Year: 2023

Preparing the Next Phase

One of the challenges of homesteading is too many projects going concurrently and not enough time or money to go around. (Can I get an “Amen” from my homesteading friends?)

I sat down at the beginning of the year and ticked off my to do list to see what we had achieved last year and where we needed to focus this year. Last year, my personal focus was getting moved to Tennessee and getting the property into a state that our “utilities” were not a burden and we felt more at home and less like camping. We achieved that, though the air conditioning is still proving to be challenging.

My next focus is to prepare a place for my children to stay so they can move down and we can sell the house in Ohio. On my last trip north, I sat down with my kids and we talked about their needs so we could nail down space requirements and settle on a budget. Next week, I will be heading to the office to order their buildings on their behalf and they will confirm their payment structure over the phone. These will be THEIR homes to do with as they please and should they buy a piece of property of their own, they can take them with them.

In the meantime, once it stops raining, I have some work to do moving the fence equipment I have stored in their home spaces into the barn on the hill. With that obstacle out of the way, their homes can be delivered and set on blocks without further ado. Then the task of getting their utilities attached can begin and I can make their homes comfortable to live in. At that point, they can move down and the next phase can begin.

Such is the fun being the architect of your own life.

Planting Trees is Planning our Future

If you remember, we had Permaculture Consultant, Nick Ferguson, come out to our property and evaluate our land, our goals, and our resources to get it done. Part of those plans included a food forest and fodder trees for livestock.

This spring, we purchased twelve hybrid willow cuttings and twelve hybrid poplar cuttings from Nick and we finished planting them today. We still want to pick up some white mulberry but we will need to find some in-stock. From these, we will be able to propagate more trees, hence the tight plantings.

I put some of the old sheep fence around the plantings to keep the deer from picking at them and my dogs from doing any damage while cavorting around chasing each other.

You can also see that James has been busy opening up the land by removing briars, saplings, and sick trees. It’s a lot easier to take a walk in the woods now.

Driver’s License Updates

It’s been a bit since I wrote a blog post. We’ve been focusing on YouTube and getting on with building stuff, but yes… I should also write more. Well, let me get to the topic at hand.

After the last kerfuffle with with the Drivers License Center, I got my voter registration card and that was pretty painless. I returned to the office in December with all the paperwork they had requested of me… until they asked me for my medical card. In Ohio, CDL drivers that travel out-of-state must get a physical and carry the card given as proof that they are medically sound to drive. If you don’t travel out-of-state with your commercial vehicle, you don’t need one. Not so in Tennessee.

They told me that there are places you can walk in as an outpatient and get your exam done, but they couldn’t tell me any of them because they were not allowed to recommend any. I don’t know the area so I didn’t even begin to know where to start. They mentioned a chiropractor could do it. I gathered my paperwork and went out to the parking lot to research places that could do exams in the area. None of the chiropractors could see me. Exasperated, I drove home; defeated once again by bureaucracy.

I stepped away from it, enjoyed Christmas with my kids, and waited for the weather to clear up some. I finally found out that there are walk-in clinics in the area that can do CDL medical exams and visited one. No problem.

I returned once more to the keymaster of driving legally, with all paperwork once again. By this time, I’m sure they were tired of me. I, again, submitted to their scrutiny and finally, I was able to secure my Tennessee Drivers License.

James went up in March and got his license the first try. 😛