-routed south east diverting around some cliffs and a couple of valleys before coming to a small foot path heading south. I followed it for about an half an hour before finding a 'road' with wagon tracks on it. Turning up I walked for another hour before coming to a plateau that opened up. Yeah! I'd made it. Mother's place. By the time I got close enough to hear voices, I heard "Mom! Look, We've got company!" She came out from behind one of their wagons and embraced me in a hug I thought would break my ribs. We talked for a while and I gave her most of the sausage, then, headed down the trail towards the lodge. When I came to the Mt_R's garden, I looked around for their wagon. I caught a glimpse of it through the trees near the face of the cliffs. Mr. Mt_R grabbed my hand, squeezing till it almost collapsed pulling me in for another bear hug. He guided me into their lair where Mt_R was sitting. I gave her a big hug and we chatted about all their plans and they showed me some of their cave dwellings. I left the last of the sausage with them and headed out. I arrived at the lodge mid afternoon and went in to talk about our deed. Instead of a rectangle, we wanted to make the property into a square. They didn't have a problem with it and drew up the papers. I followed the 'road' up past the hot springs pausing for a few minutes to take a good look. I sure wanted to get in but knew I needed to be home before dark. The sun was beginning to touch the mountain top as I walked into camp. Everyone looked so relieved to see me. I told them of my adventures and we settled around a warm roaring fire before calling it a day.

The house is finally taking shape, we have almost finished the second room, but it still needs a roof. After many conversations about the winter snow having a weight effect on the flat roof we are still debating whether to make terri cotta or wood shingles placed on an 'A' frame or raise the interior wall to slope down to the outer wall. We have some time to discuss it further before finalizing on a design. Naomi & I slanted the smoke house roof the last three feet, so we wouldn't have to alter it later. Hopefully the snows won't make it cave in. The fire pit is in the back 3 foot of the smoke house sloping down to a depth of about three foot. The lower smoking rack is in the front 3 foot and the upper rack is over the pit but high enough to avoid cooking the meat while it smokes. We leaned one of our home made ladders against the far wall to reach the top rack and hang the meat. After we took the meat down, we propped up the wagon gate and used it as a table after covering it with aluminum foil, to put the meat on. Big D started a pot of salt water boiling with a little onion and garlic powder. We took turns slicing the meat into 'V' shaped strips piling them on aluminum foil after dipping them into the boiling water for 3 minutes. We had set up a couple simple drying racks inside the second room of our house and draped the meat over to dry. It was quite a production line, but we knew we needed long term storage for the meat. Big D got out her meat grinder and we ground & seasoned the end pieces that were too small to 'V' and filled the prepared casings. They went back into the smoke house to cure. James took one of the sirloin and flank cuts to the lodge on Tuesday for the benefactor group or any one else who may need it. We are so relieved the meat is somewhat secure. The makeshift doors we have made seem to be keeping the wolves out. We wove walls with the reeds from the river to make a coop for the birds in the back of the barn and put a layer of grass for their nests. All of the animals seem extremely eager to go into the barn around sunset. About an hour after dark we begin to hear the yips up in the north hills, but now that we are expecting it, it isn't really that bad.

(((((Quiltys41))))) So sorry for your loss.

Door#3

Inventory, taxes and reports are done! I can hopefully pay more attention to our Un-reality story. I am so relieved.

To deal with the ox I knew I had to clean out our 'wash' pail and all the buckets before we could use them for processing the meat. I started some water to boil to clean the buckets and hung the clothes. By the time I had finished, the men had skinned it, removed all it's internal organs and were working on removing the fat. They left the carcass to hang and we all worked on cleaning the intestines. Last week Naomi & I had made a 6’ x 6’ adobe structure for the smoke house. James and my dearest were regularly talking about hunting, so we took the initiative and plotted it out, dug the fire pit, trenched the footing, filled it with cob, then stacked the bricks. We left a 3’x4’ doorway in the front to get in and out and remove ash. At the 5’ height, we laid small logs across 6” apart for 3' and bricked them in and did the same at the 8’ layer except made it adjacent to the bottom level, then added another 3’ of brick, leaving a 2’x2’ opening for ventilation on the south side wall and continued another 2 feet before setting small logs across for the roof. We topped it off with more bricks covering the last set of logs/large branches. For the door and window, we cut the wood to fit the openings and wove them with rope to hold them together until we could make dowels or find nails. The men quartered the ox and hung the quarters in the smoke house, grumbling that the opening was too low, while we gathered some of the scrap hard wood to make the fire. After they got out of the way and all the meat was hung we lit the fire and watched as the dry tinder caught the larger hard wood logs and began to smoke nicely. The guys took the skin and said they had an idea telling us not to worry our little heads about it and for us to deal with the ‘sausage casings’. Gee thanks… Mid afternoon, I had a bad feeling about the blood where the ox had hung so Naomi & I took a shovel and covered over the area with soil and sand. The men had used the rope the initially hung it with for hanging it in the smoke shed. Then, I went to the river where we had cleaned the intestines and made sure the remains were buried. Saturday night I did not sleep well at all. I kept hearing noises. We had all decided to set our tents in the ‘house’, since we had finished the window and doors, using rope to weave together branches cut to fit. Well into the night I woke with a start. Something was out there! My heart was racing, I nudged my dearest, who rolled over “mmmmmmm”. I poked him. “mmmmwhhhaaaa’. I shook him, “whaaaat?”. “SShhhhh” I said, “Listen!” It took 2 seconds for his body to go ridged. Quietly, he reached over to his gun, sat up and slipped out of the sleeping bag. You could hear the patter of feet, the sniffing, then, out of no where, a wail “OOOWWWWWWwwwwww” I froze in fear, trembling. No, NO! NO way!! By that time, my dearest had lit the lantern. Light, it was some relief to my trembling body, but certainly did not re-assure me. He was standing next to the door and nodded in the direction of the little temporary fire pit we have in the room and whispered “Get the fire going.” I could hear James stirring as I poked the coals and added tinder to them. He came out, Gunslinger808 already had his Benelli in his hands and he handed James a Glock 22. I grabbed my Springfield XD and two Mossbergs out of the gun crate and a box of shells and handed one to James. We nodded at GS and he opened the door and stepped out. Over by the turkey teepee was a large wolf! DH fired a shot and it took off toward the trees. I headed to our fire pit and stirred the coals, threw some tinder on them and began to blow looking up between breaths. The tinder caught and I put more tinder and some small twigs then more twigs and some small branches. The fire began flaring and I put more small branches on. The men came over to the blazing fire and we stayed up the rest of the night, occasionally hearing a howl off to the north. Sunrise didn’t come soon enough for me. It was such a relief to have light and not have to peer into the darkness worried something was going to get me. As we sat around the fire during the night, we decided that we would need to set up a security parameter and we’d need to take turns being a Night watchman, at least until we were able to secure our animals and dwelling. Big D, Naomi and James went to the Lodge on Sunday for services while we stayed to keep an eye on things. I put on my utility belt and packaged up some rump roast, steaks, brisket and a small rack of short ribs, packed it on the horse. Then I lead her towards the lodge to visit AH. (IRL: not supposed to ride a horse-bad for my back.) I found a cross over the river near the lodge and made my way up to their homestead. I figure it was around noon by the time I arrived at their place. I was astonished how nice their house looked. We talked for quite some time and we traded meat for starter plants that they had that were well established and they also insisted I stay to eat. My heart was warmed by their hospitality. Lori made some tea and we walked around the place showing me all they had done so far. Their garden was growing amazingly well and they made a wonderful salad they had grown in cold frames. I told them about our incident and said my farewell, my reason for needing to get back before dark. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we’ve all gotten up at the break of dawn and immediately gotten to making bricks and cutting trees to finish the house. We’ve moved the animals into the barn every evening and have secured a door for it. We are now intently aware of where we clean our food pans and utensils, making sure it is well away from camp.

Here's a picture of what our kiln sorta looks like, ours isn't painted, lol:

Things I should have packed: I should have bought another ax so I could have brought two. I should have brought more food supplies. I should have brought yeast, vinegar and cheese starters. Off to find solutions.......

Last week we spent most of our time making and drying bricks, while GS808 and James took turns chopping down trees. After a tree fell, the other would cut off the branches. Naomi and I switched off from doing bricks and helped by de-barking the log while the other stacked branches by size. Big D was in charge of sharpening the axe which she has been doing about three times a day. We now have 15 logs and had enough branch logs to make a 20' squared fence in the front of the barn. Medium branches are being stripped for the roof lentels and the small branches are for the bird coop and other small projects. We start working on the buildings mid-morning and stop mid-afternoon now, to take care of the many other things that need to be done. Big D has been wonderful preparing lunch and dinner, even when she's opened a MRE, she has made a satisfying and filling meal for us all. We are washing clothes daily. After we stop, we clean the 10 gallon pail, fill it 1/2 way with cold water for our dirty clothes and one of us starts 2 pans of warm water in the kiln for clean up. After our 'baths', we heat another pan of water to dump in the 'wash', add a small amount of detergent and stir it with a stick and let it soak. In the mornings, I dump the wash water and take the pail to the river, rinse and wring out the clothes and hang them on the lines we've stretched between a couple of trees. I've gotten used to washing my hair in the river every other day early in the mornings after my studies are done. Dunk, shampoo, rinse with a small pan of warm water and dunk again, then, wrap a towel around it and feed the animals. My long hair looks bad after two days and needs to be washed. Last Monday I used some of the clay, formed a large bowl and let it sun dry on top of the kiln for the day. That evening, after dinner was finished, I put it in the kiln to bake overnight. After it came out we let it sit another day. Wednesday I filled it to the brim with water and let it sit all day until after dinner when we put it in the kiln and brought the water to a boil, letting it slowly boil for a couple of hours. The bowl is now usable and doesn't leak. Maybe when I make the next one I'll make a glaze coating for the outside. Tuesday the men took 2 of the ox to the north field with the plow and turned half of the field, about 25 squared yards, switching the team about half way through. Early Saturday morning a loud crack of thunder woke me. I laid there for a few minutes listening to the rain patter on the tent before climbing out. I crawled into the wagon and did my studies, thanking God for the rain we needed for the garden. I climbed back out of the wagon, gave a couple handfuls of feed to the birds and took some to Little Lady. As she was eating, I looked up just in time to see a bolt of lightening strike one of the oxen. I jumped with fright when it stiffened and fell over. My heart was racing, my ears were ringing and my legs were trembling. Everyone, except Big D, immediately came out to see where it had hit. The poor thing, it's head was smoldering. It looked like the lightening had hit the metal tag in it's ear. Needless to say, we had our work cut out for us. We hung it in a tree to bleed it and began preparing everything we needed to preserve the meat. Gunslinger808 looked at us and said, "We've got the name for our ranch now," he paused as we looked at him, "Lightening Ox Ranch".

Definitely a risk if the meat is not properly dried. USDA Info on Dried Meat: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Jerky_...afety/index.asp Why is Temperature Important When Making Jerky? Illnesses due to Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 from homemade jerky raise questions about the safety of traditional drying methods for making beef and venison jerky. The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline's current recommendation for making jerky safely is to heat meat to 160 °F and poultry to 165 °F before the dehydrating process. This step assures that any bacteria present will be destroyed by wet heat. But most dehydrator instructions do not include this step, and a dehydrator may not reach temperatures high enough to heat meat to 160 °F. After heating, maintain a constant dehydrator temperature of 130 to 140 °F during the drying process is important because: the process must be fast enough to dry food before it spoils; and it must remove enough water that microorganisms are unable to grow.

Excellent point Leah, I'm going to have to research that concept and see if I can figure out an alternative. Hmmmm.....

We've only built the room on the left, without the window casing, right now it's a door. But it's will be nice once it is finished, rain permitting. LOL (((((((Amishway Homesteaders)))))) But....but....I miss your story, ~both of you!~ you keep me in check. If you hadn't "taught" us how to use the plow and chop down a tree (we have one axe hope it don't break..lol), I'd be in a world of hurt..back breaking.. shoveling... garden.... 3 years to get enough to feed those cows we have... I'd be dead before I ever finished... lol

Yes, Tomato Bullion, is concentrated. Store bought brands mix chicken or beef stock concentrate to it for extra flavor. Homemade always tastes the best though.

IRL: Disclaimer: Someday I'll get on the same day as everyone else....

Yesterday we started early making and setting the bricks to dry, while the men worked on chopping down appropriate sized trees for the roof on the barn, by the time the sun crested the mountain top and the shadows of the mountains slipped across the field. Big D said she would make something for lunch. We had cinnamon tortillas for breakfast toasted on the grill at dawn, then moved the cows and fed the birds. Around noon, I washed out one of the buckets, filled it with river water and poured it into a pot for warm water, to wash up in. We had left over tortillas with Machaca, then headed back to work on the barn. We made a few small windows near the ceiling for ventilation and light, by skipping a brick and standing 1" diameter branches closely together, setting them in place with the cob we are using for cement. To get the bricks set above our heads, Naomi & I made us a couple of ladders. Funny looking things, but they work. We notched the stringers and the rungs and tied them together. The men just shook their heads at us. About mid after noon we were pleasantly surprised to see Mr Q. He had brought a plow for us to use. The men talked for quite a while then Mr. Q refreshed James on how to do it by enlarging our garden another furrow. After the demonstration, he said Goodbye and headed back to the lodge. I asked him to say "Hi" to everyone for me as he left. As I watched him go I began hoping to finish the barn as soon as possible so I could go visit our neighbors. I really miss them, feeling so isolated. It's not a bad thing, but I just miss them all. As tears started welling up, I swallowed them back down and focused on making the bricks. Around dusk, we called it a day. The logs were in place and most of the roof was covered. We started the fire pit and sat around it for quite some time as the 2 medium split logs burned away, discussing the fence we would need for the animals. Dinner was left overs, the last of the tortillas, Machaca and beans.

Machaca History: Machaca, which comes from the verb form machacado (pounded or crushed), is a dish that was prepared originally from dried, spiced meat (most commonly beef) that had been rehydrated and pounded to make it tender. The reconstituted meat would then be used to prepare any number of dishes. While drying meat is one of the oldest forms of preservation, the drying of beef with chiles and other native spices was developed by the ranchers and cowboys of northern Mexico. Soaked & mashed dried jerky (or fresh/left over beef cooked until it is mush) 1 - 2 Tbs. tomato bullion 1 Tbs. dried onion 1 can diced tomato 1 Tbs. oregano 1 tsp. garlic 1 tsp. cayenne (or more if you like hot food) 1/8 cup smoked flavoring (or cook over an open fire instead) 1 tsp salt & pepper Add enough water to boil for 1/2 hour until almost all of the water evaporates. Spoon into a tortilla and enjoy. Sorry, I'm not too scientific about the recipe, I learned it from a friend. It's a hit a parties and my DH loves it when I make it either on the stove, in the pressure cooker or over the camp fire.

Monday, we woke up to the rain pattering on the tents. It took me a few minutes to crawl out of our sleeping bag. Stepping out into the open, the sky was grey and the valley seemed covered in a mist of clouds. I went to the wagon and scooped some grain for Little Lady. She is showing now and I want to make sure she gets enough nutrients to feed her little one. I wish they had told me when they bread her, then I would have a better idea of when she will deliver. No matter, she lets me scratch her mane and brush the mud and grass off her. Her udder is still underdeveloped but I'm sure that will take care of itself when the time comes. She's a beautiful golden color with a lightening streak of white between her eyes. After I brush her, she follows me around like a puppy, wanting more of the meager amount of grain I give her a day. Today I found a nice patch of lush grass and tethered her near it. I moved the oxen over to the tree line on the north side of the meadow, since we haven't gotten the roof on their barn yet, giving them some shelter from the rain and fresh grass, though they didn't seem to mind the rain. I checked the birds when I fed them, their tee pee's were keeping a majority of the rain out. Our plans for making more bricks seemed slim unless the rain stopped. The day was mine! I grabbed my drover, put on my warm moccasins, utility belt with my weapon and my walking stick. Peeked into our tent and whispered to my dearest, I was heading out to explore. He whispered back, “I love you, be safe”. “Yes dear, I love you too” I replied and headed across the meadow to the north east corner to the tree line. Bramble bushes lined the edge of the trees, I wasn’t sure what type of berries they were but could tell by the leaves and flowers they would have some type of fruit. I skirted the bushes and entered the tree line. A squirrel started chattering at me announcing my presence. I looked up at it and it scurried higher up the branches. I turned north and came to a declining slope and noticed the trees thinning out into a rather large meadow with a couple of hills. I turned northeast walking along the tree line on the east side. As I crested the first hill top, I could see down the length of the valley between the hills. It was full of vegetation, bushes, rocks and a stream flowing toward the river. ¾ of the way down the other side, I found where the stream came out of the forest. I walked up the stream heading due east for a few minutes until I found a place I could hop over without soaking myself, then went back down stream to find the meadow and check it out a little more. As I approached the edge of the trees, I caught a glimpse of dark brown beyond the trees to the north. I stopped to make sure it wasn’t moving and turned in that direction. I came to the far end of the meadow after crossing another small stream and entered the trees toward the next hill and field. At the top of the hill the field was fairly flat sloping up to what looked like an old broken down house. Trappers cabin? Curiosity got the best of me, and I headed toward it. The building sat at the edge of a dense part of the forest facing the field. Someone had gone to the trouble of making a porch that had long ago fallen down. I walked around the building peering in the windows making sure it wasn’t occupied by something. The back door was ajar and I carefully pushed it open. I stepped in and the smell of old wet wood permeated the air. The room had a table, which looked like if you touched it, it would fall over, with a chair pushed up next to it. The next room, I think it was the living room, had a window that looked out over the field. One other room adjacent to the kitchen had a blanket wadded up in the corner. The floors were slatted wood and creaked every step I took. Uneasy about falling through I went back out the way I came in. There was a path in back of the shack that went up a slight incline into the forest. I decided it was time to head back and bring someone with me to show them what was here. I got back to camp and the rain was letting up a little. I found everyone in our 'one room home' lol. Wood was stacked in one corner by the door, chairs were set up around the bbq and everyone was relaxing. They had a pot of beans cooking and were reading. They said it was a day to rest, tomorrow would come soon enough and we'd get back to the work that needed to be done. After telling them everything I saw, I went out to our wagon and got a pencil and paper, I wanted to sketch out what our home was going to look like, and joined them around the fire.

‘What a challenge!’ is all I keep thinking. Up at dawn, work until dusk with breaks for eating. We're sore all over and want to sit back and rest. The light rain that moved through on Thursday slowed the drying time for the bricks. We had our routine set, DH shoveled clay into a bucket while James shoveled sand. I gathered arm loads of dry grass from the field while Naomi mixed the ingredients in another bucket then dumped the mixture into the frame we had made from an extra plank Big D had brought in her wagon. 1/2 bucket of mix made two bricks and the bricks were set enough to remove the frame by the time the next batch was mixed. During the drying time, James worked on the logs we needed. Naomi & I stacked branches by diameter and length. DH dug rows in the garden. While waiting for more branches to carry, we took turns raking the tilled soil, removing and stacking sod and rocks in piles. Big D took care of preparing lunches and dinners. Breakfasts, when we eat them, have been simple, a hand full of oatmeal or a cup of cereal. Naomi has taken time about every three days in the morning to start a loaf of bread, baking it during our lunch breaks. The other days she makes enough flour or corn tortillas for the day. Friday she started a pot of beans, which made enough for leftovers on Saturday. We had marked the area for the building we wanted to make and began laying bricks down, using cob as mortar and a smooth coating over the bricks. When it dries, it's hardness is similar to concrete, and so can be used for load bearing or self supporting walls. With the footing/foundation set, adding the course seemed to go rather quickly. It took about ninety 10"x14" bricks per layer. The first room internal dimensions are about 13'x11' with a door opening on the East and South sides. By Friday afternoon the walls were complete including using one log/tree cut into three pieces used as the door and window headers. We used many of the long small branches to make a coop for the birds. We set four six foot length branches as our base, tipped them into the center and secured them with a rope, then filled in each side with more branches and some bamboo reeds from the river woven through the branches to secure them, to make a TeePee, leaving an opening on the side facing the house. It is only temporary coop until we could make a more permanent structure for them. They seemed to like it. To my surprise, the hen wouldn't come out of her nest in the cage. When I checked her, she was sitting on several eggs. We put their cage in the coop covering the opening with a woven reed gate. Then, made a second tee pee for the turkeys and used their cage to block the doorway. Mid afternoon Friday we made extra bricks for a kiln placed on the southwest side of the building. 3 bricks wide by six length with a shelf inside to fit a grill and used smaller hand formed bricks to finish the top and chimney, covered with cob. We stacked three bricks tall and wide as a wall, table top and heat shield below the opening. By evening it was finished and filled with dead wood, wood ends and pieces and we lit it. We had been pushing ourselves so hard we ended up mesmerized by the glow and chatting well into the night. We decided Saturday we'd plant and do light work. I wanted to do my walk about to see what the land up here looked like. Sunday we were going to the Lodge for services. We still have to make shelter for the oxen, cow and horse, but for now several nearby trees and the wagons are providing that for them. We'll start on Monday on that. Saturday, I was up well before dawn, the moon's crescent was barely visible and we needed to finish all the planting before too much longer to take advantage of the moon's cycle. I dug a flower bed in front of the window opening of the house and planted the chocolate, ginger and peppermint plants. My 6 tomato plants were put in the ground as soon as we'd prepared enough ground on Wednesday, they seemed like they really liked the soil and there are several flowers already blossoming on them. One plant stem had been pinched about 4 inches off the ground in our travels, I'm hoping it will bush out instead of dying off. We had also managed to plant some cherry, beefsteak and roma seeds. The rest of the day was spent planting seeds. The tilled garden was now 20' by 40' We put in 4 rows of yellow corn, 2 rows of white corn, a row of spinach, 1/2 row of lettuce, 1/2 row of radishes, carrots, garlic and onions. Green beans were planted in between the yellow corn and black eyed peas between the white corn. The next 2 rows were mounded and planted with acorn, crooked neck squash, cantaloupe, watermelon and pumpkin. Leaving one row for the jalapeño, bell peppers, long green chili, basil, rosemary, thyme, cumin, sage, oregano and asparagus. We need another garden for the wheat, which we hope to prepare and plant next week. Saturday evening we were able to use the kiln for cooking. We had biscuits and bacon gravy. Sunday everyone got up about the time the sun crested the mountain top. DH stayed with the animals while we took the buggy and brought a chicken casserole for lunch. Services were refreshing and Michaels instructions reminded me how frail I am. The ox or horse would more than likely drag me along, if I tried to plow. James stood up and took a turn and did really well. Big D cheered him on clapping. All the plows were spoken for so we decided to continue as we have been, one shovel full at a time. We mingled and socialized with everyone before going back home. DH had spent his time fishing and had caught a couple bass and several crappie when we returned which we minced and mixed with a can of cream of mushroom soup, some onion and served it over some egg noodles for dinner.

I been really busy this past week. 5:00 p.m. comes, I put things up and come here to read, before I post and next thing I know it's time to go home. I've been doing research on floor plans and calculating how many bricks to make our structures, how many trees/logs for the roof, calculating how big the garden must be, and what the terrain should look like, (I don't want to give the wrong info). I will try, really try, to make time tomorrow to be able to sit down and type in my log. It's all in my head and on pieces of paper, I just need to type it out. LOL

Here's a link to Adobe houses, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe Our area is saturated with these buildings.