A Few Pix On The Way Home

I took a few pictures today on my way home from working as a caretaker...these are in my neighborhood, it was late in the evening but there was just enough light for me to snag a few pix of beauty...

The view...

Road going home...

The "plug"

The west end of my mountain

The west end of my mountain

The west end of my mountain

The sky castle

RaggMopp (aka Casper), happy to see me,
he ran down the hill to greet me,
he always has that smile on his face

He got a haircut a few days back,
mostly on the under side and legs,
he's a much happier (and cooler) dog

The sky castle

The sky castle

Up close and personal

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Happy Anniversary

EEEK, I just realized, I missed our 5 year anniversary, living off grid! This time of the year is always busy busy busy for me and yesterday just flat out got away from me. So I'll write about it today,

So, 5 years ago, December 22, 2007, we arrived at our property at about 3:30 in the morning, it was blowing a gale, it was about 14 degrees F, we had been driving for about 12 hours and we were exhausted.

The reason it was so late, we had planned on getting an earlier start in the day, we were packed and ready to go, we were taking a final walkthru of the house to make sure we had everything we were going to take, when we heard a loud crash outside, PB said it sounded like a car wreck, I said it couldn't be a car wreck, I hadn't heard any tires squealing, I went out to see and sure enough, there were 2 vehicles right there, one was sitting at a funny angle in the street, the other, a truck was laying on its side in the ditch, I recognized the truck as belonging to PB's son, he was climbing out the passenger side window which was pointing straight up, he was going to see if the driver of the other car was OK. Fortunately everyone was OK, but because of that, we were delayed getting out by several hours.

Actually we had been delayed before that, we had meant to be on the road days and days before, but the weather would not cooperate, it got super cold and began raining and sleeting, we were afraid our canned foods might freeze on the trailer, so we put a space heater near the food (everything was boxed up and covered).

So after all the delays, we finally were able to get out on the road. PB was driving a truck with barely adequate brakes, hauling a trailer on which the brakes didn't work at all. I was driving PB's minivan, hauling the VW Bug, we drove slow and carefully, stopping many times to adjust the straps and tarps on the trailer. That is why it took 12 hours to get here instead of the normal 8.

Once we arrived on site, we hiked up to the cabin, it was not yet the sky castle, we had an invite by our neighbor to come to his house and sleep the night in relative comfort, but by the time we got here, we were so tired, neither one of us wanted to hike back down the hill to go to the neighbor's house, we were home and we wanted to sleep in our new home.

The rest of the night was kinda scary, the wind was really blowing hard, the cabin was not finished by any means, and it was rocking and rolling in the wind, we watched the ceiling bow up and down. We had no heat inside the cabin, the wood stove was still on the trailer. We put on our thick quilted coveralls to keep warm. PB was too wound up to sleep, between his son having the accident, the long drive and the blowing wind, he just couldn't lay down and sleep. As for me, I had no trouble, I decided that the cabin would stand or fall whether I was asleep or awake, I took our little chihuahua Pekoe, crawled into the tent that was inside the cabin, and went to sleep.

It's hard to imagine that was 5 years ago now, living off grid seems to normal to me, it's like we have always lived this way, my only regret is that we didn't do this sooner. Well, I need to do the church program for tomorrow, so I'll cut this short.

Thanks to all of my loyal readers and followers, I know I don't write often on this site, but my loyal readers are always here and comment when I do write something.

All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.

Wretha,

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DMSO & Stairs

Yesterday PB built half of a set of stairs that go from our deck to the roof, he felt pretty good yesterday, but today his lower back was really hurting him. I had purchased a bottle of DMSO quite some time ago but was afraid to use it, I listened to a show about DMSO http://www.oneradionetwork.com/health/janet-perry-dmso-answers-from-an-expert-february-28-2012/ and now I am not afraid of it, I got the bottle out and applied it to PB's back...

...of course PB was skeptical, he always is about "natural" or "alternative" healing products, but fortunately he does tend to humor me and allowed me to use this on his back. The first thing I noticed was the odor, it has a fairly strong garlic smell, fortunately that odor dissipates pretty quickly, I also had some distilled water, I put the water on his back first, then applied the DMSO then rubbed it in with a paper towel soaked with the distilled water, the idea was to dilute the DMSO somewhat, I didn't rub it in vigorously, I just lightly rubbed it to spread and slightly dilute the DMSO.

About 15-20 minutes later, PB came into the kitchen and sarcastically said it was working while he did a couple of jumping jacks... I quickly pointed out that he JUST DID JUMPING JACKS and it didn't hurt, before he was hobbling around moaning about how much his back hurt, he even laid down in bed while complaining about not being able to get into a position where his back didn't hurt. :)

 A little while later, he asked me to apply more DMSO to his back, I have now applied it 3X, he is now outside building the rest of those stairs.

You can find DMSO at most feed stores, if you can't find it locally, you can get it here:







All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.

Wretha,

Thanks for visiting!

Sky Castle Pictures

Here are a few pix, mainly of the sky castle and the addition of the tower and the cone on the top.
Click on any of the images to see it full size.

The tank, and the cone, you can see the boom here, you can also see the safety strap going around the tank,
PB attached himself to this strap so he couldn't fall off.

PB built the boom to get the cone on the top.

I don't know how PB comes up with this stuff...

Click the "read more" link to see all the pictures.....

Canyon Wren Perch

We have had a little canyon wren coming in and out of the sky castle, we figured out that he (or she, can't tell, so for now I'll say "he") was coming in and out of the space between the stove pipe and the ceiling. I watched him enter and exit the other day, getting in is pretty easy for him, but getting back out is a little trickier, so PB installed a perch for him to make it easier to get back out.

It's so cute having him in the house, yes he does leave little "presents" for us, fortunately they are very little, but he is doing something constructive for us, he removes the stink bugs that collect in the places where we can't reach to clean them up. Plus the entertainment value of this little wren in the sky castle is priceless. :)

I'll try to get some pix and/or video of this cute little bird next time he's inside. I heard him chirping just a bit ago, I believe he is living under the sky castle, so it shouldn't be long before he is inside again.




Here is a pic of what a canyon wren looks like:

Here is the sound of the canyon wren, on the first one, the narrator says that the canyon wren is 6 inches long, our canyon wrens are a bit smaller than that.

Song and some info:


Just the song:




All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.

Wretha,

Thanks for visiting!

E gads, Building, Politics, Religion and Buying Stuff

I'm pretty excited on a couple of fronts, first, PB is working on an addition to the sky castle, it started out as the deck on the west side, he expanded the deck then built a room on the end of the deck, this room is separate from the main part of the sky castle, it's a smallish room, meant to be used for storage and such, it can also be used as a guest room during warm weather, I wouldn't put anyone out there during winter without a majorly thick blanket. :)

Next I'm excited about voting day, yeah!!!! I haven't been this excited about voting in a long time, the biggest thing I'm excited about is I don't have to leave the neighborhood to vote, they are having it in a local church and I'll be there. I'll not discuss who I'll be voting for here, if you want to learn that, you'll have to go to my political blog.

Most of my wonderful readers are aware of my recent baptism, I've been a born again Christian since I was a teen, just didn't do the dunk until now. Since the baptism, I have been attending our non-denominational community church, I enjoy every part of it with one exception, the music. It's a bit on the dry side, and that's being kind. Not saying it was bad, the pianist played very well, just slow and sedate. The churches I have attended (regularly) in the past had great music, in fact the church I was saved in, the preacher had formerly been a honky-tonk bar owner, he played honky-tonk style piano, think Great Balls of Fire!, I also come from a very musical family, so I really wanted to spice up the music in church. I talked to our pastor about this and he asked me if I was volunteering for the job... the thing is, it's not a good to complain about something unless you are willing to do something about it, so yes, I volunteered, with the help of a couple of other friends who attend the church and feel the same way I do about the music.

I've never done anything like this before, but that never stops me from trying anything! I chose a variety of gospel and praise music, most with vocals, some without. I had a test run last Friday with a few people, I wanted to test out the music and the equipment at the church, it went very well, everyone enjoyed the music, everyone sang, clapped and moved around, exactly the way I had hoped it would happen. Next Friday, we will be having the first official praise and worship service, I hope a lot of people will attend, I suspect some will come just to see what this will be all about, I hope they enjoy it as much as I do and will keep coming back. It doesn't matter the number of those who attend though, if only those who came on the test run are there, I'll be happy.

Now to my next excitement. I have been pretty busy lately, cleaning houses for people, I now clean for both churches in the community, this is why I haven't been writing much. I prefer using fewer chemicals when I clean, I rely on microfiber cloths to do a lot of the cleaning, they don't require chemicals, just water, and they work great. Many years ago, I purchased a really good Microfiber Mop Kit with Aluminum Pole and Two Pads and I love it, I have had a couple of people want it, you can't find these in stores, only on line. I have seen some cheap knock-offs in stores, have even used a couple, they don't work as well, in fact the cheap ones I have found in the stores are horrible, the handle breaks, the pad doesn't pick up very well, the way the pad attaches to the mop is substandard.

A few weeks ago, I saw a commercial for a Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop Kit, it is designed like those Swiffer mops with the liquid cleaner and disposable pads. The difference is the Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop Kit uses microfiber pads (no disposable pads to throw away and have to repurchase) and it has a plastic bottle that you can use plain water or fill with water and a couple of tablespoons of the cleaner of your choice (so you don't have to purchase the proprietary Swiffer cleaner liquid). I can't wait to get this, it's supposed to come in next week, it is OK to get this excited about cleaning? LOL!

This mop kit comes with the mop handle, 3 microfiber cleaning pads and a refillable bottle, you put the pad on the mop, you put plain water or water with a little bit of cleaning fluid of your choice (I'll probably use ammonia), the bottle fits in a receptacle on the handle, there is a trigger on the handle you squeeze to spray the water/cleaner, then you mop. I like the idea that I'm getting more pads with this kit, it will save me from having to rinse the pads during mopping, when you use these microfiber mop pads, you have to rinse the pads from time to time.

I checked the Rubbermaid website and found they don't sell the kit, just the separate components, the mop (includes 1 pad and a bottle), the pads and the bottle, if you purchase everything it takes to make the kit from Rubbermaid, it costs significantly more plus you pay for shipping, if you go through the link above or below, you can get the kit (mop, 3 microfiber pads and bottle) with free shipping for significantly less.


I think if you use a Swiffer and you like it, you will love this!

I purchased another item, but that I'll keep under my hat for a while, I'm going to try it out, I hope it works, I'll post something about it later. I'll give you a hint, it has to do with smelling fresh and clean all day, it's completely natural, no chemicals are left on your skin or get on your clothes, and it never runs out.


All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.

Wretha,

Thanks for visiting!

Pictures

You can see all of my pix here:
http://offgridonthecheap.shutterfly.com/

This is an agave that began to bloom, it sent up a huge stalk, some of the pictures look like a giant asparagus! It grew about 6-8 inches per day, we took pictures most days. We estimate it is over 20 feet tall. Unfortunately, when these bloom, they die right after, the plant is slowly dying now, but there are lots of pups (babies) around it.

Click here to view the rest of the agave pix

Here are some current pictures of the Sky Castle. Enjoy!
Click here to view the rest of the Sky Castle pix

These are various scenery pictures of the high desert mountains, PB took some and I took some.
Click here to view the rest of the high desert mountain pix

This is the prototype roller wringer that PB is making for me.
Click here to view the rest of the roller wringer pix

This is Pekoe and PB, enjoying the view.
Click here to view the rest of the Pekoe and PB pix

This is what you don't want to find under the box you just picked up. It's a black tailed rattle snake, also known as a velvet tail rattle snake. This one was about 2 feet long. PB had been moving boxes out of the shed, the snake was under one box, the only reason PB didn't get bit was because the snake was still cold, it didn't even rattle. Unfortunately PB had to dispatch it, we had no good (safe) way of moving it, there was too much of a chance of it slithering away under other boxes in the shed. CraftyCountryMomma, you might want to skip this set of pix. :)
Click here to view the rest of the snake pix


You can see more pix here
http://offgridonthecheap.shutterfly.com/


All written text and audio podcasts from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute (text or audio) without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message. Wretha, properly pronounced wreetha, (included for the text reader), Thanks for visiting!

West Texas Winter Wonderland

Words cannot describe how beautiful this place is when it's dusted with ice. It truly is a west Texas winter wonderland.

A couple of days ago, the temps dropped down into the low 20s F, the highs during the day were in the mid 30s F, it was cooooold. It got cold enough inside the skycastle that our water pump froze and cracked the upper housing. Fortunately it's relatively cheap to replace that part, only $30 vs the cost of the whole pump at $130. We are still using the pump as it is, it's not leaking right now, but it could start any time. The part should come in next Tuesday, catastrophe averted.

Here are some pictures I took today. The snow had mostly melted away yesterday when the sun came out for a few hours. This morning everything was shrouded in mist, it stayed that way all day. Everything has this interesting layer of ice crystals, not icicles hanging down, these ice crystals grew sideways and up, in the most delicate formations I have ever seen. Many of these pictures show the mist, fog that is all around, ordinarily you would see mountains in the background, but today, we are surrounded by an almost ethereal mist. Enjoy

Click here to view these pictures larger

All written text and audio podcast from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment., but please do not distribute (text or audio) without written permission.

Wretha,
properly pronounced wreetha (included for the text reader),

Thanks for visiting!

It's Officially Cold

Last night was officially below freezing, at least according to my thermometer. It got down to 28.9 F outside, inside the sky castle was 37.4 F. Yep, we let it get that cold inside. Why you might ask? We decided last winter not to kill ourselves trying to keep the sky castle warm. Here's the deal, if you have a warm, toasty fire in the wood stove, you go to bed with things being warm. The fire dies out long before morning, so SOMEONE has to get up at least once during the night to stoke the fire, or allow it to go out, halfway through the night, the temp drops to shivering cold, so you start looking for more blankets, wish you had worn warmer jammies, or suffer. We discovered if you go to bed with the appropriate warm clothing, and warm blankets, it's quite easy to stay warm in bed all night. Fortunately where we live, no matter how cold it gets over night, once the sun comes up, as long as the sky is clear, it warms up into the 50s and 60s, typical high desert. Open the curtains on the east side of the room, the sun shines in and you have instant warmth.

Last night, before it got really cold, I went under the sky castle to look for something to snack on in our stash, that space is unfinished , but the walls are thick concrete, the floor is still dirt, I noticed that even with the openings to the outside, it was significantly warmer down there than it was inside the sky castle. MMB and I talked this morning about finishing the bottom floor space and using that as the winter bedroom.

Before someone suggests that we insulate the sky castle, it's something we are going to do, for now it's uninsulated, and that is just how it is.

Now I have to go make breakfast, pancakes and fried Spam. :)



All written text and audio podcast from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment., but please do not distribute (text or audio) without written permission.

Wretha,
properly pronounced wreetha (included for the text reader),

Thanks for visiting!

We've Come A Long Way Baby!

I’ve been going back over the first pictures we took of our cabin, before it was renamed the sky castle, it’s hard to believe we have done so much with so little. Here are some of the original pix followed by more current pix. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wretha/sets/72157621528404257/show/

Wretha

Thanks for visiting!
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More Things You Might Not Know About Me

I know I haven't written anything in a while, I have excuses though! ;) I've been sick, the gov is harassing me, my garden is calling... Well, they are all true, I'll explain more in a future message, in the mean time, here is something fun I found on another blog and thought I'd post it here.

Random Videos

Here's something fun, a few random videos we just took. I found an old camera, it does only slightly better than the camera I sent back not too long ago, so check these out and enjoy.








Wretha

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It's Hot!

Image by Andi♥ via Flickr

Holy crap it's hot. Yeah, I know, I live in the high desert, it's supposed to be hot, I have gotten spoiled though, it's usually mild, warmish but as soon as you find some shade it's almost cool. At least at night it gets cool, all but cold. It's been hot inside the sky cabin the last couple of days, the only place that is tolerable is in front of the computer, it's right next to the window and there is usually a breeze, the other place is under the house. I have been working on Mountain Man Bob to fix me up with somewhere to sit or lay down under there, if I had that along with some power for my computer, I'll be a happy camper. At least the humidity is low.

I have also been working on Mountain Man Bob to put in more ventilation on the sky castle, we have lots of windows, but they open from the bottom like most windows, it does nothing for the heat that collects in the ceiling, and it does build up, we need a way to let that heat out.

This is the hottest part of the summer for us, so if we can just get through this part, it will get better. Gotta go shampoo my hair, it's a work day for me, if you can call what I do at the country store work, sitting on the porch talking to my favorite locals... ;)




Wretha

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