[Melissa]

Welcome to the Countryside Families forum.

-Please note that the moderators for this particular forum are Melissa and Wendy. There is a direct link at the bottom of the forum where you can find our profiles and contact us by pm.

On this forum we try to maintain a spirit of friendliness, kindness and caring for one another. Of course we disagree, but we try to do it in respectful way taking into consideration the thoughts and feelings of others. The main word is RESPECT.

On this site, I allow NO PROFANITY, no sarcasm, no off-color jokes or quotes, no use of excessive "negative" language, no making fun of anyone or ganging up on a poster. Also no direct links to offensive photos or videos. After several incidences that did not go well, we allow no direct solicitation of monetary funds. If you feel moved to help another poster, you are free to do so, but all contact must be made privately, and remember you give at your own risk.

Posts that violate the rules will be deleted or threads may be locked permanently or temporarily. We will not edit your post. The entire post will be deleted, you may receive infraction points. If you see a questionable thread send me or one of the other board moderators, a PM with a link or report the post, and we will look into it as soon as possible. Do not post topics simply to start a fight!!!!! Reposting a previously deleted thread is grounds for immediate banning or infraction points may be given.


If you ever have any questions or concerns, please send me a PM. I will get back to you asap.

What is allowed on this site?? Any posts about family life or issues, posts about living in the country, animals, sewing, gardening, prayer requests, religious postings (many will be Christian in nature so do not be offended, but we are open to informational posts about other religions as well.) Post your homesteading questions, pet stories or questions, weight loss topics, healthier eating and living, current news topics, money saving hints, tightwad tips, book reviews, recipes, cooking questions, G rated jokes, and uplifting stories or quotes.


Our purpose is to help one another in a kind and compassionate manner. We are here to give advice, share our triumphs and our troubles, and to give needed support in an understanding way. Thank you everyone for your continued support of this site. It is only because of people like you who take the time to post about your lives, that we are the close family we have become. I am always awed by your kindness, helpful attitudes and the reaching out that you all do with each other.




I am going to try to clarify some thoughts on the word hell which causes a lot of problems.

If you are talking about heaven and hell, hell is acceptable.Any other use is NOT ACCEPTABLE!


We do not allow the substition of*** or %&[email protected] in offensive words.

PLEASE REVIEW YOUR POSTS before you submit them. Save us time and trouble by going over your posts and removing any questionable language. I know some of you do not think this is a big deal, but the overall atmosphere of the board disinegrates if this type of language is used on a regular basis.

If you feel your post was deleted unfairly, send a pm and we will check into it.

As always, any member can report a post by clicking on the yellow triangle in the right-hand corner of the post.


*****************************************************


Feel free to use this thread to tell us all about you. We really want to know!!! Some things you may want to mention include: location, familly, hobbies, homesteading interests, info about your home, job, favorite books, magazines, really just about anything that lets us know you better. Tell us how you found this site also. I will keep this a sticky.

 

[Carol O]

Well, I'm a 30 year old wife and mother to 5 blessings, Catlyn 10, Harmoni 8, Gabrielle 5, Michael 3 and Elisabeth 19mos. I have been a stay at home mother since we married 10 1/2 yrs ago. Untill last Oct. we homeschooled our children, but due to health reasons we decided that public school is best for now. We moved to our acreage in 2001. We have 10 acres, and a fixer upper house. I garden and can. We have had chickens, and a cow. I am interested in all aspects of homesteading...guess you could say it's my hobby too I enjoy reading,and scrapboooking, and writing. I found this site after contacting Carla Emery. I look forward to getting to know you all.
Blessings,
Carol

 

[Marsha]

Hi,

I'm Marsha, age 43. I have been married for 24 1/2 years to my Bible College
sweetie. We have 12 precious blessings, and, 2 son-in-laws. We have also
been blessed with 2 precious grandchildren, and, a new one due any day now.

I was saved at age 12 in 1973 at church camp. I have been saved now for over 30 years, but, many times still feel much like a babe in Christ.

I enjoy homesteading here on our 2 3/4 acres. We have a big old farmhouse,
a goat, two pigs, 8 chickens, 1 dog & 1 cat.

We homeschooled for 11 years, but, when we moved here to this house
in Aug. of 2002, we enrolled our children in our rural public school. The children
have adjusted well, and, are doing very good in school.

Our two oldest daughters are married, and, our oldest son is a nuclear tech in the Navy. Our oldest daughter living at home attends a local college studying nursing, and, then the next 7 are in school, and, the baby
Moriah Grace(2) stays at home with Mama.

My husband works a full-time job for a steel company & also pastors a small
country Baptist Church.

I get to stay at home during the day with our only one not in school. It is
really a change from having everyone at home for 11 years.

I like to read, bake, garden, help others, keep a peaceful home, learn
new things, collect recipe books, sew, take walks, and spend time with my family.

I have actually been on the Countryside forum since the first old forum . . .for those who remember it. Sometimes I get busy, and, can't come here like I'd like to, or, as has happened our computer has crashed many times, and, I wasn't able to be on for a while, but, I just keep coming back. There are lots of good
folks here on the forum that make it a special place to fellowship.

Looking forward to reading everyones intro's.

~~Marsha~~
I Samuel 12:24

 

[okgoatgal2]

i'm 33, divorced, mother of 4, in my last yr of elem ed major, graduating in May 2004. used to have goats, rabbits, chickens, cows, hogs, until the divorce this summer. now live in town until i finish my degree. i'm a christian and try to live my life to please God, failing daily, but pressing on. i sing, i love music and reading, cross stitch, crochet, and other crafts. want to teach 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade, rural school, or private school. prayer got me through this year happier than i have been in years, and i look forward to the rest of my life, God gave me life, and i plan to give as much back to Him as i possibly can

 

[r.h. in okla.]

Well I'm a big rock singer, I got golden fingers and I'm loved everywhere I go. I sing about beauty and I sing about truth, at 10,000 dollars a show. Well it's all decide to.......................



Seriously! I'm a half-breed injun, in my 40's, and I live in N.E. Oklahoma in Cherokee Nation. My interest are my family, gardening, hunting, fishing, and camping activities. Type of work I do: Have done electrical work for over 20 years, was a environmental services director at a local hospital for 7 years, responsible for housekeeping, laundry, and maintanance department. Processed deer and made various deer sausage for people for 2 years, and am currently trying to become a Professional Product Designer (inventor). Highlights of my life: Getting saved, married a beautiful woman, haveing 3 beautiful daughters. Lowpoints of my life: parents divorced when I was young, no parental supervision in my teenage years, became an alcoholic and drugatic for the next 12 years after high school. How did I find this site: I've been here longer then the majority of the people who log on. I joined about 2 months after Countryside started the original site. Have seen many people come and go and sometimes wonder if I should go. Probably more people here wonder if I should go also.

 

[charlieS]

Hello from the Oklahoma Panhandle;

I have lived with the wonder woman for over forty years. I like gardening and critters. She don't care for either so I let her cook and keep house and I get to do the fun stuff. Didn't get to do a garden this year because of moving. I've been pastor of the local Baptist Church since May. I've been a lurker and infrequent poster on this site since the old Countryside days. For most of my life I was a homesteader and didn't know it. I have raised everything from cattle, goats, sheep, and hogs to all kinds of poultry and pets. My folks were diversified farmers by necessity and we did it all. After a tour with Uncle Sam and seminary I returned to that life for many years and served small churches as bi-vocational pastor also. Five years ago I became a full time pastor. I still like to garden and raise chickens for show. Reading the posts on this forum is sure illuminating. A lot of you seem like family anymore.

 

[j.r. guerra in s. tx.]

I'm a 40 year old architectural draftsman married to a 7th - 8th grade English / Reading school teacher. We have two children, one a five year old boy who is diagnosed as PDD (slightly autistic), and a 20 month old girl. Our religious faith is Catholic.

We live in deep south Texas, hard up against the Mexican border. About 60 miles upriver of the mouth of the Rio Grande River. We live in a small city, on a small city lot where we try to practice frugal living habits. We have one dog, and just added several chickens, who we hope, will supply us with eggs sometime in late spring.

My hobbies pretty much follow my profile - a person who really enjoys spending time with his family, I enjoy hunting, fishing, camping, and hiking. Our idea of a vacation is spending time outside large cities and driving 'two lane' roads to get there.

 

[MOJILL]

Hello,

I am an almost 45 (this month) year old married mom who grew to adulthood in in the Washington DC area (VA) but moved to rural MO 4 years ago to raise my now 8 year old son and live the dream my husband and I had for small piece of land, chickens, gardens. I left a good paying management position to become a stay-at-home mom, gardener, cook, baker, chicken plucker. No real regrets. AN unexpected development was my becoming a Christian (at age 43) and developing strong roots here in my new home town. I hope to start homeschooling my son soon.

I like to run and read and am a closet "game boy" player.

I"m addicted to coffee (black/no sugar) and enjoy a Michelob Ultra Light beer now and then (more 'now' than 'then'). LOL

I love a good debate (which is one reason I'm hooked on HT).

Jill
Forty-five and still alive (my son made that up last night)

 

[nostalgia]

Melissa
I believe you forgot to tell us about yourself.

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[catcrazy]

Hi --

I like this forum because of the niceness and lack of sarcasm, etc. Thank you, Melissa! I've learned a lot here too.

I'm 44, married 9 years. We live in northern MN. We have cats, dogs, chickens, and a duck. DH would like to get geese. I would like having more critters (possibly a cow and goats), but I also like to be able to get away for an overnight or travel occasionally, and that seems to get harder when you add more animals.

We have 10 acres, I love it in the country and the woods. We have a great, productive square foot garden which did very well this year, due to weather and lots of chicken manure. We canned and froze our most ever -- DH keeps track of the produce yields. I canned salsa for the first time -- it's delicious. I did NOT grow up canning (DH did), and it took me awhile to get the hang of it.

I love to dance, do yoga, garden, do lots of things outside (ski, hike, canoe, just be). I write fiction novels and short stories. I also freelance as a writer and editor. Another hobby is following frugal living/simple living writings and websites, etc. I try to put it into practice...

that's it, I think!

 

[MelissaW]

Hi all! Well, I'm a 32 year old married mother of one 6 year old boy. Before I decided to become a stay at home mom, I was a reference and youth services librarian. I tought school for a short time before that. Now I am knee deep in domestic bliss! I raise chickens and grow a large vegitable garden, and an herb garden for medicine and cooking on our five acre lot. I also volunteer at the school one day a week, and I am working on a novel that I would love to sell! I also was led to the forum by Carla Emery. She is a hero of mine, and just knowing that she spends time here too makes me happy! My hobbies are reading, writing, gardening, cooking, animals, and making botanical beauty products which I sell at craft fairs. Connecting with people here has been a wonderful experience!

 

[KateC]

I'm a mostly lurker/sometimes poster who had been lurking for quite a while before I finally introduced myself. There is something about this forum that keeps me coming back day after day, even if just to read...it's like a good book that I don't want to put down...

I am 29 and I live in central Mass w/my dh of 5 years, our 9 yo dd (do the math, lol) and our 2 yo ds. We have 2 cats, 1 of whom thinks he is human and can't be convinced otherwise. We also adopted a 3 yr old black lab/dalmation mix about a year ago. She is a sweet dog, although terribly skittish and timid, we think she was treated very poorly early in life. She is completely attached to me and follows me wherever I go. My dh adopted my dd when she was 4 yo and has been the only Dad she has ever known since she was 2. I thank God every day for him. My chidren were born on the same day, 7 years apart. I would love to know what the odds are of that! We are currently TTC #3 and if we were to conceive next month, there would be the possibility of a 3rd 10/23 baby! (I had a m/c in July and we have been trying ever since, so I should be so blessed...)

We live on 2 acres in a rural setting and although we are not "homesteaders" we do love our little piece of land away from the hustle and bustle of city life. I have yet to venture into the world of gardening, mostly due to money and time, but my Mom has the greenest of thumbs and I am hoping I inherited some of her charm with plants.

Anyway, I currently WOH f/t for a speaker manufacturer, maintaining the website end of things mostly. I have been here for 8 years and I like my job fine but my heart is at home with my kids, and that's what I am working towards. I recently became licensed to do in-home daycare and when the time (and finances) is right, I will make a career change. My dh works for a competing electronics retailer, in sales, after being laid off in 2000 and trying to find a new career path ever since...we are hoping he is now on the right one.

I am frugal by nature and love to find new ways to save money, make it myself, etc...I love the mantra "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or go without" although I sometimes fall off the frugal wagon and have to throw myself back on before I do too much damage. I love to cook and bake and think I am getting better at both all the time. I am proud of my skills in the kitchen because they are mostly self-taught.

As far as my faith goes, since it's a popular topic around here, I am a Christian who is still in search of the right Church home...I was baptised Catholic but raised without religion and am still learning/finding my way. I have always had a relationship with God but it took the birth of my beautiful babies to make me want to have a better one.

Glad to get to know you all better.

Kate

 

[NativeRose]

Hello. I am a young 51 year old Native Texan. I have been married 27 years to the man God chose for me. I have 2 sons both married. I have 2 grandbaby boys. Our first granddaughter is due in April. She will be the first girl on my side of the family in 42 years. My youngest sister was the last girl.
I live in the country in East Texas on a small ranch. I am an all round country woman. I tend cows, fix fence and other chores around the place. I love to garden, cook and read. I also am doing family reasearch. I am very interested in my heritage. I am of Scottish, Choctaw and Delaware origin. I am a pale face in looks but not at heart. My daughter (in-law) is Cheyenne-Arapaho. We are learning culture together. We want to teach our new baby girl her heritage.
I have type II diabetes and do battle with it daily. The Lord is my Savior and He is the reason I am still here with my family.
I have already gleaned a lot of information from this site that has been useful and interesting. I love learning from others.

Looking forward to learning and sharing, Rosemary

 

[simpleman]

My name is Ernest. I am forty-seven years old and live in Orlando Florida. My wife and I found thiis forum several years ago, when they were over on the CountrySide Magazine forum. Then we were planning to homestead and got lots of info from these fine folks about it. We chose the Missouri Ozarks and moved there. We cleared land, built an A-frame, raised our own gardens, livestock, cut our own firewood and stuff like that. We lived without indoor plumbing, television, and grew, forage, and made almost everything that we could so we could live the simpliest life we ever did. Hardship brought us back to the city of Orlando but, the values of simple living are still alive and well with us here, even in the city.

I work as a maintenance man for the apartment complex that we reside at. My commute is approximately a three minute walk from my apartment to my job. Melitza is a stay at home mom of two children of which one is being homeschooled now. She still makes quilts, does canning, makes wine, her own breads, cooks from scratch everything and occasionally will make lye soap.

Melitza made all of her Christmas ornaments this year using cut out paper santas we found on www.papertoys.com. They are cone shaped and have to be assembled by cutting out the pieces, shaping them and gluing them together. After assembly, she glued sprinkles on them and now we have over 50 beuatiful little santas decorating our tree.

I woodwork. Last year I built a doll house, doll house furniture, a cradle and a table and chair set for my two youngest daughters for their Christmas gifts. My most recent project has been a full size futon bedframe with head board. Melitza wrapped batting around the headboard and decorated it with leapord skin fabric. Then she added a leapord skin seat to an old tool chest that she restored several years ago and put it at the foot of the bed. After that she bought a matching comforter and shams to finish off the project.

She sews everything either by hand or with her treadle sewing machine. In the last three years she has made five quilts and a modest array of children clothes.

We are bikers and I own a 1995 Harley Davidson of which Melitza and I have traveled much on. We rode up the Orange Blossom Trail from Kissimmee Florida to Maggie Valley North Carolina several years ago (before children). That was our longest ride. We attend many of the local bike rallies in Daytona and other places in Florida, when we can.

We were avid sportmen and have mountain climbed, back packed, camped, hunted, fished and bicycled through most of our vacations. We are also card carrying nudists (we carry the card in a fanny pack), whom when the weather is right spend our weekends at www.cypresscoveresort.com. over in Kissimmee.

We have a three year old named Caroline Diyonisis and a year and a half old named Anika Rose. We have been married for over six years with a perfect track record of never once having an argument or fight.

Our plans are to stay in Orlando for several years and then relocate to Puerto Rico (my wife's country) and build another homestead there, in the mountains of course.

As I said before, we prefer simple living and have carried this "tradition" with us from our experiences in the Ozarks. We do not have cable tv, cell phones, video games, debt, or any of the usual trappings of modern life.

For entertainment we play backgammon, chess, pass the pigs, and card games. We read and have a modest size library in our home. I spend too much time on the internet but, do enjoy participating in heated debates especially over on General Chat. Melitza goes online when the kids will leave her alone and when I am not here "hogging" the computer. My favorite forums are here on www.homesteadingtoday.com and www.backwoodshome.com. I have been trying to write a book about our experiences in the Ozarks and eventually I will get it all together and publish it. I do a lot of writing besides that and hope someday that I will have enough talent to make all the effort pay off.

Ernest

 

[hanlonfive]

Hi! My name is Kelli, I'm a stay-at-home mom and have lived my whole life in Ohio. I've been married to a wonderful man for the past 15 years and he is truly my best friend. We have three wonderful boys that I homeschool. I've been Pagan for about 2 years now and I'm at peace for the first time in my life. We also have two cats, a ferret and a hamster.

Currently, I'm trying to learn everything that I can about homesteading and I'm a bit overwhelmed. I learned how to crochet last winter and hopefully I can learn to quilt this winter. Hubby and I are working on getting out of debt so that in about 1 1/2 years my family can follow my Mom and make the move out to Montana. Right now we live in town, so it's hard to do alot of homesteading but we try.

Nine blessings,

Kelli

 

[Sharon in NY]

I'm Sharon, 31, mother of two (will be 3 any minute now, I hope!) - Eli, 3 1/2, and Simon, 2. Another little boy is due in a couple of weeks. I've been married to Eric for almost 8 years now. We're trying to combine our Jewish and homesteading impulses and farm according to Biblical principle and Jewish law.

Eric is a Professor of Astronomy, I have been a Professor of English, but right now am teaching only part time, and concentrating on expanding our CSA and other farm activities. We split the parenting, the housekeeping and the work about evenly. We hope to homeschool our children, although for now Eli attends a preschool for children with developmental delays and is thriving there.

I'm jack of a lot of trades, master of none. Besides market gardening we raise pastured poultry. I knit, crochet and sew a bit, am learning to spin. We raise probably 50% + of our own food and are trying to expand it. In other lives I've been an AIDS educator, a relief worker in the Bosnian war, a paramedic, a writer and a SAHM. I'm always looking for a new skill or something exciting to try - my next projects are beekeeping and sheep!

Cheers,

Sharon

 

[DeAnn]

I'm DeAnn and this is my first post. I have been lurking here for some time. I don't even remember how I found it, but I love it here. Great info to be found.

I am 36 and live on 5 acres in central Fla with my soulmate. Have been together for 5 years. We live in a double wide and have a 1400 sq ft garage that I want to convert to a barn (concrete floor ?)We have 6 chickens (4 are Americauna), 1 dog (German Shepard mix), a handful of cats and a rogue GATOR in the pond. We have lived here for about 3 years and still don't know what we want to do with the place. Would like to start with goats but when I mention it I get the eye roll

I used to work as a paramedic (10 years) but am looking for something else to do. Would like to work from home. Haven't figured out how yet. My SO works with fiberglass and moldmaking. He can really make a mess.

I love to read, garden and cook. Want to learn to can veggies, quilt, and sew. Am I in the right place? :haha:

Well that sums it up for now. Have a great day.
DeAnn

 

[Mullers Lane Farm]

I’m Cyndi, in my mid 40’s (where has the time gone?). I’m married to my best friend, Paul. We have 4 children. We’ve been homesteading in cities and towns for longer than we care to remember, boarding the draft team and raising rabbits, chickens & gardens in the back yard.

We have had our 11 acre homestead for almost 2 years now and each day just keeps getting better and better! We have half our land in hay which we farm using the team of Belgians. Next year we will be renting it out to a neighbor farmer who will rotate it with seed corn (It’s been in alfalfa for over 10 years and is played out.) We raise our own meat – pork, beef, rabbit, chicken, geese, guinea and heritage turkeys, there is also eggs from the birds and honey from the bees. Dolly is our Jersey milk cow. She is currently bred to a dun short-legged Dexter. We make our own butter and cheeses courtesy of Dolly. We give farm tours to local schools and organizations – showing folks how people use to live.

The kids are involved in bible quizzing, 4-H, Scouts, Civil Air Patrol and various school activities. My husband is a jack-of-all-trades – a professional handyman for the past 17 years, a skilled carpenter, plumber & farrier. He is also a marvelous artist, writer & musician. He gives history programs (Rev War, Civil War and Westward Expansion) to local schools. We’re involved in 4-H. I work full time off the farm in information services for a local hardware manufacturer. Let’s see – I make soaps, salves, lotions and other bath sundries, garden (veggies, flowers, herbs), I can the produce, bake bread and run a market stand with all these items available on Saturday mornings in spring, summer & fall. I make beeswax candles, spin and crochet. I also braintan animal hides and do Native American beadwork. This winter I want to learn how to tat and make baskets – especially basket making so I have a place to put all the other stuff!!!

Our family is truly blessed to be able to live and raise children in this manner. We thank our Lord every day for his abundant blessings.

 

[Kelle in MT]

I'm Kelle and I'm 38 yrs old. I've been married to my soulmate, Mike now for 19yrs( will be 20 next March) We have two blessed children, ds, Jon 15yrs and dd, Cortney 12 yrs. old. We are born again Christians and God is #1 in all aspect of our lives. We homeschool, this is now our 7th year. We have our ups and downs but PTL there have been more ups than downs.

I have been on this forum, since it was the Countryside forum, although I don't always get on here everyday. I lurk more than anything, but I am working with Carla Emery on editing her book for a 10th edition. Many people on here were and are still involved in testing recipes and procedures in the 9th ed. Encyclopedia of Country Living. I've learned far more than I've shared and feel as if I've made some lifelong friends too

Both Mike and I are from ranching/ farming backgrounds and have yearned for years to return to the country. We purchased our place, and moved in, in December 2002. It's hard to believe it's been a year. We have 6 acres, all river frontage. A 1910 farmhouse, double garage, shop(small), silo, barn and two chicken coops. We've accomplished much in a years time; remodeled the entire kitchen, adding my wood cookstove( our main heat source), added a central heat system( for backup heat only) reroofed our house, added 18" of insulation in our attics( there was 0 insulation) reseeded the whole yard and put in some flowerbeds. planted 1/4 acre garden. Pruned all our apple and plum trees, thinned sapling cottonwoods out of the bottom of our pastures, torn down all the fencing in preparation of refencing this coming Spring. This Fall we bought a tractor( Farmall M), so we were able to get our pastures plowed and disced, so we can reseed them this Spring( they were all weeds from lack of irrigation and overgrazing)

We have chickens( which moved with us) and turkeys. Next year, if it's the Lord's will we'll get our fencing done and pastures reseeded and established. Then we'd like to add a dairy cow and a calf for beef. At some point down the road our kids would like to have a horse.

I love to garden and to just be outside in the fresh air. I can all the produce we don't eat fresh, my dh and ds are hunters and keep our freezers full. We raised broilers for the first time this year and will continue to do so in the future. Once you've had homegrown, organic chicken you can't go back to store bought. I also like to read, quilt and do most any craft I set my mind to. The next thing I'd like to try my hand at is making soap. We try to be frugal in all aspects of our lives and recycle everything until it's simply worn out. I look forward to coming here every chance I get, it feels like HOME

 

[june02bug]

Well I am also in central Florida. I am a native Floridian back at least 4 or 5 generations. Rare, I know. We met online in 2000 and have been best friends ever since. We were married at Medieval Times, Kissimmee, Florida in 2001. I/We have a DD (8), 1 (so far) dog, 3 cats,1 pet rabbit, fish, 4 ducks, and a growing collection of chickens. After we were married we lived in Orlando for 2 years and hated it... so we moved back to Polk Co. Just closed on our 5 acres on the ridge in Lake Wales on the 4th. I can see Bok Tower from the front porch and Lake Pierce from the back porch. I can't wait to get everything going. We are obviously pagan. We both love to cook. Can't wait to get the garden going again, get bees, probably rabbits, maybe geese and a steer for the freezer later. We also want to further expand our already kinda large home library. I sew a little... want to do much more but have to buy a sewing machine still. I want to learn to can, make soap & candles and quilt. I grew up "country" but DH is a city boy mostly but is adjusting well.... just still a little squimish about butchering but over all he is very excited also.

He works for a large company for the benefits. I work in the insurance industry for an agent of one of the major companies. Plan to work less and less at a city type job as things go along.

We stumbled onto Countryside magazine by chance... recieved one of those advertisment pkgs in the mail and opened it to look through it, out of curiousity. Sent in the card for a free issue to try and have been hooked for the last year and a half. From there we fould this site and love it. You just can't beat homesteading today.