Hey Everybody

[Gunfixr]

Been a long time. Tapatalk has/had issues, and I dropped it. A lot of forums went with it. I hardly hit a lot of the forums I used to be on. Not sure why for some, as I miss them, others, no big deal.
But, hoping everyone here is still good. A few things have changed for me, most not for the better. Ima try and get back on here more, I miss everyone here, we've had good times for many years

[RedJohn]

Hey @gunfixr,

Are you using Tapatalk? I can upgrade it and put it back on if needed.

[bacpacker]

Hey there GF. Good to see you back on.

[Gunfixr]

@redjohn, no need. Another forum I was on used it, and the owner said they suddenly wanted to charge him money to use it, and he found out they collect and sell data from all the users. So, he dropped it.

I ended up deleting the app not long after.

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Hey bp

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

Hey! Glad to see ya back Brother!

[Gunfixr]

Glad to be back

[bacpacker]

Looks like the site is starting to get more active again. I'm glad. I've missed the folks on here. But it seems everyone is just so damn busy taking care of life right now.

[Gunfixr]

Yeah, seems that way. Not sure how long i've been gone. So, we've moved to the country, been here about 3 1/2yrs. Renovated for 1 1/2yrs prior to moving, made changes during that to make life cheaper/shtf easier where I could. Was buried in debt for a year or so, but got that cleared. Working on sustainability now, I need good firewood storage, and some off-grid power. If I can keep the well and septic running, I can fudge most of the rest.
Did a garden last year, but bad spot, it drowned. Relocating for this year, and putting up a temp chicken spot, so we can do them now instead of later.
I don't think we have a lot of time.......

[bacpacker]

Sounds like you have made good progress

[Sniper-T]

welcome back my old friend. Great to see you back!. looking forward to some more in depth posts of your work/progress!

[Gunfixr]

Posting in the "this week" thread, I realize much was not this week, so I should update here.
There's been a good bit done, but I must honestly admit we have help. Both me and my wife work in retail, so our schedules are all over the place. We have a long time family friend (was godfather to the kids), who'd always wanted to homestead out in the country. He was self-employed, and his customers stopped renewing contracts, causing him to retire a few yrs early, so his Ss is less. There's an rv hookup and small septic system in the woods out behind the house, the previous owners used for campers during hunting season. He bought a camper and we set it up there. For him, it's a way to live cheap, and kinda get his dream. He gives us some money when he can, and helps out around here. Plus, someone is here when we aren't.

[Gunfixr]

So, I mentioned last year's garden was in a bad spot. It was relocated for this year. We're doing semi-raised beds. Basically, mounds without walls. Materials are crazy, so we're trying it. I'm concerned the mounds will wash down, but we will see. There's already onions and beans coming up.
We've put together a temporary chicken coop, so we could go ahead and have chickens this year. We've had the chicks 8-9wks now.
Some family wanted to hunt here last year, so I got some venison, plus one is a contractor. He had replaced a deck, and brought us a pile of 2x6x16' boards. Perfect for building the roof for the wood shed. I already have shingles, from remodeling the house, so all i'll have to buy is plywood.
Building a small trailer to mount a 100 gal tank on, to fill with diesel, to keep the tractor and lawn mower going.
Once the wood shed is done, it will hold at least 2 cords. Also, i'll start adding solar panels to the roof as I can. It gets sun almost all day. It will be 16'x14', so should be able to get a few up there. It's breezy a lot here, so will try to add some wind power also.
However, a lot of this will be dependent on funds, as costs continue to rise, expendable cash goes down.

[Gunfixr]

So, the fuel trailer has been done awhile, we've used it most of the summer. It just needs one more thing, take the alligator clips off, and wire on a cigarette lighter plug. I've wired in receptacles to both the tractor and the mower. So, you just drive them up next to it, plug in the pump, and fill 'er up. Tank is 100 gallons. They're changing the farm use tag law here, it's gonna cost money now. But, I found out the way I built it, it will qualify as "equipment", so, i'll have to take off the farm use tag, and mount trailer lights, but I won't have to register and tag it. I'll only have to move it once, maybe twice a year, take it into town and fill it.
The chickens started laying several weeks ago, at first one, or two, but it's about ten now, so we're getting 7-10 eggs a day. I'm hoping come spring maybe we'll be in a position to start selling eggs.
The wood shed has not progressed well, for several reasons. I do have the old building gone, and the post locations layed out, and I have the materials. Most things piss my messed up back off, and often so does the job, so I have to try and work on it when I have a couple days off in a row, so I can rest one. While this does happen, since I work 4 days/wk, it often rains, vehicle needs work, etc..... Here it is Oct, and I have no wood storage, and almost no wood to go in it. So, here in the next few weeks, i'll just have to take a week off for it.
Hurricane Ian was going to pass not so far away, it ended up not doing much here, which was fine. But, I had acquired some more kero lamps, and had yet to set them up, so that got done. I also got a more proper fuel in the rayo lamp. Previously, i'd always used lanterns, as that was all I had. But, they put out less light, and you end up running them a bit too high, which means you end up constantly cleaning the globes.