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LovinLife
Lovin' The Homestead
1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? I live in southeastern VA. 2 hrs from Nags Head, NC and/or Va Beach. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter...that's how I like it. I lived in So Cal for 6 months and missed the change of the seasons. I love to watch the leaves lose their color and get so excited when the trees start to bud again in the spring!
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? Married with 2 kids and my dad lives on the property but in his own cabin.
3. How would you define self sufficiency? I guess it would mean that if a huge hurricane came through and we couldn't have power or gas we would be ok.
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? I would have a profitable farm. Raising and breeding animals while harvesting and selling my own goods.
5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to? We hired a contractor to do some improvements on our house but after he lost his leg in a motorcycle accident, my husband and I did a lot of the work ourselves. I'm always building or constructing something. I just finished building a stand for our fish aquarium. Next is building some breeding pens for my call ducks.
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? Oh I wish!!
7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient? It's in my blood. When I was a toddler my mother was a starving artist with a petting zoo. She would have kids come for free to feed and pet the animals then she would sell her pictures to the parents. She's my inspiration for a lot that I do. I miss her very much.
8 Cloth or paper? Cloth.....exept for the potty...that's paper time.
9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more? I feel like I'm so far from the mark right now. We are progressing though.
10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient? I'm addicted to driving a car and internet.
11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs? Yes as long as I can keep things organized and have special places to store things out of the way. I would love to get the old Ice House we have fixed up to serve as a storage room.....maybe after the breeding pens.
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? On the internet when the kids go to bed and DH is working. Or if DH is here I love to sneak off and care for the animals and have one on one time with them.
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? Yup! Dad's got an old ford tractor that I have driven before....but I don't do it often. He also has a small backhoe (aka ditchwitch) that I'm bugging him to learn to drive but it is always broke down....so he says.
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? I want someone to teach me how to use my sewing machine and sew.
15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? Yes livestock is legal and there are tax exemptions for having livestock. Although we don't have any cows yet we do have about 30 chickens, 5 scovies, 6 call ducks, 7 guineas, 3 rabbits (soon to be more), and used to have a pig.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? No.
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? I have a spot that has been a garden but I've got ADD when it comes to gardening. I want to be good at it but I always give up sometime in the middle of summer. This year I did manage to keep two of my three blueberry bushes, my strawberry pyramid, and half of my herb garden going! That's something!
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? DH loves to fish but never brings dinner home. Go figure...
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country? We own 15 acres at the end of a dirt road in the middle of nowhere......and love it!
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL? Novice
21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? I'm a good dreamer does that count? My DH wants to learn to process livestock and small animals and be a mobile butcher. I'm behind him 100% although I will not be helping him on his jobs!
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? Parenting 101. I feel lost at it sometimes.
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? I'm honing my skills but I do LOVE it!
24. Are you interested in herbal medicine? Yes! But I know next to nothing about them. Botany right?
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? I like it here but would like to be closer to the in-laws in OH. I love them like family and they help so much with the kids. If we could take my 75 yr old father with us we would buy at least 100 acres of pasture in Ohio and raise cattle.
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? We are installing one right now! I can't wait!
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? Ha, ha....I like Poison Ivy. I always plan to be her for Halloween but never have anywhere to go or a babysitter.
28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency? I learn a lot from my dad.
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? Yes, yes, yes and yes!!!!
30. What was your MOS? MOS? More Of the Same??
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? DH is bound and determined to kill us a deer this season.
32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient?
33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live? The one where we are all respectful and appriciative of nature.
34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy? I would love to have solar energy but it's not high on our priority list right now. We figure it would cost $20k to buy them and have them installed. That's a little steep.
35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England? Puahhh haahaaa....I like the Disney World or Disney Land question better, LOL!
36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to? Yes! I would sell the car for a horse and carriage if I could!
37. In what do you trust? Mother Nature and my own instincts.
38. Do you make things yourself to save money? I try to but will sometime flip a dime to save time.
39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending? Yes. I feel like if I'm going to spend money it has to be an investment. Or maybe I just come up with excuses to buy more animals
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? Married with 2 kids and my dad lives on the property but in his own cabin.
3. How would you define self sufficiency? I guess it would mean that if a huge hurricane came through and we couldn't have power or gas we would be ok.
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? I would have a profitable farm. Raising and breeding animals while harvesting and selling my own goods.
5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to? We hired a contractor to do some improvements on our house but after he lost his leg in a motorcycle accident, my husband and I did a lot of the work ourselves. I'm always building or constructing something. I just finished building a stand for our fish aquarium. Next is building some breeding pens for my call ducks.
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? Oh I wish!!
7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient? It's in my blood. When I was a toddler my mother was a starving artist with a petting zoo. She would have kids come for free to feed and pet the animals then she would sell her pictures to the parents. She's my inspiration for a lot that I do. I miss her very much.
8 Cloth or paper? Cloth.....exept for the potty...that's paper time.
9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more? I feel like I'm so far from the mark right now. We are progressing though.
10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient? I'm addicted to driving a car and internet.
11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs? Yes as long as I can keep things organized and have special places to store things out of the way. I would love to get the old Ice House we have fixed up to serve as a storage room.....maybe after the breeding pens.
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? On the internet when the kids go to bed and DH is working. Or if DH is here I love to sneak off and care for the animals and have one on one time with them.
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? Yup! Dad's got an old ford tractor that I have driven before....but I don't do it often. He also has a small backhoe (aka ditchwitch) that I'm bugging him to learn to drive but it is always broke down....so he says.
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? I want someone to teach me how to use my sewing machine and sew.
15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? Yes livestock is legal and there are tax exemptions for having livestock. Although we don't have any cows yet we do have about 30 chickens, 5 scovies, 6 call ducks, 7 guineas, 3 rabbits (soon to be more), and used to have a pig.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? No.
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? I have a spot that has been a garden but I've got ADD when it comes to gardening. I want to be good at it but I always give up sometime in the middle of summer. This year I did manage to keep two of my three blueberry bushes, my strawberry pyramid, and half of my herb garden going! That's something!
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? DH loves to fish but never brings dinner home. Go figure...
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country? We own 15 acres at the end of a dirt road in the middle of nowhere......and love it!
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL? Novice
21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? I'm a good dreamer
does that count? My DH wants to learn to process livestock and small animals and be a mobile butcher. I'm behind him 100% although I will not be helping him on his jobs!22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? Parenting 101. I feel lost at it sometimes.
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? I'm honing my skills but I do LOVE it!
24. Are you interested in herbal medicine? Yes! But I know next to nothing about them. Botany right?
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? I like it here but would like to be closer to the in-laws in OH. I love them like family and they help so much with the kids. If we could take my 75 yr old father with us we would buy at least 100 acres of pasture in Ohio and raise cattle.
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? We are installing one right now! I can't wait!
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? Ha, ha....I like Poison Ivy. I always plan to be her for Halloween but never have anywhere to go
or a babysitter.28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency? I learn a lot from my dad.
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? Yes, yes, yes and yes!!!!
30. What was your MOS? MOS? More Of the Same??
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? DH is bound and determined to kill us a deer this season.
32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient?
33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live? The one where we are all respectful and appriciative of nature.
34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy? I would love to have solar energy but it's not high on our priority list right now. We figure it would cost $20k to buy them and have them installed. That's a little steep.
35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England? Puahhh haahaaa....I like the Disney World or Disney Land question better, LOL!
36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to? Yes! I would sell the car for a horse and carriage if I could!
37. In what do you trust? Mother Nature and my own instincts.
38. Do you make things yourself to save money? I try to but will sometime flip a dime to save time.
39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending? Yes. I feel like if I'm going to spend money it has to be an investment. Or maybe I just come up with excuses to buy more animals
Now I can replace the collapsed culvert at the driveway! 
whaaaaat?
