Hard Times..ideas please

[Modern Pioneer]

Hello to all,
Been a few weeks since i been here. I have a few questions that i need answered and wanted some of your alls input to see what you would do.
To make a long story short. My family and i were moving out of state to KY. Well the move part went good, but when we got to our new place it was a disaster. We walked in the door to our mobile home and i set the 1 year old on the floor to play while we unloaded a few things. After about 5 minutes i came back in and was going to change his diaper. To my utter horror he was plastered in fleas!! It was the worse infestation i had ever seen. Well this would not do. So i talked to the landlord about this situation. He said he just had it sprayed 1 week earlier. Anyway after some talking i just wanted my rent and deposite back. Well he shafted me and only gave back my deposite and 1 weeks rent back, saying that he held it for 2 weeks and it would take another week to rent it. Well i decided that we would just take the money and go.

Back in ohio we stayed at my moms place for a night . Then back to the town we were living in. Well the job market there is very tough and the rentals in the area are very expensive even for 1 bedroom dives. Thats why we left in the first place. We stayed in a friends backyard/alley in our conversion van for almost a month. We had been searching for work and a place to stay. All the shelters were full, and the others would not let us stay together as a family. We decided we would just stay in the van and my good friends garage. After sometime that began to be a problem so we left.

We are now here at my moms place. Things arent all rosey and great like you might think. We are near the Athens/Morgan county line. Very low population, very little work. Although we have some good leads. Theres a bit of a back story for you, without having to write a novel

Here at "grandmas" it isnt so bad. She has 4 acres of nice hardwoods, big yard, small pond. We have an empty chicken coop, goat barn/pen. Several rabbit hutches, and old hog pen in the woods and a large garden of raised beds that i put in bout 15 years ago. but has been grown up in grass and weeds, just small part of it is used by her.

We are staying in a addition her late boyfriend but on the side of the house. Its 8x12 room. One wall is not finished and the roof has just tar paper. Theres a rough wooden floor. We can use here kitchen and what not so thats not too big a deal. I have actually been cooking on the open fire out in the yard, i enjoy that more. Not to mention that there is loads of blown down limbs and such that needs to be cleaned up.

Some of my dilemia is this. Although we are here she has no water. We have been hauling water by the gallon jug. We can go about 8 miles down the road to the state campground and take hot shower for free and there is also a small laundry area. She does have a outhouse that we use as well as a camp toilet that is easily dumped into the holding tank.She has an old hand pump beside the garden. As far as i can remember no water has come out of that pump since she got the place. The pump is froze up solid. How do i go about checking on the water? How can i get water out ? Is there some sort of homemade device i can use?
Another thing is im uncertain how long we will stay here. We get along with my mom pretty good, but have had a rocky past. Her current boyfriend is a nice man and i seem to get along fine with him. Another thing i should mention is that my mom is an alcholic. She is going into a rehab treatment in a few weeks as soon as the rehab has a bed availble. She will be there for 6 weeks. This will be really good step for her. She has been an alcholic since i was a a small kid, im 35 now. Once she goes her boyfriend will be the only one here.

I dont know the best way to go about making more room for my family. We have virtually no money and without myself or my wife working there is little hope of any real money comming in. I go daily and collect beer/pop cans off the roads and turn in for some money for diapers/fuel and what not. Trapping season is a few months off yet, and the ginseng will be ready to harvest soon( i know where there are some nice patches) if they are still there?? What other ways can we make some money? What sort of modifications can we make to give us more living space. Old campers / mobile homes are hard to come by. I listed on craigslist, freecycle and a few others looking for 1 or for used building supplies. The only ace i have in the hole is an HP laptop to sell or trade. I figure since its less than 6 months old and used very little i should be able to get $3-400 out of it?, im hoping anyway.

Winter has me a bit concerned as my moms place is just heated with 1 small wood burner that she has in the upper part of the house. Burning kerosene is out of the question. Our little room does have a stove pipe the the ceiling ready for a stove.

My last little problem is trivial compared to the other. What can i do to keep mosquitos from eating my kids and myself alive?? Does anyone know of a homemade repellent? Is there some sort of smudge pot or something i can use to help keep them at bay. Our little room isnt seal from the outside elements. 2 of the walls are actually tarps we put up and there is no door except for a blanket we put up. Any ideas ?????

Well thanks to all who took the time to read this. Im sorry if i ran it together a bit. I will be waiting for replies. Any info or suggestions would be greatly apperciated. Thanks again.

Keep your powder dry

[the mama]

Try day labor, all you need is ID and work boots. School is starting soon. They always need bus drivers and lunch lady help. Look into substitute teaching, some places only require HS diploma and finger printing. If your children are school age, sign up for free lunch, this often includes free breakfast also. Talk to the local churches, they can often help with food. If you don't want a hand out, volunteer to do maintance work at the church, they will always need help. Also let it be known at the churches that you are looking for work. If you are a good dependable volunteer, they know you will be a good worker. Start gleaning for building materials to enclose your room, even free pallets would help. Ask on craigslist for a few laying chickens. Eat garlic to repel mosquitos. Plan now for a winter crop of cabbage, carrots and onions. Good luck and I will PM you.

[Pelenaka]

A rock & a hard place.
Here's something I have done to keep myself & my children warm @ night durning the Winter. Put up a tent (make a fort out of blankets) inside the house to sleep in. Much easier to heat a tent up with your bodies than a whole room.
As for your general situation - have you considered contacting a local church for help?
Also consider volunteering. It is a great way to make friends & learn about opportunties (employment) in your community. I have been blessed just by lending a hand during a Church function - case of coffeemate, leftovers from a supper, canning jars that didn't sell @ a tag sale, directions to farmer's fields for gleaning, & garden supplies.
Bet you would beable to find someone to take a look @ the well pump also.
Not to mention the comfort aspect of having a support group.

~~ pelenaka ~~
http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/

[fishhead]

Get or make a mosquito tent for sleeping and protecting the baby. Army surplus stores used to sell them for a couple of bucks.

Firewood is selling good now. There might be some dead trees that could be cut and split.

Remember that everything is temporary so just keep putting one foot in front of the other and things will change.

[Common Tator]

Harbor Freight sells inexpensive wood stoves and hand pumps. Here are their locations in Ohio http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/...te.do?state=OH.

This wood stove costs only $149.00 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=32058 and should be more than adequate to heat that space. They also have a hand pump for $24.99 here: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=1318.

I personally would be working on weatherproofing and insulating that addition you are living in. Rolled roofing is inexpensive and will keep you dry this winter. If you buy the cellulose blow in insulation at Home Depot, they will loan you the blower to install it, at least here.

The suggestions made above to look for jobs with the school district are good ones. They might even offer benefits.

Good luck!

[RandB]

I am just throwing an idea out there, I have no idea what kind of job you are looking for, or your experience. But since you call yourself "modern pioneer", perhaps you are a farm guy -
Did you think about going to Kentucky horse country, and see if you can get a job on one of the big horse farms there? Sometimes those places will even provide living quarters as part of your pay, if you have some farming skills, horse care skills, and/or mechanical maintenance skills. Also, the same goes for some dairy farms, too. And, it would get you back to KY. Good luck to you, I hope you find a better situation soon.

[HermitJohn]

As to the hand pump, unlikely its a short handle pitcher pump on an external well unless its a sandpoint or a very shallow well. More likely its a long handle pump and well can be anything from shallow to rather deep even if its dug. I have to wonder about those people digging down more than 20ft. Talk about risking your life big time in exchange for few bucks. I sure wouldnt want to be down in there.

Anyway the long handle pumps, the part above ground is just linkage. The actual pump is close to bottom of well and consists of cylinder with piston and leathers. Its connected to top part you see with usually 1 1/4 steel pipe and a rod goes down through this pipe connecting pump handle to the piston in the cylinder.

If piston wont even move, its either buried in mud (well collapse?) or things are all rusted together. You are going to have to pull the pump and the pipe and the cylinder up all out of well to work on it. If its very deep, this isnt lot fun as you have to pull things up 10 foot at a time usually, then remove the sucker rod and then the length of pipe, rinse and repeat until its all out and disassembled. At same time you have to keep everything that is still in the well from falling back down where you can no longer reach it.

As an alternative to reusing your old stuff, there are free plans on net to build a hand pump out of pvc pieces. Pretty cheap, and pvc is whole lot lighter weight to work with. I dont have link but its been posted several times in this forum.

If you get all your old pipe and cylinder out in good condition, new leathers arent very expensive though you might have to order them from place like Lehmans or something. Your local Lowes or Walmart, or whatever isnt going to carry them.

[Joy in Eastern WA]

Originally Posted by RandB

I am just throwing an idea out there, I have no idea what kind of job you are looking for, or your experience. But since you call yourself "modern pioneer", perhaps you are a farm guy -
Did you think about going to Kentucky horse country, and see if you can get a job on one of the big horse farms there? Sometimes those places will even provide living quarters as part of your pay, if you have some farming skills, horse care skills, and/or mechanical maintenance skills. Also, the same goes for some dairy farms, too. And, it would get you back to KY. Good luck to you, I hope you find a better situation soon.

I was thinking the same thing. Having been on a working farm for a better part of my life when I lived back in VA, farms were always looking for good laborerers. Some even included a small house to live in with a decent wage on top of that.

[Danaus29]

Ohio substitute teachers are required to have 9 credit hours of instruction in the subject in which they are teaching.

Have you tried finding a job with the park service? You have Lake Hope State Park and Zelaski National Forest nearby. As for seasonal work, with hunting season coming soon you might be able to get a job with one of the Mom and Pop hunting supply stores. There are also several horse camps in that area, they might need some help.

Closest big cities are Parkersburg, Belpre, and Marietta.

[willow_girl]

Since you have Internet access, advertise on Craigslist! Handyman services or whatnot ... your wife could do housecleaning. Can you sealcoat a driveway, detail a car, clean out gutters?

Drive through a nice neighborhood and look for houses that are obviously in need of some repair -- exterior painting, shrubs trimmed, etc. Knock on doors. Explain that you're out of work, have a family to feed, and you're willing to take on the job for 'X' amount.

Try to pick up some odd jobs, and let everyone that you work for know that you're looking for permanent work. Make yourself some business cards -- even just 3x5 hand-lettered cards with your name, phone number, email address (use a public service like Hotmal that you can access from anywhere -- for instance, a library -- just in case you lose your ISP) and a sampling of your skills, and leave these wherever you go. Have your wife do the same.

Sooner or later, you'll hit upon an employer who will be impressed by your diligence in seeking work. Good luck, and hope things get better for you soon!

[Rocky Fields]

Hey.

Tar paper isn't meant to be a final roof...the wind will pull it up and it will be leaking in the near future.

Sign up with a "manpower" type of business to get temp work until you can get something better. It seems like gas stations are always hiring.

I know some college kids sell blood...

RF

[FUNKY PIONEER]

Look for morels and other wild foods to sell to resteraunts. Use old Tee-shirts for cloth diapers, http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf69871475.tip.html Apply for food stamps, they will at least give them to you for the baby and maybe your wife, you can use food stamps to buy seeds and plant starts for a garden. Maybe you wife could go to someones house and watch their kids during the day? Try the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, they will help you with lots and you need not be a member.

[Queen Bee]

Get free cardboard to insulate your room, use it for the walls, floor and roof. a tarp over the roof can direct water and the cardboard will help with keeping the cold out.. Make a bedroom with more cardboard by using several thicknesses on the 'bedroom' walls, floor and ceiling, use duct tape to seam the pcs. together.. add a quilt over the 'door' opening. Get ready for winter NOW!

Visit all your local building sites and ask for lumber, carry it off in the trunk or tied on the roof of your car but take what ever you can gleam.

Look in the phonebook and find the local food bank. Check with your county about the WIC program-- It helps with food for little ones and nursing or pg. mothers. Potty train your 1 yr. now before winter arrives, if he is ready..get rid of those diapers! Go by your old type feed stores and ask if they have any old seeds. They aren't suppose to sell them next yr... so they might be free--if not they will be much cheaper than in those tiny packages at bigger stores. Plant any food crops that will grow in the late fall...greens, root veggies. Ask any farmers if you can have leftover veggies that are going to waste in the fields..pumpkins can be had for the hauling after Halloween.They make great soup, stews. --around here many places will let you pick up sweet potatoes for the hauling. Any old farms around that have falling fruit?? Ask if you can have some.. wrap in newspaper and store in cool, dry places. Learn to trap rabbits--small game is what we lived off of growing up.. Good luck..

[insocal]

living on next to no money - Possum Living by Dolly Freed.

http://www.f4.ca/text/possumliving.htm

I LOVE this book.

[bloogrssgrl]

Along with all the things the other folks suggested...

Can you barter you labor for items you might need?

Any demolition work going on in your area where you scavange building materials?

Also, regarding heat, here are some links to previous posts here which someone so graciously supplied to me when I was asking about a homemade wood burner.

http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthr...ve#post2559682
http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=162820
http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?p=2378667
http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=216195

Best of luck to you. If I can think of anything else, I'll add it.

[PETSNEGGS]

I really don't think that there is much more I can add except for prayers. Everyone else pretty much has said it all and that is why we are here. Glad that we are and I hope that in some way it has helped. Please keep in touch with us and let us know how you are doing. More than anything as long as you want to make a go of it you will. No matter how bad things are someone out there always needs a good honest hardworking person and they will pay to get that. Please do check into all that your area has to offer. Go to the salvations army and look for even building supplies. You will be shocked at all they have.

[shellycoley]

Honestly for the time being I think you should take advantage of the programs that are out there. Foodstamps, WIC, UNEMPLOYEMENT, housing what ever you can find.
It dosen't have to be long term.
No offense, but your mother's house dosen't sound decent for raising children. No roof, no water an alcholoic grandmother...
I hope ya'll catch a break quick!
Shelly

[willow_girl]

Another thought (thinking back to something my husband said a few days ago, about someone in similarly bad circumstances): if there isn't work to be had in your area, and you have a baby to support, have you or your wife considered joining the military?

[chris30523]

I know alot of the poultry farms here offer a place to live and a small salary.You might not want to move to Ga. here is the address. georgia.gov-marketbulletin .Good luck

[Danaus29]

You cannot use food stamps to buy seeds in Ohio. Seeds are not considered food items.

The OP is most likely accessing this site from a library computer.