Homesteading is cold!!!

Being honest with my opinions is a far cry from being mean.

I merely pointed out that kirsten is setting herself up for expensive repairs on broken pipes, coming home to a house that is the same temperature as a Dakota winter can lead to illness.

Perhaps you think I am being rude and mean because you did not want to hear what I had to say. 'Kill the messenger' so to speak.

I wish you lots of luck.

Honey, I don't care how many ranches people give you for nothing. You'll never make it as a homesteader/rancher/gardener, etc. The first thing you need is common sense, which you've illustrated you do not have. Am I mean? Maybe I am, but it sounds to me like you can get yourself into a heap of trouble real quick and put your livestock in jeopordy for your stupidity. Let me guess, your "livestock" are horses. Me, I don't raise any livestock who don't pull their own weight whether as food or draft animals. Good luck.

Do You Feel SO MUCH Better Now??? I Can Not See where Downing Her is HELPING in anyway!!! Maybe She is So Smart---She plans to Hire a Ranch Hand that is familiar with Ranching, with alot of common sence to run it for her till she gets the hang of things. EVERY thing NEW I have gotten in to---I had to Learn-----There were always ALOT of Nice People, that Were Friendly, that I could ask questions without being PUT DOWN. Randy

Kirsten, you had a few harsh words sent to you because some people couldn't believe you are in the boat you are in.
As soon as your first post came up, I sent you a PM, offering to sell you a fireplace tube blower at really less than what it cost me to build. $ 150 for what they are selling for $449 except the tube I used was schedule 40 which is more than twice the thickness of what others sell.
I even told you I would send it to you and you could pay me as you could. That was before anyone else gave you an answer.
After I came back and read what has been said and your answers, I think you are a young, spoiled brat, that can't make it on a homestead.
The best thing I can tell you is to get the property sold to someone that has the sense to homestead it and stay in town, with GAS heat.
MHO

__________________
If some one has done something before,
You can also do it, if you find out how they did it

We have power tools, ancestors didn't

keep kicking the ball
it won't stop rolling

Dennis

sorry

__________________
If some one has done something before,
You can also do it, if you find out how they did it

We have power tools, ancestors didn't

keep kicking the ball
it won't stop rolling

Dennis

There are worse things than getting illness because its cold in the house.

There is going to sleep....and never waking up again, because of the cold. You can die of hypothermia easier than you think, and at warmer temps than you think.

I certainly hope you dont have children.

But hey...what do I know, Im a meanie poopy pants.

__________________
Recognize the beauty in things, in creation, even when thats difficult to do.
Be loving, show compassion. Create while we're here.
Enjoy this life, be in this life but not be of it.

Only in modern America are you mean because you speak the truth...sell the ranch and move to Fla.Just my 2 cents.

First Winter we were here.We didn't have any Floors,no Insulation,Tarp over the North side.It was so cold I put wood next to the Stove,still had Snow on it the next morning.

I went to sleep one night,didn't know my Socks were damp,woke up the next morning they were froze to my feet

I could go out -5F Shirt Sleaves and be sweating.Would take a Shower Outside,long as the water was hitting me it wasn't too bad.

big rockpile

__________________
I love being married.Its so great to find that one person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.



If I need a Shelter
If I need a Friend
I go to the Rock!

WHAT A SAD THREAD THIS IS.

First Kristian comes on and gives us a little information about the problems. Not enough information for any of us to really figure things out, but just enough to let us know there is a problem.

Then some folks with experience let her know that the problem is real. The problem is deadly too. There will need to be more done than some fantisy here.

After some of this reality talk, Kristian needs to let us know that she is a "Rich" rancher, as soon as she inherits the ranch. O.K. and "they" (don't know who the other(s) are) have good jobs in the big city, etc.

SO she has the question, along with the desire for the answers to fit into the fantisy. Reality is not acceptable. Too bad for her, and the other(s), and the dogs and whatever other animals are there. 15 degrees above zero, in S.D. is a brisk fall day. Reality will be here soon. 30 below zero, with a 50 mile an hour wind and a foot or two of snow can (and likely will) kill you, the other(s), the dogs and other animals overnight. Sorry that's how it is.

I have worked with my 100+ year old house in a bit milder climate, southern Ohio. It only gets 25 below zero every few years or so. I know a lot about what to do to survive this situation. Others have posted a lot of good information here that a prudent person would be wise to consider.

From where I sit my best reccomendation would be to shut down the house, get rid of the livestock, Sell them or board them, and move to town. Rent an apartment, and do this pioneer thing in the spring. Don't throw a tantrum because you don't like the answers, and remember that a frozen corpse requires no firewood.

We have found the problem and it is, Kristian.

I know what it's like to be cold.....so cold that you want to just curl up and cry.......But you have to get yourself up, and get to work fixing the problems.
Ronda

What's that book by Laura Ingalls Wilder....The Long Winter? (someone correct me if need be) Read it and marvel! Probably lots of great tips. Like maybe 45' in your house is tropical!

This got me to thinking too about staying with my Brother in Law in Colorado,160 inches of Snow on the ground and his wife leaving the Back Door open because she didn't want to get up and let the Kids in and out while they were playing

big rockpile

__________________
I love being married.Its so great to find that one person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.



If I need a Shelter
If I need a Friend
I go to the Rock!

I'm not buying this thread. Kristen is looking for attention, I don't buy her story.

Pete

So does mother nature...

If your house is open and it is 15 degrees outside then you don't have running water either. I might suggest a shleter until Spring, then get everything ready for next year.

No heat in 15 degrees equals broken water pipes and canned goods, not to mention you're endangering your health. Your dogs are suffering too in the cold.

Your house will hold what little heat there is a lot better when the place is shut up. I know at our cabin we'd find the place took hours to warm up after it was closed for long periods of time. The cold gets into the floors, furniture, etc....

I'd recommend what others have said - install a doggie door, 'kennel' them in the house, or provide them with adequate protection outside... and keep the house shut up. It will be cold when you get home if there's no one there to keep adding to the fire, but IMHO it's a far better option than leaving the house open. You have severe winter weather where you're at.

It is 27 outside right now, and I am getting a little bit chilly. I think I will go throw another stick of wood on the fire.

__________________
If some one has done something before,
You can also do it, if you find out how they did it

We have power tools, ancestors didn't

keep kicking the ball
it won't stop rolling

Dennis

Well, wow.
My original intention was to make an observation about the hardship of living without modern heating and how I found it not much fun at all. If I may sum up homesteading for me, it is mainly doing the best you have with what you have when you have it. That means rigging things up, making things, learning to cook by scratch, keeping the ducks out of your garden, tying pallets together on the back of your truck to get your wether to the vet and having your neighbors say, "I saw that contraption... if you ever need help..." For me it is making do until the time it can be improved upon whether by finances or resources. I decided that I had to improve upon my heat situation and bought propane and moved the other things on my long list down the list.

My post was real. Misunderstood. I thought I was making friendly conversation.

I do have horses but they were given to us becuase my in-laws ranch burned up with fire and all their grass was gone so they gave us two horses. And like the snide lady, I am a mostly utilitarian type of person and don't generally keep anything that doesn't produce for me so I keep sheep and as a part of my state licensed hatchery, I keep blue turkeys and various breeds of chickens for sale and they all produce for me. I don't happen to have cattle at present. Sorry about that. My dog is for herding and my the other dog is my husband's and he keeps pet bunnies too. My cats are for killing and they couldn't make me prouder- tackle huge rats and moles and everything- very good kitties!

I can't remember what all else was said and I know now that if I switch pages, I lose what I typed so I won't go back but yes, Cheryl, they say that we are going to have a warmer winter but tons of snow so I should stock up and have a better winter plan. I am just getting finished insulating all my poultry houses. I tend to go it this way, I worry about my animals first and God worries about me first and everything tends to work out that way. Last year, our first year here though, I remember that it was a very warm November even if it did snow before then, it warmed up again and was a great Indian summer. I was thinking I had more time.

Of course, I don't have children. I would have had to have reliable heat long before now had I children. But I don't so I can still do goofy stuff that appalls others inadvertently.

kirsten

Kirsten,

Well, the bright side to lots of snow is that we need it so badly! And after -35 last winter, warmer weather is good too! I am glad you are stocked up. The worst winter I remember (and I've only lived here 22 years!) the eastern half of the state was socked in for weeks. The governor had the National Guard hauling in food to some towns. The ranches were on their own. I used to have pictures from the newspaper of miles of highway under 8-10 foot drifts & a ranch house buried under a 25 foot drift. The sad thing is we NEED a winter like that again!

Hay is starting to get scarce. If you don't have a supplier, & are in western SD I know a guy that has it. I just paid $4 a bale, if I picked it up out of the field, for 3rd cutting alfalfa. This winter it will be $7-$8.50 a bale.

Welcome to SD!

A utilitarian type person would eat those horses. They don't taste half bad. Salted and smoked they taste delicious.

Pete

Kirsten, I'm all for you. After all igloos stay open all night too.