Bobcat Fever in cats

We have lost two cats to Bobcat fever so we started doing all the research we could about this disease.  Even though we prefer all natural solutions, we hadn’t found a way to keep ticks off of our animals.  We tried several natural remedies but they didn’t work well or were too expensive to keep up with since we have so many animals.  We tried apple cider vinegar in their water, but some refuse to drink it.  Being in Missouri with lots of ticks and in an area known to have Bobcat fever, we reluctantly used topical drops while we kept researching. 

Fear of a date

 December 21, 2012, a date that strikes fear in the heart of so many people, prepared and unprepared. There is a danger in being afraid of a date. Wanting to be self-sufficient is certainly a life style choice and one that shouldn't be taken up in the spirit of fear. When that date comes and goes, and nothing happens, then what?

Who said the world will end on 12-21-12? The archeologists? It certainly isn't the Mayan elders. Ten minutes online will tell you that. From my research, they say that the date marks an astrological event. Their prophecy of the changing of the world, the world ending as we currently know it, or the time of the new sun, is a time period that spans many years. Some say the end of which could even be as late as 2020. They prophecy a change of times, along with some upheaval, but one where humans come out for the better on the other end.

Cattle panel shelters

This weather has been incredible and we've been working on getting garden plots ready, getting supplies for temporary greenhouses and building shelters.  We have a lot of glass won at an auction for "permanent" greenhouses, but for now we need to keep it simple and quick to be ready to get back to house building, but be ready for seed starting at the same time. 

As soon as it's not freezing at night, we'll be able to lay the first course of blocks for Judy's house in mortar  - which can't freeze at night.  There are things you can do to keep the mortar from freezing, but there is other important work to do to, so we'll just wait a couple of weeks and get back to it.  Everything is square and the "dry run" row of blocks looks good.

We took cattle panels and tarps to build a shelter over the door at the RV and used the same method to build a small shelter for some equipment.  We tied the cattle panels to the luggage rack and arched it over the door/ fridge/ battery box area.  Rebar ties were used to tie the tarp to the cattle panels.  So far that is working well.  When it's windy out though, the metal of the rebar ties sliding across the metal of the tarp rivets grating the metal of the cattle panels is quite the noise!  Something is going on with my camera besides it no longer zooming and the photo of the new awning is gone.

Joys and hardships of starting from scratch

The dream of building a simple homestead meets up every day with reality.  In the dream, equipment starts, when things get done they stay done, our bodies have sufficient energy and learning from a book is all that is required to make something happen.  In the dream, I would make herbal preparations to bring in a little income to the homestead and how hard can it be to build a website with a shopping cart? 

In reality, equipment breaks at a regular pace and we're not mechanics, we get tired and sore, and not everything is covered in the books.  In reality I don't have time to spend on online marketing and building a website is about to make me pull my hair out.  Food and shelter have to be the top priority.  So every day I have to think about what needs to be done to accomplish those goals and squeezing in everything else at the end of a long day. 

Footers for dry stack block, earth sheltered house

 Lots of rainbows this week!

We poured footers for Judy's house today. Putting in the rebar and insulation were a breeze a few days ago.  The insulation board was perforated by chance for our size footer (17"x9")!  Snapping them in parts and laying them on the bottom and outside of the footer was easy.  To the outside, it lined up perfectly with the footer form. 

Lasagna or no-till gardening

Oh fall has been glorious!!!

This year we tested out a no-till or lasagna garden patch.  It seemed easy and required less money and effort than a typical tilled garden with equipment and gas considered.  Not only that, it's much better for the soil and the micro-organisms that live there.  A small patch was started in March with just paper in some places, cardboard in others and really old hay.  That's all we could get for the first patch and the hay was very old.  Should have used straw.   Not a "by the book" start, but with no real compost yet and little time, it's all we could muster.  After 7 months, the soil looks great!  Dark and crumbly already and we've done a second planting. 

Footer forms

In this picture, the primary interior mass wall footer is not shown.  The house building is moving at a slow steady pace.  There have been equipment problems, but we are back on track and the weather has been wonderful.  We're at the footer stage.  I made a drawing outlining and numbering each board length for the inside and outside track of the footers.  While Jeffrey made sure the rubble trench foundation, that the footers will sit on top, was well tamped; I cut and numbered each board for the footers.  I used 4x6's laying side by side on the ground to lay the wood on for cutting and made sure the end being cut off could fall freely to the ground so as not to bunch up the blade.  Thanks to my friend Anastasia for showing me that I could get over my fear of power tools that can cut off body parts.