Work Shop

One of the best things we have done so far this year to save ourselves some money in the long run has been to start building a shop out in the garage.  I only have a few tools so far, but they are pulling their weight!  I have built two sets of shelves, and a chicken brooder in the last week from wood I got on the cheap at Lowe’s because it was warped or otherwise damaged.  Lowe’s calls the wood “cold pack.”  IT is usually marked down as much as 75%, and while it may not be perfect, it certainly can serve smaller duty purposes. 

Tools are expensive, especially if you are buying quality, and you are buying new.  I am, mostly because I don’t like putting myself or my kids at a safety risk.  Where possible, I would rather buy it once and buy it right.  Of course, a part of the shopping process is shopping on Amazon where reviews are available.  It is taking a bit of money to do, but it is giving me a great hobby, and since I actually can do some degree of work with my hands, it is providing us exactly the size and shape of whatever furnishings it is we need. 

Another reason I am putting the shop together now is because I have a lot of work to do this summer to get the farm up to scruff.  Among them is a pantry that can actually store plenty of food.  I am doing the smaller projects as practice before working on the big ones!  I have built a rack int eh shop to hold lumber, since we cannot afford to buy all the wood we need to build our chicken coop from a single paycheck, I am buying a little each week and putting it up in the rack till we do have enough.  Given the choice, I would never, ever buy anything on credit unless it could produce an income at a rate of return higher than the interest I’d be paying on the loan.  So, I won’t be buying the needed lumber on a credit card or anything like that. 

More to come on the brooder soon! 


The Prospering Peasant

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Spring Fever!

Here is a link to an untimely video that will remind you of just how poor you and I are:

http://beingliberal.upworthy.com/9-out-of-10-americans-are-completely-wrong-about-this-mind-blowing-fact-3?g=2

The video gives a graphical representation of the distribution of wealth in America.  I have not fact checked it because it seems legit, and because it is sickening to even think about because it puts folks on an income level such as our family is on at the level of the parasites that feed on the animals that feed on the table scraps of the rich. 

After watching the video, I was reminded that in my state, I do not meet the suitability requirements to invest money through an online brokerage. 

So, what to do? 

Well, spring is in the air, and the growing season is upon us, and while we are not in a category that allows us to make any money in investments governed by the state, or the SEC, there are things that we can do if we hold on to the salt of the earth adages such as “a penny saved is a penny earned.” 

We have medical mills to pay from the birth of our daughter back in November, so our discretionary spending is limited this year as we try to get caught up in that area.  But that is not going to stop us from expanding on what we have got. 

This month I have started to build a little workshop in the garage with a bench I can work on, and keep all the tools, and with a miter saw and table saw so I can cut wood and build more things.  This is the first time since moving from England a little over two years ago that I have been able to really get things together in the form of a workshop!  It’s not much at the moment, but it is like a seed as everything else will grow from here.  Whatever I can build, I will, because of that penny saved, penny earned theory! 

The plans for the workshop so far are to build a chicken coop, expand the workshop, and furnish the pantry with shelves galore!  Day to day repairs and maintenance will save money on replacement costs.  We have fencing to get together too!  We also have serious storage issues in the house that need bespoke shelves and cabinetry to sort out.

Besides saving every penny we can on maintenance, there is a garden to put in, and animals to care for.  We intend to expand our chicken flock this year, and add cows and maybe even a sheep or two to our menagerie. 

So far, for the garden, I have collected a dozen bushes which will produce blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and grapes, and 10 trees to produce apples and peaches.  These starters need homes that will keep them productive, and will keep them out of the regular workflow.  We intend to put the orchard into the back of the half acre pasture to the west of the house, and the bushes in the garden at the house.  Also, we don’t have a greenhouse, but after spring break I want to have the front porch cleaned out and ready to start some plants for the garden.  The front porch is enclosed in glass, and faces south, so it will suit as a greenhouse for the time being! 

The truth is that we are still settling in here in Idaho, and getting the house to a point where it is easy to clean and care for.  Missus Peasant has got a job with a company now that requires her to travel about once a month.  So far it has been Arkansas and Canada, and next month she is off to Mexico City.  Each time she travels, I have the home duties all to myself, and have the kids to care for, as well as my grandparents.  Between farm, family, home, and getting missus back and forth to the airport, I have full hands. 

In addition to all this, I have been putting spare monies into LED lighting at every chance in order to cut the cost of lighting our house in the future.  LED is still expensive, so I have half of the upstairs done so far!  I am starting by picking the lights that tend to get used the most, such as in the landing, where it is dark, and the light is required throughout the day! 

My four year old daughter just came out of her room, signifying the start of my day here at The Peasant’s Manor Farm. 


The Prospering Peasant

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Suicide By Work: Our Summer Plans

Last year we moved onto a patch of land in Southern Idaho that has been supporting as many as 35 cows on a grassy field, and a small flock of chickens.  We brought our chickens, two goats, and two horses into this mid-summer, and have been learning the lay of the land since. 

Over the weekend Missus Peasant and I had a sit down and took stock of the place, and what we could do to lower the cost of the bills, and offset the highest ones with what the land can support.  This summer coming up promises to be a very busy one! 

We have irrigation that has a set cost each year, so the price of water for our planting will not change, no matter how much we put into the ground.  We also get a decent allowance on the metered water, so we should do pretty good to grow a lot of food. 

Our plans for this summer involve installing a good deal of supporting structure that will keep the gown food safe from the animals.  We have already put in a temporary pen for the two goats, and that will be made permanent, with a proper gate to enter and exit behind the barn.  (It’s actually a big shed, but ‘barn’ sounds better!)  We also need to build an actual chicken coop.  It’s no good planting a garden and putting in berry bushes if the chickens are going to eat all of the food!  We also have a spot set aside for a small orchard in the half acre pasture next to the house that we just need to fence off so that we can keep animals in the rest of the pasture.  Eventually we will be able to let sheep graze off the orchard and they will fertilize it, with the fence keeping them in. 

The animals to get this year include two beef cows, a milk cow, and a milking goat.  Missus would like a couple of sheep, so keeping them in will be important!  A llama will be useful for keeping predators off the field over the road, and that will help with the waterfowl.

The field over the road has got a drainage ditch at the bottom of it which is full all year around.  It looks like a perfect place for some ducks and some geese.  We’d really like to put in a willow tree there and make a place to go to relax away from the house.  I just need to double check the space on the other side of the ditch to see if there is room enough between the ditch and the fence for all of that. 

All said and done, I think we are aiming for death by work this year.  The land is here, so we might as well put it to work for us! 


The Prospering Peasant

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Windows 8 Desktop

So, I put Windows 8 on my Netbook, and put in a nice 750 GB hard drive, and not long after all that, my power supply seems to have died.  I ordered one for only $16 off Amazon, which I am happy about apart from it has not shown up yet.  In the mean time, I have put a 1 TB drive into my desktop PC as the C: Drive, and put another copy of Windows 8 on it.  I am still learning how to navigate this new operating system, however I will report that none of the Windows Apps will work on my Netbook because of the low screen resolution.  But now, having seen it on my desktop, I am pretty happy with it.  I just need to get enough applications on to it, and see if I am really happy about the Start Screen. 

I do like the Apps.  I get a lot more info from Weather Bug in a Windows App, for example, than I do using the app for Google Chrome.  What I am unsure about specifically is that the old Windows OS’s brought up a list when the Start Button was depressed, and gave an All Programs option.  There, I could at least see all of the programs installed on the computer.  I am not sure if they all list on the start screen, or if some fall off.  Do I have to search for them, and thus have to know the name of everything that has been installed?  My memory is not that good!  Still experimenting to find out! 


The Prospering Peasant

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Saying Goodbye to Ubuntu

After months of settling in and getting things livable, I finally got to have my computer back!  Missus Peasant has been using it for her work, and now she does not need it anymore, and there was a space in the room at the top of the stairs to put it!  And just when I was spending a load of money to get the Operating System sorted out on my Netbook computer too!  Windows 8 ordered, a Hard Drive case ordered, and this week’s allowance going to a DVD drive to install Windows 8 from.  The only thing left to get is a new Hard Drive, since I want more space and speed! 

Ubuntu has been a fine OS to use on that computer, but nothing supports blogging like Windows Live Writer, and nothing in Ubuntu ever resembles Windows Live Writer!  Another program that I love is Google Sketch-up, which also is not supported in Ubuntu.  Sketch-Up is marvellous for modelling ideas around the house before buying materials and putting saws and drills to hand.  Eventually I want to model the whole house and property in it, and place it in Google Earth.  Can’t be beat for calculating materials such as paint or fencing and so on!

Photographs are handled better in Windows too.  Windows Live publishes them neatly into the body of the blog.  Windows manages them well in the file system.  Photoshop is a better program than the Ubuntu equivalent, and I am far more familiar with it.  I am just plain unafraid of what Windows has to offer. 

After I finish the upgrades to my Netbook, I would like to put a couple of 3TB drives into my tower computer.  Then there are new monitors in order.  I use the plural deliberately, as the tower is set up to handle two.  It is time to get things back in order so I can work! 

Anyone wanting Ubuntu as a free alternative to Windows will likely find it intriguing, and may enjoy it quite a lot.  If you are without an OS, I do recommend trying it to see if it fits your needs.  Software can be had for all types of uses, and much of it for free.  But many of the free programs available on Ubuntu also have Windows equivalents at the same low price!  You don’t have to pay for MS Office when there is Open Office! 

I will have to get back to you to let you know how the new Windows 8 Store works, and what I think of their pricing structure.  One download is available for up to five computers with the new system.  Maybe Microsoft has caught up to the Android Market and the I-Tunes market.  I will let you know when I have Windows 8 installed! 

Glad to be back in action! 


The Prospering Peasant

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November, Is It?

November has rolled around and there has been plenty to do to settle into the house, and onto the property.  With the first snow having fallen, and our comfort levels tested where the goats are concerned, and where the horses and chickens are concerned, we have found it prudent to build a chicken loft in the end of the barn currently housing the chickens.  This way, the chickens will have a high up place to go to for feed, and the goats cannot get to it to steal their food. 

The chicken loft has been finished, all but a few last details, in the wonderful weather that followed the cold days that brought us the snow. 


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The end of the “barn” pictured above is where the chickens live.  The goats will be able to take refuge in there as well when the snow flies and the temperatures drop too low.  The room is 10X16 feet and about 8 feet from the concrete to the rafters. 


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Not every day has been the same.  One morning in mid October we awoke to fog, which of course is a reminder of those days spent in England! 


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Other days have brought us rain too, although most days have been sunny and relatively warm.  Old Dave is surprised that the weather here has been more tolerable than the Idaho of his youth. 

We pulled in some firewood from across the street from what remained of a tree that had been cut down by the utility company about three years ago.  If the three years is accurate, then judging by the rings, about nine years ago this area was much wetter then it was for the last sic years of the tree’s life.  Prior to that, the tree flourished in wet weather and grew nice thick rings.  The earliest of the trees 44 years were its best by far. 

Certainly terms like Global Warming are on our minds, no matter the cause.  Hopefully we will get settled in for the coming season and plant a full garden that flourishes so we can teach our children, and so we can flourish too.  If the warm weather we are having now is anything to go by, and the rings in the tree, we will do well to sort out our means early! 


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What A Weekend!

This weekend we cleared the room at the top of the stairs to use as a den for our family to hang out in.  That will give us and my grandparents separate spaces so we can all go about our preferred activities without complaint.  Finishing this room is a huge victory for us!  It was full of so much stuff and it all belonged to someone else, making it the hardest thing to sort out.  But it is done, and that leaves only one room upstairs till we are fully in possession of our own space to clutter up with our own things.  So that room is this week’s plan, as it is the boy’s bedroom and they will be officially moving into it as soon as they get back from England on Sunday.

On Saturday we were going to go down to the Farmer’s Market in Logan, UT.  We never found it in time before it closed, however we did find another little treasure along the way.

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The Harvest Market At Rock Hill is really in someone’s back yard, but the house is registered as an historic place, and has been set up in such a way that there is space for quite a few things there, such as raising cows and running a creamery, and there is room for vendors who sell their produce from their farms.  We were able to buy corn that had been picked that morning for $3 per dozen, and the seller gave us another small ear for our daughter who was with us.  We also bought cheese that had come from the cows on site, as well as honey that came from bees raised by three boys who decided they wanted to keep bees, and started their own business called Bees Brothers.  I am told that Peter, the owner of the property, bought it twenty years ago with no farming experience, and developed it to what we saw on Saturday.  Really similar to what I would like to do where we are at and with The Prospering Peasant.  I expect there will be more visits to Rock Hill Creamery in the future!

If you are ever in Logan, Utah, and you find yourself wanting a good steak at a decent price, I would suggest The Blue Bird Cafe right on Main Street.  It is an old time candy store and restaurant with some of the best tasting meat I have eaten in many years.  We went to The Texas Road House on Sunday, and while the T-bone was very good there, and the service and environment excellent, I really loved the flavor of the meat at The Blue Bird!  It is second only to Deer Cliff, which has some of the finest natural tasting meat.  Okay, so it has not been for a lack of trying!  So, that’s Deer Cliff in first place, The Blue Bird in second, and Texas Road House in third.  If you find the Texas Road House to be your best local haunt for steak, then I will be expecting a visit from you soon so I can show you better! 


With the boys back in six days from their UK trip, I am hoping to get a lot of things done around here.  The goats have been chained in the pasture next to the house since we got here with them.  I would like a pen to put them in from time to time in order to let them off their chains.  I have a spot picked out between the barn and the fence for that.  If we decide to go through the side of the barn where the window is for a door, then that would put the goats right into where the chickens are now.  They could be partitioned off and the room made for both a chicken coop and a goat pen for this winter anyhow.  We’ll see! 


Kelsey J Bacon

The Prospering Peasant

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Settling In

We are still settling in here, and with a long way to go!  The house needs various work done in order to make everyone happy, such as fixing the drainage issue at the kitchen sink, and quite a bit of decorating!  We are living on the top floor, and sharing the bottom floor with my grandparents, who we are looking after in their old age.  Both are in their 70’s, and both are getting more wobbly on their feet.  The house is too much for them to look after, and it provides us a place to settle our family down work on our goals of self sufficiency as well as helping my grandparents have a dignified life in spite of their challenges. 

Our boys are still in England right now, and getting things moved around and in place is all on us, and really more me as my wife is pregnant at the moment! 

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For photography, there are places around that might serve as workspace for portraiture if I can generate some leads.  They might need a bit of cleaning up and reworking, but I think there are some interesting angles around here.  There are also some interesting props already here! 

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The house itself is fair sized, and while it is a bit dated, it is interesting.  It also has got a lot of untapped potential.  But for our lifestyle choice, it has the land and the water access that we need in order to be able to really get some food growing at the start of spring. 

For now, it is all about getting our family and our animals settled in, and making everyone comfortable for the long winter ahead.  It is also about getting ready for our new little addition come November. 

So 2012 is the year of change again, and settling in again.  It is a year of finding our feet in our local community, and of finding out everything works around here.  On Sunday I learned how to work the irrigation system over the road so we can keep the grass growing all summer.  My teacher was the man who is keeping his cows over there with our two horses.  I want to spell his name Sverro, although I am not real sure on it, and my grandparents pronounce his name differently to how he or his wife does.  They call him Sevell. 

There is a lot to learn still about the local community, and about the people.  So far it seems almost too good to be true in many ways.  The people seem friendly, and everyone waves at each other.  There is always a smile to greet us wherever we go.  There are also a lot of events that are happening here this summer such as fairs and rodeos.  There is also a Farmer’s Market in Logan that we are eager to see.  So much to do, and so much to post about! 


Kelsey J Bacon

“The Prospering Peasant”

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Life In Idaho

So far the life in Idaho has been busy trying to settle in on no budget at all.  The cost of coming up here followed by  the cost of the time spent packing rather than working has been a swift kick in the butt, precisely where the wallet resides.  It’s all work, work, work…  I have a few jobs to do to keep my grandmother happy, and some jobs to keep my immediate family happy, and so far I have not been able to settle into a routine that allows me to post on the Prospering Peasant, or on here, or to get some photography started.  There is just too much to do.  I have not brought my camera out with on many of the drives we have taken locally, but in the weeks to come, I certainly will. 

What I have not been shooting photos of has been the many routes around here that lead up and down the valley, and eventually into or through the mountains that surround us on all sides.  Really, we live in the mountains, but in a large valley on a flat floor of fertile land waiting for the seed, and for the irrigation pipe.  Irrigation was installed here by early pioneers in the area, and for that I am thankful. 

Our set up here consists of one acre divided into half for lawn and house and out buildings, and half for grazing, but with no irrigation on either side, except where the neighbor allows us to run a hose under the fence from his lines, so when he waters his field, we can water our lawn. 

On the other side of the street there is six and a half acres of grazing field, half of it irrigated, and all of it growing nicely.  A local guy puts cows on this field and usually arranges something like a cow for us, however, this year he is paying property taxes and for the water shares instead, as the cows he has cost so much that he only has a dozen for the season. 

All of this is on fairly flat land, apart from the back three acres over the road, which slants slightly downward to a drainage ditch that is always full of standing water in the guise of a long, narrow pond.  The irrigation canal runs right through the center of the property across the road, so there is a bridge over that. 

The barn as I call it is not really a barn in the normal sense.  Instead it is a very large shed made of wood, and it is pretty old.  It has a main room, which could easily serve as a barn, with a dirt floor, and another room which will serve for now as a chicken coop.  It would one day make a lovely canning kitchen though as the vegetable patch is just outside the door to that room. 

There is a separate one car garage that is oversized, and could serve as a two car if the door were big enough. 

The Granary is a building built of 2×4’s laid flat and put together kind of in the fashion of a log cabin.  All of the buildings need some freshening up and cleaning out, but they are all in good enough condition to serve well to their purpose. 

The house is a two story, and is typical in its design, so much so that I have seen a few similar enough to convince me they are built to the same plans. 

More will follow, of course, and especially in the form of photos, once I get all caught up on the settling in part.  There is more to do around here than I care to talk about.  Till then…


Kelsey J Bacon / The Prospering Peasant

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Finally In Idaho!

I am sat at an old table right now with the computer on it, and a sliding glass window to my left that opens to a balcony, and a view of seemingly endless fields.  One mile down that way is where Utah begins, and everything behind me is Idaho.  The goats are in a half acre pasture next door to the house, and the horses on almost seven acres over the road, along with a dozen cows owned by the man who leases the property over there.  The chickens were let loose in the yard when we arrived, and one of them went to live in the end room of the barn with the four others who were already here, and the rest have moved roost into the enormous pine tree out front.  I need to catch them and lock them in the barn for a few days and let them settle there till a chicken coop builds itself in the back somewhere.

There is a lot to do around here!  Photos will follow, but for now, I am happy to announce that we are here.  The boys left for England the day we drove up here, so they have missed out on all of the fun work so far!  But when they get back, and start school, there will be plenty to do on the weekends, which are three days long up here!  Someone decided to save money by shortening the weeks but lengthening the days.  So they will be out for school from about 7:00 AM till 5:00 PM.  There is meant to be lots of homework too! 

A bit of a garden got planted, but it is not much, so we will continue to rely on Bountiful Baskets for now, as well at the grocery stores.  Fuel prices are still fairly high here too, but we are closer to cheaper food, which is a relief.  Also, hay is as low as $75 per ton right now, which will probably allow us to feed the horses and goats all winter for around $300 or $400.  That compared to about $200 per half ton in southern Nevada, so that’s not bad! 

Yes, pictures definitely to follow…


The Prospering Peasant

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