Prepper or Subsistence?

 Prepper or Subsistence?

Ever wonder how you are living?  Would it be a Prepper…or living a subsistence lifestyle?  Or perhaps something entirely different.  

I assume if you found our online journal, you are either interested in living simply, farm animals, my travel to Amish communities, or are fascinated with living and working with sled dogs.  I’ll try and explain what we are, in the simplest of terms. 

If you look at Webster’s definition, you may not even find the word “prepper”.  But under “prepare” you will find “to get ready beforehand”.  That about says it all.

Under “subsistence”, you will find “means of subsisting: the minimum (as of food and clothing) necessary to support life”.  Ahhh…yes.

We are in the latter category.  Not that we don’t try to prepare for what is ahead, i.e. firewood, butchering a hog, putting up hay, etc.  But for the most part, we are subsistence folks, living a minimal lifestyle.  Minimalists, as sometimes referred to.  Or on our way to being…

Jesus told us in Matthew 6: 24-34, that we are not to worry about food and clothing.  He will provide for us.  “But we need to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  {paraphrase}” Hopefully, you can take a peek at the scriptures to see the beauty of this passage, and more.

Speaking of my Bible.  I always have it within reach.  It isn’t hard, as our cabin is only 10 x 15.  But I suppose it wouldn’t matter how small our cabin would be if I didn’t have the desire.  I praise God for that desire…for that hunger.  Of His Word.

I also have my Ruger within reach, although it is secondary as to effectiveness in how to deal with this world.  My Bible wins out.

Today as I checked the game trails for last night’s activity, I pondered on how blessed I am to have the freedom to do so each morning.  It wasn’t always like this…  For years I was plugged in, working many hours and sometimes multiple jobs to buy the finer things in life.  Trinkets, really.  Now I find joy in living with less and less, and seeing the freedom it brings. 

I just noticed I wrote the word freedom twice in that last paragraph.  I seem to do that a lot – refer to my life as being “FREE”.  Freedom comes in many ways.  Let me see if I can share what I mean by this.

As for our lifestyle, we started with 15 acres, and slowly added more land around us until we were at the number of acres we were satisfied with owning.  40.  Russ built every building on our place, himself, using recycled materials mostly, until the acquisition of his portable saw mill.  This cabin, the Bear’s Den, on our “back ten”, was constructed by logs taken from our dog yard, making the way for a kennel in the earlier years.  This is not the cabin we live in, however it makes a nice “get-a-away” and I enjoy stopping daily on my walks and smelling the wood smell that only that cabin can claim.

As for our “main cabin”, in my last post “Deer Camp Livin’”, I had casually mentioned we were living “mortgage free”.  After I posted online, and left the Library and headed for home (we do not have Internet on our property), I wondered if I should have done that…shared that bit of information.  But then I thought it might give others the courage to set out and live a life like we do.  (Or a similar life, since our cabin does not have running water, hence the words “simple life” take on a new meaning when you head to the outhouse at 2:00 a.m., wondering if that is a black and white rabbit, or something more odorous...also black and white.) 

Simply put, we don’t have any mortgage worries, so we don’t have any PMI worries, nor do we have to worry about regular house insurance payments.  Pretty simple.  {That’s not to say we don’t have to pay for the land…} 

And, if we were to lose a cabin due to fire or natural (…or man-made) disaster, we would simply move to another on our property.  Would we be as comfortable?  Perhaps not, but it would be doable. 

You may be thinking…but how would you refurnish all that you lost?  Since Russ makes most of our rustic furniture, he would simply replace what we need.

Everything…is just stuff.  Truly, our treasure is in heaven.  The Lord tells us so.  Once a person truly feels that, it is easy to let go. 

For several years, we thought we would opt out of having a vehicle also, but in training our horses, we found it wasn’t going to be a solution for us.

Side bar:  My Amish friends smile and shake their head at my fear of horse travel, as I'm always refusing to ride along with them, opting for meeting them at our destination by my own mode of travel - my 2002 Ford Ranger truck tooling down the road. 

Here is another way to cut expenses, and bring more freedom to your life.  For years, we have only had one vehicle.  That means one insurance payment – and one registration/plate/license cost that hits us as a yearly "birthday present".  For us, we prefer an older vehicle, with fewer “bells and whistles”. 

Another way to access freedom is to have one phone (we do not own a smart phone) per family.  Yes, only one.  One bill – ours is less than $40 per month.  More on that later… 

I know this may sound peculiar to some folks, but the freedom it gives to be beholden to less, is intoxicating.  The more you do it, the more you will find it to your liking.  And the more creative you will become in doing so.

I had to laugh as I opened a bag of feed this morning and saved the string.  I “pooh pooh’ed” my husband for doing this years ago, but since I’ve been reading about what it was like in war time, such as in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, it makes sense to be “ready”. 

Perhaps we are “preppers” after all…

I’ll go into more depth next time.

Until then, Lord willing,

Sherry

P.S.  No...no turkey for me. May came and went...  Next time... {Is that a smile I see on his face?@!}

P.S.S.  Our two hens hatched out 14 chickens.  One hatched 4, and the other 10.  This bump adds significantly to our original 9 hens with one rooster.  Needless to say, with the worry about Avian Flu coming to Michigan, we will keep our flock closed, as we do not need to acquire any further chickens for our use.

P.S.S.S.  I’ll update soon about the Amish Auction I attended a couple weeks ago.  My Amish friends attended for the first time, as did my “farm friend” who graciously drove us all so we could experience more comfort and leg room.  Thank you Heather!

Shovel Ready

Hello Dear Friend –

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ~!  As my friend Miriam says ~ “He will lead us in this world and eventually out of this world if we let Him.”

It has been nearly a month (-/+) since I have checked in with you.  I’m still here.  This winter has been long, and the cold weather here in northern lower Michigan is hanging on with a firm grip. 

Yes, we are shovel ready – we carry a shovel everywhere – outhouse/dog yard/our foot trail into the cabin/everywhere there is snow.

Speaking of the cabin.  We still have 4 dogs in our 15 x 20 cabin, having morphed into a routine of “in and out” for the two who need to still be tethered just outside the cabin door.  The other two are collar-less and stay put on our main core of our 40 acres.  I had to laugh today after lunch when hubby Russ headed out into our woods hauling a bright green plastic sled to haul back a load of nice Maple hardwood from a dead tree he downed earlier in the week.   While Russ headed out on the firm 4’ of snow base, our large smoke-colored wolfy dog, Mordecai, stretched out his large body by the woodstove, sighing a deep sigh of contentment as Russ clicked the cabin door shut upon his departure.  Mordecai’s harness hangs in the feed room, unused.  Meanwhile, Russ will haul sled after sled full of wood throughout the afternoon into evening.  Oh well, perhaps next year the dogs will be put to work full time. 

There has been a few respites of warmth (above 20 degrees) among the frigid temps.  On those days, my spirits soar.  It’s not only me.  On the first bright sunshine warmed day, baby bunnies spilled out from under our cabin, hopping about under our window and tree feeders.  At least once a day I take yellow dried corn cobs and toss them down the snowy “rabbit hole” that burrows under our cabin.  I just hope it doesn’t entice a skunk to take up residence, as has happened in the past.  Skunks are brutal to rabbit kits.  Pure savages.

It amazes me how our free-ranging rabbits have bunnies year ‘round.  On one below zero morning I went into our feed shed to get a flake of hay for a dog I had moved in the dog yard.  Upon lifting the hay flake from the bale, I discovered a “bunny nest” full of newborn kits.  I gasped and quickly covered the rabbit hair-lined swarm.  I was saddened knowing the temps in the next days would plunge to –30, with little chance of survival for the little creatures.  It wasn’t until a couple weeks later, Russ mentioned the bunnies were hopping around inside the feed room.  How amazing they survived.  Rabbits aren’t like some “mama’s” where they snuggle to keep warm.  They only visit the nest a couple times a day, if that, due to their milk being so rich.  (And if some of you are wondering why we didn’t just scoop them up and take them into the cabin to bottle feed – the mortality rate is high when you “mess with nature”.)  Anyone who knows me knows I abhor it when folks think they can do better than the “mama” and kick “mama” to the curb and take over.  ‘Nuff said.  A positive note is when the babies are big enough to make their appearance out and about, it is entertainment to see them follow Mama around and squirm under her belly, flip on their backs and kick with their little legs to position to get a good grip on the “milk bottle”.  {Smile}

Chickens have also come out of the barn and free-ranged all over our cabin area, enjoying the sunshine during those warm days.  A few eggs have even been found, announced by a proud chicken.  A preview of what’s to come.  It will be good to have a frequent supply of fresh eggs again.

The sled dogs {total count of 13} have certainly had the winter “off”, for the most part.  I gave up trying to snowshoe a trail.  I strapped on the webs several days (3) in a row and then we had a warm up and heavy snow and drifting.  I lost the trail.  However, I did find several nights of inner upper leg “Charley Horses”.  The worst.  Thank the Lord I have a good liniment (J. R. Watkins) that swiftly takes care of such nuisances.  Note to self:  pick up another bottle at my favorite Amish store on my next visit.

However, just because the sled dogs haven’t been running doesn’t mean there hasn’t been excitement in the dog yard.  A couple weeks ago we had a bit of excitement once darkness fell.  It wasn’t even my bedtime when I was alerted to a commotion in the dog yard.  Dogs were whining, uneasy.  One of the dogs was barking an alert bark, telling us there was an “issue”.  Russ was sleeping, I was fully awake.  Earlier in the day, I had commented to hubby, Russ, that our back gate that leads out into the woods was opened about a foot, due to deep snow, allowing a dog to get out.  Or, perhaps a dog to get in.  It looked like a super highway from our dog yard to the woods, showing there had been some activity.  Coyote in the dog yard?  I shined my searchlight into the dog yard and met with a pair of eyes near the gate.  All other dogs were where they should be.  Oh no.  I grabbed a light, my Ruger, and shovel and hit the dog yard.  After much shoveling, I secured the gate and looked at our elderly gal who was in full-blown heat.  She smiled.  I groaned.  Upon coming back into the cabin, I marked the calendar for April 15^th – 63 days.  We’ll see.

I mentioned reading Kathrene Pinkerton’s “Wilderness Wife” written back in the 1930’s.  I can’t say how much I’ve enjoyed this book.  It’s as if she mirrors my very thoughts, especially the contentment she feels in her rustic cabin, in the wild.  I feel that way here on our ’40.  As I type this on my non-Internet connected computer, I see the birds at the feeders in the reflections on the screen.  Smartwool socks hang over the woodstove for a final drying.  We don’t live fancy, but it is real.  And it feels right. 

I’ve settled into such a routine this winter, baking cookies and bread, sorting through paperwork to fill our burn barrel.  I am actually allowing myself to actually “relax”.  I have been “retired” from a very busy State job for three years and it has taken me this long to “chill” out.  I get wide-eyed when I look at my old Franklin Planner and the life I used to lead.  I’m so blessed to have been able to follow my plan to live a simple life.  And daily, I struggle to get it even more so, as LESS IS MORE.

I don’t travel in the winter, and hadn’t planned to go south to a hearing for Baker’s Green Acres, (fighting to keep his pigs despite a Invasive Species Order from the DNR saying his pigs meet the characteristics of Feral…) but the near blizzard weather we had that day made me feel better for missing it.  (I attended last July.)  Turns out, it was canceled.  Watch this video – you won’t believe what happened at the next hearing, before the Judge entered the courtroom, as folks discussed the previous cancellation due to snow.  Be prepared to be disgusted.  Dicky Bird – a must see for you.

Until next time, dear friend.  Lord willing.

Sherry

What Does Spring Mean to You?

We are down to six hens, after selling off our excess flock.

{Ironically we have 3 roosters...

2 are "free" to farm folks if you are in the neighborhood.}

And have more eggs than we need. 

Less is more.

God is good.

The chickens {and bunnies} are enjoying spring.  

And so am I.

However, with it, brings "wanderlust"...

I get it every Spring, 

after being in a 15 x 20 cabin, 

without TV or Internet over the long winter months.

This year, it's off the charts...

The urge to travel to Amish country is strong.

I can't seem to fight the urge.

But soon, I'll be visiting again.

Picking up piglets.

And lambs. 

I love Amish folks...and how they do business.

Until tomorrow, dear friends, God willing.

Sherry

Simple Travel by Dogs

This time of year,

as winter comes to a close,



we work on training new leaders,

such as youngster "Knik" (white AKC Siberian),

being trained by "Windows", (experienced, sage Alaskan). 

Stay tuned as we show you how.

Until then, dear friends, God willing.

Sherry

Gas prices just jumped to $3.79 per gallon here in our small town.  Dog travel is preferred...

Pulling off the Trail

After much decision, I've decided I must take a break.

It's not desired, by any means, but it is necessary.

I won't be having Internet on our "40" for the next few weeks, 

{it's becoming lower and lower on the "priority" scale...}

and because it is difficult {ok, impossible} to continue posts
on public {our local library} computers,
I must take a break.

But soon, I will return.

With many tales from the trails...

And will start my look back on our life over the last decade,
and see how we morphed into this role of God-sufficient living.

"Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, 
so that whether I come and see you or am absent, 
I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, 
with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 
and not frightened in anything by your opponents. 
This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, 
but of your salvation, and that from God."

Philippians 1:27-28

Until then, dear friends, God willing.

Autumn Amish Yearnings

It's true.  

This time of year, I get restless...

Not for just anywhere.

But to head to all things Amish.

It's a dull tug on my heart.

To be where simplicity, travel by horse, and the word of God is spoken freely.

I'm not looking for fancy.

But rather, what I'm used to living like...rustic.

But for now, I'll stay on our 40, until the next time I venture out.

Out among the Amish.

Until tomorrow, God willing.

Black Friday ~ Russ-Stick Style

No crowds.

No shopping, no stores.

No malls, no travel.

No early sales. No gimmicks, no gizmos.
No money...

No biting...

No aggressive behavior...

No pushing...or shoving.

No stampede...

For us, just a serene day at home.

We leave consumerism to the experts.

Until tomorrow ~ God willing.