James rambles about the Tennessee property move. As mentioned in the August 7th ramble, James and Dawn are down in Tennessee this week overseeing excavation on the new homestead, so this is Number Three in a set of five related rambles. Simply saving some time and energy on the pre-amble for this. Dawn will posting up a lot more footage as we document the process of converting our 16.3 acres into a functioning homestead over the next few years. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umkdatgrCeI
James follows up on his previous Minimalist Homestead ramble. He talks about Accidental versus Planned Minimalism and adds Simplicity to that buzzword mix. There is a little context based on where things are with the current transition from Ohio to Tennessee. And there is a brief conjecture about possibly running a Live Stream Q&A or AMA (Ask Me Anything) at some point in the future. Assuming there is interest, of course.
SONG OF THE DAY
"Planet Claire" by The B-52s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOjAzI5zALo
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9DKLZmu_7k
Dawn spent some time this week tidying up the backyard. We love how the timelapse shows the effects of our efforts.
#propertycleanup
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oQZpvgGiaA
James returns to the beginning to Level Set what these rambles are about -- the why and how they started, and expectations for what anyone listening or watching might get from them.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mohybUrl6P8
Not a ramble, as such, but James took a walk with the dogs along the creek and up the ridgeline. There is a lot of tree fall (nicely visible now the foliage has gone). Just putting this montage up for comment. Interested in opinions and ideas on clearing, repurposing, and so on. Note: I misfired on a fifth part to this, but there is a little more treefall bordering the next lot (which we also own). This tree fall is all on the middle of our three 5+ acre lots.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBI5rgJjeHM
James rambles about Self-Reliance, hot on the heels of the most recent Self-Reliance Festival. He talks about the urgency to end dependency on increasingly failing systems. Links below to the Festival, plus other sites we like to support (no affiliation, just admiration for what our friends do):
Self Reliance Festival: https://selfreliancefestival.com/
Living Free in Tennessee: https://www.livingfreeintennessee.com/
SOE Tactical Gear: https://www.originalsoegear.com/
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1UAHJo-Njk
James rambles about Earthbags, how and why they are used to construct homes, and some of the challenges with their use.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zAInNU8VlU
After having some problems with our RV refrigerator, we opted to do a freezer conversion to give us time to sort out the propane fridge and also test a refrigeration solution for our kids.
Where we got the idea: https://www.5acresandadream.com/2020/03/chest-freezer-to-fridge-conversion.html#:~:text=Refrigerator%2Ffreezer%20experts%20say%20such,operating%20at%20temps%20above%20freezing
The controller: With WIFI - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PVBG8K1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
Without WIFI - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HXM5UAC?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
(We have no affiliate codes and we make no money from these links. We're just here to help.)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mCcDoyvcIM
James rambles about the Continued Downsizing. He revisits the whys and hows and whats and also talks about the latest developments in terms of personal sales and the limits on those (which has been an ongoing thing in the news that could easily have slipped under peoples' radars).
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqbO9SHVeSs
James rambles about Introspection, and in particular, thinking about how to start getting on top of Tasks with limited Time. As we come up to Winter, there's a bunch of things that need to be tackled and best not to leave them to the last minute -- some pondering on that included. Also, apologies for the "gap" in rambles -- couple of tough days and rambling was not on the radar.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkOaQgnEXWA