I am a wife, grandmother of six, with the seventh on the way, Paramedic Supervisor, Christian, proud American, animal raiser, teacher, and a lover of all things natural and primitive.  I’ve spent years developing ways to mesh the ways of yesterday into my hectic, modern life, that includes a job away from home 24 – 48 hours at a time, and a family that is growing and always busy with various activities.  My house is never spotless, and my yard is not manicured.  My clothes are not the latest styles, and my hair is usually in a ponytail–or it was until I recently got it cut into a shorter, but easy style.  I do not live off grid and enjoy my electricity and all the modern conveniences it brings to my life.  I still go out to eat when I am too tired to cook, I have modern appliances and enjoy an occasional evening out.  I do not believe you have to live off grid and deprive yourself and your family to enjoy a wholesome life full of basic pleasures.  I believe I can provide the basics to my family and still enjoy a modern life.  I can help YOU begin to change, a bit at a time, and help you bring the ways of yesterday into your life today. Read about us to learn more about my background and the things I have done that will help me to help you begin your journey into a simpler, more productive and satisfying lifestyle, where old ways are made easier with new technology.

At the start of 2021, I decided it was time to mix things up a bit and try something new.  2020 was filled with challenges of all types; world-wide pandemic, local disasters, loss of loved ones, and the list goes on.  Since life is full of challenges that can sometimes lead to a focus on the negative, I decided to give myself a purposeful challenge.  I challenged myself to keep a diary of life on the homestead.  Not only did I challenge myself to write daily as much as possible, I also challenged myself to focus on the positives.  This way I can go back and read about all the blessing and positives in my life when times are hard.  I invite you to read about some of our adventures, mundane daily activities, and special times on the homestead.  It is hoped that while I am focusing on the positives, I may actually say something interesting and teach you something you may not have known as well.  So hop on over to read then entries in Diary of a Homesteader.

Papa’s Projects is the section you where you will see the projects that Papa built, usually in his wood shop that helped make things on the homestead run more smoothly…at least most of the time.  You will see projects that Papa built to make food storage easier and better, tools created to make jobs easier, and various projects around the place.  You might even find a few thrown in just for the fun of doing them.  Just like with the Blog posts, we shared failures as well as successes.  We learn the most from the projects that don’t go as planned and you will benefit from that same learning without having to experience it yourself.  This area is small and was cut short after Papa became ill and died in the Spring of 2020, but I am still finding pictures of him working on various projects so may be able to add more projects even though he is no longer with us, so check back occasionally to see what if I have added something new at Papa’s Projects.

Chicks from the Sticks is an area where I can share the antics of three close friends.  We are all at different stages of life, and are at different points in our homesteading lifestyle.  I introduce each of us and give a bit of background.  With our busy schedules, we aren’t able to get together as much as we would like, even for fun things, much less to do the projects we love to do.   We do still try to get together and will continue to try to create some projects and posts, so keep checking back to see if we have had time to create something new for Chicks from the Sticks.