Jordan's Farm

The News yesterday said we were in for a hard, long winter, with prices still going up, and all the floods and fires in the USA.  All around here people are without jobs, and having a hard time making ends meet.  More and more people are asking me what I do and how I do it.  I tell most it's about giving up things, (eating out, driving to town for no real reason,  buying ready made meals, etc.). This is not a easy time for anyone here in the USA. People need to go back to helping each other and trading for what they need.  We had family up last weekend, and  we needed help cleaning up the yard and house. With no money to hire help, we asked friends to help. They too, have been out of work for months.  So we traded meat and canned goods for their help. So everyone won. I liked too thank those good friends again for their help and their friendship, you guys mean a lot to us.  Good friends are very hard to come by.

Barb // August 8, 2008 at 10:27 am

I found your blog most helpful and I do agree with your husband. We are headed for some very hard times ahead. I would love to know how you heat your home and what part of the country that you live in? We may not have gas or electric heat in the future….and that is all I have. I have a wood stove that I have thinking about installing in case we lose our electricity.
Love your blog…..great info.
Barb

Barb asked in a comment about  how we heat our home. Well we use gas, and live in  GA, USA.  With Tommy's breathing wood  heat would be hard. And our house has no where to put a stove.  With our gas heater, it still works if the power goes out. If you all can get a wood stove, do so now. A friend told me yesterday, that the wood stove companies were not making as many this year due to high prices on everything.  We know our heating bill will be up but right now we just will have to make due. No running around the house in shorts this winter. And we'll wear our shoes in the house. I'll being baking more this winter: breads, cakes, cookies, etc. Which will help heat the house.

Tommy and I were talking about the winter times coming just last night. We are trying our best to plan ahead as much as we can.  With his disability check we get every month, we'll pay the rent, power, phone, heating gas and have a little let. So we are blessed to be able to pay these bill as some can't. Heating gas: we used 200lbs. a month last winter( running it on low) for about $100 a month, but the gas prices have jump here by $20 extra a 100lb tank.( last year a 100lb tank filled cost $50 and has jumped to $70 and winter is not here yet) We use two 100 lb tanks, and fill them as needed. I know most people have the big 250 lb + tanks in their back yard, but we have never had the money at one time to fill the big tanks.  And we are really paying less per gallon than those filling the big tanks.  Our biggest bill this winter will be our feed bill( cow's milk and eggs) without feed we will not get the milk and eggs. Right now our feed bill is up $25-$30 a week($70 in feed week). But we get some much for the money: 21 gallons of milk, 80+ eggs, beef meat, chicken meat). So we are trying to find a way to pay the feed bill, as this bill is a must. And we know the feed prices we keep going up. Many farmers have sold all their stock due to high feed prices. I can do a lot with milk and eggs, so we really need them. We'll just have to wait and take it one day at a time.  And our food stores, I can make them last two years( just needing to buy flour, sugar, oil).   We have learned to make due or just do without. Yes, there are a few things we would like to have, but that's life. We still have fun, we eat very well compared to some who can only eat very little due to food and gas prices. We always look for things to be thankful for instead of wishing for what we don't have. Take a really good look around you, look really close: You can find many things your family can be thankful for.  And being thankful for everything will lighten your load, we all are really so blessed. We sometimes forget to count our blessings ( including me). And most of the time the smallest blessing mean the most.

It going to be a long, hard winter. And we all can make it one day at a time and helping each other along the way. I have learned so many new things since we got the Internet. I know I will not use it all daily but when it's needed I'll have the info. I have always prepared for the worse times and prayed for the best. The simple life has been good for us in more ways than one. It's a working life( garden, and animal care, cooking from scratch, using less power and using God's wind), but we have always had a roof over our head and food in our tummies. God has blessed us, we have always had all of our needs meet.

Tommy is doing ok. Yesterday, he was hurting in his hip bones. He rested most of the day.  Friends brought us some dog cage panels yesterday ( an other answer to prayer, we needed them to make a jr. chicken pen, badly, and no money for new fencing, God sent them to us). So Tommy had a nice visit with him on the porch for a few hours (Tommy does not sit still well, thanks Scott).  It has been getting really hot about noon and staying that way until dark. ( 92-95 in the house) Well winter will be here soon.

Our family weekend with so well. We all had a great time.  Someone had given us a big, big roll of plastic, which my 11yr. turned into a homemade water slide.   The kids had so much fun, and they were funny too.

Most of the weekend everyone was trying to get a photo of the humming birds coming to the feeder on the front porch. Even with everyone sitting on the porch they still came, but went as soon as someone tried to take a photo. Well they finally got a few Sunday evening.

I made homemade cinnamon rolls, but there was none left, oh well.

And I had my first S' mores, and it was really good.

It was really a great week end. Thank you to all who came. Well I had better go and get this day started. Hope and pray you all have a great day. Becky

Sorry ladies see here for photos: http://jordansfarm.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/getting-ready-for-winter-family-weekend-photos/