Mamma Moose and her Baby

I submitted 6 pictures to the County Fair this
past August, and to my great surprise they all
won a blue ribbon for 1st place. The mamma and
baby moose was one of them, and I will bore you
with all 6 over the next few weeks or until
somthing exciting happens and I can write about
it.

Eli and I spent 3 wonderful days at grandma
and gramps house and he sure misses them. Not
for long though, we will celebrate Eli's
b-day in Salt Lake City and hope to see A
Christmas Carol with everyone the same weekend
at the IMAX theater.

My favorite part of my trip, Ken - Dad - Eli (!)
and I stayed up till 2am laughing and the Ma
kept getting up and wondering what we were up
too! Just like old times. Brian was there
but left a little after midnight. My Family
is hilarious and I miss them all so much. Also
Con-man has grown two feet. Sooo not exaggerating !!
One handsom nephew I have.

Old Fashioned Food Storage

The root cellar. While I worked hard this summer on feeding
the neighborhood chipmunks our garden, Dean worked really -
really hard on the root cellar. He wanted to keep the cistren
water tank from freezing and what a great idea to also store
foods the old fashioned way. ( I do hope he wasn't expecting
me to GROW the food ) DARN CHIPMUNKS. The broccolli was lookin
sooo good, other vegi's growing. A cat wandered in one day
and we are keeping him! He is friendly and cute to.

He dug - he hauled & stacked rocks - he dug - he hauled
and stacked more..........many more rock. He measured,
suppoted, calculated and planned. It took months to complete
and his little helper Eli was surely hoping for a new hut or
fort.

Doesn't it look old fashioned and earthy? ( pretty sure
earthy's not a real word ).

We read that the "new green word" is a Geo-Thermal room that
built right, can even replace the refrigerator in your kitchen.
WHAT! I am going to kick our propane sucking - onion smelling -
space taker upper fridge right out the door to the curb!

Oh, we dont have a curb.

Spider man Pictures

I took soooooo many pictures of my son - son that
if you view them on the camera with the button
held down, it looks like he is climbing up the
wall in a very speedy climb.

A Fact about Ben that someone may not know......
He served 4 years in the Marine corps and has
served and been in many places of our world.
Iraq was one.
He is the strongest kid (adult) that I have ever
known. Physical and mental.
Very proud of the kid (adult)

Check out Skylar Deans huge proud smile.
He kept yelling - Thats my dad !!!!!!

Little Buckaroo Mutton Buster

It was sooo cute to watch the kids ride the sheep.
Some were so little and all very brave ! Our Eli
did-not even hesitate. He hung out in the corrals
sittin on top of the fence so he had a front seat
and watched as some of the kids just didn't want
to do it. I understand !

When his time came, he just climbed right on. They
gave him his choice of sitting forward or backwards
and his choice was backwards, it did seem the back -
wards kids were doing a little better at "hangin on".

Slap the sheep and off he went. The crowd CHEERS !
Down he goes ! The announcer says, give that kid a
hand, what a hot dog ! Look at that smile ! Eli
was just one big happy smile walking back to dad.
He got alot of high fives and good job pats on the
way. He had fun and he was proud.

I soon found that he had been stepped on by that
"big old mean wool ball" and his new fair shirt
had a big rip down the shoulder/back side. I walked
him to the trooper to change his shirt and apply
Triple Antibiotic plus pain relief to his hoof scrape
welt. His smile was fading as he looks at me and say's,
mom, I should have known better - now i'm going to die.
I just busted out laughing and said "no one is going to
die (his welt scrape must have been stinging some). He
never cried over it and his new shirt and smile were
back on in time for the goat ribbon pull. He asks every
day if it's time to do it again.

The Duchesne County Fair had something for everyone. It
was a great week, the events were so much fun and the
people friendly and nice. I entered 6 digital photos
and won 6 first place blue ribbons. I can't wait til
next year either.

I loaded pictures in backwards of course !

Face of a graduated swimmer

Eli has been in swim lessons for the last 8 days.
We got up early and went to the library in hope
the internet was up (they have had big problems)
and then off to his lessons. After his lessons
I dressed him in the Trooper and we went to
Duchesne high for the school lunch program. It
is a free lunch program for kids ( usually in
the park). It is a great program.

From there we strapped on Eli's bike helmet
and rode our bikes at the high school, the
park and through the neighborhoods to his
elementary school (in the fall of 2010).
It has a great fun playground and he typically
begged for me to quit playing and continue our
bike ride. The age requirement for swim lessons
is 5 but they wanted to see how he may do at 4
years old. On the second day the teacher said he
is doing good but not listening as well as he did
on the first day, so I let him know if he didnt
listen to his teacher there will be no more bike
rides. They told me he was one of the best listeners
ever. He loved the bike rides and we will continue
them 1 day a week till the snow flies ( shutter )

Some days we went back to the library and some days
we went to the river walkway and soaked our feet
in the strawberry river. All days I was wiped out
but so was he. we ate ice cream cones and I think
he had a lot of fun.

He graduated as a level 1 swimmer.
I am still wiped out.

Camp Hevelone

Five days with 5 kids, ages (7) Lynzi Lou (6) Skylar Dean (4) Eli Burton
(3) Kaydence Mckenna (2) Q Micheal. I am happy to report that we are
still alive. Dean was scared the first day but we both agree that we
will try for part 2 in august, Maybe titled 5 kids for 3 days. We miss
the little guys.

We all slept on a small cozy cot on the living room floor. For much of
night " I was the cot" for Eli and Q slept on me and Kaydence snuggled
in. With luck most of the mornings went like this: find shoes out of
the great shoe basket pile, lace "em" up and go to the first outhouse
trip. Hurry up !!! was grumbled but mostly the kids started to wander
off and play. Velcro and flip flop shoes will be required camp gear
from now on. Round up all playing children and take them in for food.
The first morning we bravely whipped up griddle cakes. Yummmy. But get
real granny, all the rest of the mornings breakfast was cold cereal
or instant oatmeal. Wash hands and sticky syrup faces. Round "em"
up again. This takes forever! I hunt for suitable fitting and semi-
clean clothes (we aren't to picky) from a great heaping pile that has
formed (grown) in a corner of our small humble home. Why are socks and
underwear always missing? By the end of the week all 5 kids had on Eli's
underwear and socks. Dont tell Lynzi Lou I told you!! Hers were spider-
man.

Not done yet... hairbrushing ( ooouch ) tangled wild banshee hair ! Well
a good bath will take of wild hairdooos. Spray detangler helps. Teeth
brushing, all goes well and smooth. line "em" up for sun protection
lotion. No - one likes this step but we make it through. It just takes
FOREVER! Get on shoes again. They run, far, loudly and happily.

I clean up after brekfast, pick up and fold every blanket we own, heft
the floppy mattress up against the wall for storage and to hide the huge
clothes heap. It's about this point when I realize it's time to start
on lunch and I am still in my jammies. The rest of the day is a whirl
of activity. Mostly sweeping. Rain season and muddy shoes. How on
earth do mothers, grandmothers and care givers do it ???? For me it
was Dean and my special helper Lynzi Lou. Turning 8 last saturday.
Outhouse trips, meals and snacks, hair and teeth brushing, sun pro
application, shoes and jammie(clothes) She was right there to help
with it all. Not one complaint out of her. She is and always has been
my special girl.

Highlights include: Feeding the chickens - Lizzard hunting - Getting
rained on several times a day - Shelby getting stuck (bad) and we
dug/pulled her out from under a huge boulder - Dutch oven cook out -
collecting sprigs of sage ( nature walks ) - beading necklaces and
making dads day cards - eating two whole watermelons - having popcorn,
rootbeer and watching a movie - eating smarshmellows and sipping hot
cocoa at the kitchen table ( due to all the rain ).

What we didn't get to do : See a bear or go fishing ! Maybe next camp.
My special ones

Lynzi : Creative and everyones friend. Brite and smart. Adventurous
high spirited happy girl. She is a mini-me in looks and we have alot
in common.

Skylar : The problem solver. He say's "wait I know what, lets try "...
He is a great leader and scout and headed up all our hiking adventures,
and very patiently waited for the slow little ones.

Eli and Kaydence : They just play together mostly peacefully. Eli
say's Kaydence is his best friend and she teaches him how to be good???
You go girl !!!!! Eli asks her to hold his hand often and you can
watch them walking hand - in - hand alot. It's sooooo cute.

Quintin : is a sturdy little guy that has a smile that shines from
here to Arizona ( dimples included ). He says the cutest things with
his squeaky little baby voice. He is a carefree little guy. Dont
tell him that though.... he say's he's big.

1 - 21

1- We spent a month in the city (fixin up the Kearns house for a 1
year lease)and moving everything left there. It wasn't all work.
Lets hope for a good quiet lease year. (too late!)

2- Thanks to Strong Ben and Cody for all your help!

3- Special thanks to my Shelly belly for all the GREAT
food and company!

4- Most thanks to Jo-mamma (who I love) for being the
best mom ever to my special kids.

5- Gramps, Eli and I went to the living aquarium while
in the city, we got toooo many pic's to post them all.
Our favorite part? Just spending the day with the folks.

6- Cody, Eli and I rode the Trax Train to The museum of
Natural history.

7- I came home to water !!! I will never figure out how
my honey (Dean) found the time - but what a surprise!!
Running hot water and washer. LUXURY

8- I will soon write a story on water and conservation,
and waste. I went right back to long hot showers in the
city.

9- We had our mail stolen. Made alot of calls. We go
down the mountain every day for mail now. While
Shipping packages last December from the city, the
gal asked, do you really have a highway contract box?
It's a rural route box the sits on hwy 40.

10- Rain, rain go away. 6 solid weeks of rain. We planted
peppers (and lots of other vegi's) and they haven't grown.
Also-they haven't died.

11- We had a dutch oven cook - out with the kids and grands.
I kept the grand(babies)and we ran camp Hevelone. Will
be my next blog, and we miss them kids so much, we will
have camp Hevelone again in august.

12- Shelby the dog has been missing for over two weeks.
Anyone who ever met her said she was the best dog. I hope
she has a new good home.

13- The chickens are hilarious creatures and we laugh
when Eli feeds them. One dominates the food(slice of
bread)and the other three chase her around and around
for their fair share. She cant stop to eat or the others
will catch up. So they run and we laugh. Very amusing.

14- Sego lilies are in bloom for Deans birthday. They
are sparse this year(prob to much rain). Last year we
had fields of hundreds as far as the eye could see. I
will repost an older blog with a picture.

15- I have tried to post this blog a few times but failed-
not enough time, the library closes at 6 not 6:05 my fun
librarian guy teases us, then throws us out. I saved one
in draft and cannot get it to post. I drove to the library
and had no TIME restrictions only to find out the internet
was down - first time ever.

16- My Lynzi Lou helped me soooo much with Camp( shoes,
outhouse, teeth brushing, sun protection application, etc.)
that I took her to a local soda fountain Rexall drug gift and
cafe for lunch. After we hit the local library in R Town and
we decided to relax and chill out. She named it chill-axin.
We also had fries and hot fudge sunday's.

17- Eli starts swim lessons soon. We will go for 8 mornings,
then to the park for lunch and friends. There is a walkway park
here it winds (safely) around the stawberry river and so we
may have to get us "our fishin permits".

18- There is the best program out here. Eli gets tested in
5 areas on August 24th, and if he is delayed in any area,
he will go to pre-school two days a week. If he has no delays
then we have a great year before he starts kindergarten and I
will continue to teach him at home. Some teacher will appriciate
that I have taught him to Listen with his ears open and his mouth
shut. I think he will have delays in speech.

19- Dean is turning 49 on saturday. He wants Nachos for dinner.
He doesn't get ice cream on his special day. The store is 21
miles one way, in July and our freezer is to small and filled
to the max. I will take him to Al's for ice cream next week.

20- I miss my mom and dad. I kinda miss my sibs tooo.

21- Wendy is coming out for a long walk.

Wheeler Farm Picnics

We all went to Wheelers Farm on tuesday afternoon.
Ben, my Shelly belly, Skylar, Shellys mom who we
all very affectionately call Jo "Mamma" two of her
cute stuffed animal looking dogs, Shellys sister
in-law Katie, her three adorable kids, My mom,dad,
sister Jodi and Cody. The kids were running around
chasing the ducks and begging Ben to swing them
some more. We were all talking and I paused to
reflect on the fun memories there. We had a picnic
dinner on a picture perfect spring day. The company
was also perfect. I was so mad that I forgot to set
up a family pic of us all. It was Codys job however,
to remind me not to forget.

I had to carry Eli to the Trooper, he was screaming
" I want Halloween!" Here is why.

Last fall Gramps, Aunt Jodi, Eli and I all went
to the farm and picked a pumpkin from the patch,
stuffed a scarecrow and just walked. It was so
much fun we set plan to meet again this year in
the Pumpkin Patch. Eli had gathered a-lot of candy
and goodies. Thanks in part to Aunt Jodi and gramps.

The year before for moms b-day we went to the farm
and the kids met a skinny Santa and we went on a
hay ride through the woods to see the christmas
lights. It was cold out that night so a cup of
cocoa by the fire was perfect.

One fall I took little Lynzi Lou to the farm for
some fun. A big old goose got up in her face
and let off a long, loud honk ! She cried so we
walked away from the goose and ended up in front
of the turkey cage. One turkey went to her and
sent out a suprisingly loud, gobble ! gobble !
She cried, so walked into the barn to milk a cow.
The little girl in front of her was milking the
cow and it swatted her hard in the face with it's
tail. She started to cry and Lynzi Lou looked
over at grannie (me) with big wide eyes and that
brave little girl marched over and took her turn
milking the cow.

The pic's are not in order.

Shelly and her nephew Colton

Ben swinging Skylar and the kids patiently
waiting their turn. Yeah right ! Not Eli !

Scarecrow fun with gramps and Aunt Jodi.

A fun b-day for grandma at christmas time.

Lynzi Lou milking a cow.

Kids Tear - Free sun protection, is it safe ?

The back of the tube label says many great ingredients that
protect against the harmful effects of the sun. It brags
that it is "as mild as water to the skin".

Dean was applying this to Eli and had too much in his hand,
so I grabbed a disposable plastic water cup and put the
excess amount in it, intending to use it the next day. I kept
grabbing the tube instead so the plastic cup with the lotion
in it sat. After about a week, Dean picks up the cup and
exclaims, will you look at this ! As you can see in the
picture, over the week the sun protection lotion - ate away -
or melted the plastic cup.

CRIPES !!! Kids need protected from the sun, but how safe
is this stuff ? I remember being taught in science class,
that soda will eat through a nail in about a weeks time.
What about the rest of the bad, harmful stuff.

Pestisides and fresh fruit and vegetables............

Beef and mad cows disease..............

Chicken and growth hormones.........

Hydrogenated oils & Trans fat.............

Nuts are radiated..........

Fish has high mercury levels......

Rice and Corn are genetically altered..........

Enriched white flour.........

High fructose corn syrup, makes everything taste better,
Therefore we eat more and may contribute to diabetes.

Preservatives, a Twinkie stays a "Twinkie" for like a
hundred years. Too DARN bad preservatives don't keep
up well preserved!

The food statements you have just read are not proven
facts, and may have even been fabricated. Well, I like
a good RANT.

It's just hard to know what is the best and safest things
for our family.

A birthday blog

Great mind think alike, if anyone else had this idea brewing.
My Amanda Mayberry is a year older today. 1981 . My long
walker Wendy and I used to fight over her. Wendy usually
won. The first time Amanda ever got sick was when she was
6 months old. Wendy brought that baby sprite and crayons ?
She can't have sprite and she will just eat the crayons, I
said. Wendy gave me the "look" and she got the sprite and
ate the crayons.

All ( yes, every single one ) of her school teachers said
at parent teacher confrences, just pack her bags and let
me take her home with me. One gal that took care of her
after school in Sandy said, she is the perfect child. I hope
mine are half as great as she is.

Sooo, I could write all day about her virtue's, but to
sum her up: She is down to earth, and non-judgemental.
She is calm and relaxed, she sings when she picks
up one of her kids, she is happy and always makes me
laugh.

It was hard to pick just one short story of her, but here
is my favorite. We were taking her to her dads out her
in the basin and we were driving a brand new shiney red
truck. Christmas was a few short days behind us. We gased
up at a station and got a bonus free car wash . SWEET, lets
use it before we hit the road. Great idea, she agrees. While
in this high powered, brush spinning wash, we here a terrible
loud noise! What...... all her christmas loot was in the
BACK of the truck !!!! I am a self described air head. New
rollerblades and clothes etc......... She could have been mad
or sooo sad, but no, we laughed all the way to Roosevelt and
still laugh at the memory today. I have lots of thoose stories.

I choose two picks of her and wish I had thought of one other.
We went to the Mayan for her birthday one year and they made
her wear a ballon hat. She just has a great smile.

Picture # 1 - She and my sis and baby Connor (which is exactly
how I remeber him) on my wedding day. I choose this picture as
one of my favorites but also because Aunt Jodi is VERY special
and very good to Amanda.

Picture # 2 - One of our crazy rock hounding trips. There were
so many fun trips it was also hard to pick just one.

See you friday My Mayberry !

The long walkers

My long walker is leaving. Oh it's only for 18 months they say,
but for me thats a lifetime away. Besides my canteen, Wendy is
the only one who understands and joins my passion for long walks.

I met her in 1980 and over the years we were inseparable. As our
kids grew and left, there was a time only a check-up phone call
was made once a week. But in the summer of 2002 we walked. All
summer long. During the week she came at 6am monday, wed and fri.
She was a perky - happy little thing on our morning walks. Me, not
so perky. I had a graveyard part-time job and got home around 3 am
and took my snooze til she came and kicked me out of my naptime.
Some mornings the best I coul'd give her chatty banter was Uh - huh.

Saturday's however was our long walk days. We set off at dawn and
strolled back in late afternoon. some days 12 miles, others 20.
My best story of the long walks is one saturday we parked the
Trooper across the street from Hogle Zoo. There is a trail head
( I forget the name ) that winds around the Red Butte Gardens -
the U of U hospital where we watched life flight lift off - then
goes around and into City Creek Canyon and finally emerging into
the State Capital grounds. This is were Dean and Terry ( our
hubbies ) were to pick us up and wisk us off to a great dinner
at T.G.I. fridays. Well they weren't there, so we start walking.
The only good thing about walking down town Salt Lake City in the
middle of dead heat summer is there is a 7-11 on every city block.
We were sore but fine eating candy, chewing gum and walking. Yep,
you guessed it, we walked ALL the way back and as soon as I stuck
the key in the door the guys drive up. It was a great walk and a
great dinner.

I only remember the year "cause" it was the year we all rock
hounded and camped at Topaz mountain, and the same terrible year
Terry died sept 6th. He had found a cool twisted up stick and de-
barked it, sanded it, wrapped a cord around it and gave it to me
for my birthday that same summer. Someday I may blog all our many
memories of him, his steel art work in our home, our fun wednesday
dinners.

We have seen Wendy more since our move to the Basin, She (by chance)
became the steel lady sales rep. for this area and her and Eli have
some kind of special connection. She is being transfered to Idaho!
Idaho, where is Idaho, Canada? Just kiddin all my Idaho-an cousins.

We have snow shoed in and back out the next morning. We took Eli
sledding the roads and ate many bowls of popcorn up here. Dean had
laid a pine floor, sanded and finished it while Eli and I stayed in
S.L.City. He had put everything, even the kitchen sink in a small
area of the livingroom. We had a long walk planned for over a month
but Wendy helped instead put it all back in order, even the kitchen
sink. It was just as fun as a long walk.

Enjoy your Idaho adventure Wendy, I love your alter identity Idea -
buy a pair of wranglers and cowboy boots.

Pics not nessesarily in order.
Me as a kid, I was ready to walk at the first sign of spring. I only
now understand why my mom didn't let me hike in winter and walk alone.

Wendy and I at Topaz mnt. May 2002

Wendy, Eli and I at Cowans Cafe Duchesne, March 13, 2009. Dean is the
camera guy.

I found a picture of us Christmas day 1980. I decided not to post it,
we looked like a couple of kids. I guess we were.

Ben, The wind generator tower and the battery bike ?

Our Rim Rock adventure would never have been as fun or gone
as far without our son Ben. He has put alot of time and
muscle into this place and the best most pratical - generous
gift ever, came from him and his wife Shelly (hole-in the-belly).
A wind generator. Ben and Dean built a 60 foot tower, not an
easy task, but up it went. It whirled - twirled and generated
alot of power. It was the best thing ever.

We had waited all spring, summer and into fall for the water
well drillers to punch a hole in our mountain. They finally
came in October and hit dust. 800 feet of a probably dry well.
22 thousand dollars. Circumstances can sure alter how we live.
Plans can be made, but life can throw a few hardships.. Even
with solid plans and finances in place. We are what legends
are made of. Everyone knows of us from the wind generator
tower and deep, dry well. We should have enough water to bathe,
launder, (pretty sure thats not a real word) have our garden
and greenhouse growing, 33 and 1/3 chickens or compairable
(spelling ?) stock, and or enough flowing H20 for a water
park.

We were still in deep shock over our water situation, when one
night a few weeks later a storm with high winds blew in and
blew down our loved wind generator tower. It smashed both
generator and tower and both un-repairable. Ben, in frustration
over our situation took solid action. The next day a new more
efficient wind generator was on it's way. Ben also went into
KSL.com classifieds and wondered how much a tower may be, if
even available. A shocking, unbelievable, most amazing thing
he found - a free ( yes FREE ) industrial strength, massive,
galvanized steel tower with all hardware included (crates of
u-bolts & clamp etc.) again for free. She could have sold it
for thousands of dollars, yet she was very grateful to just get
it off her property. She had just listed it that morning.
Things may work in mysterious ways but Ben takes action. We
have to wait for spring to put it up with a cement base. Also
Dean has worked soooooo hard on so many other things. We still
have limited power but solar panels that Ben hauled 23 feet up
to the roof work good too.

The old generator has been promised to me. I want to see if
Ben can wire it up to a stationary pedal bike and I can keep
our batteries charged for Eli's toys, camera, etc, and it
will help me stay fit. I am excited for the battery bike.
Maybe a great invention ?

I don't believe so much in bad luck. I believe our choices
have ripple effects on our future. We are just a family that's
trying to put a home and new life together. We all just do the
best that we can. It's just life after all.

Notes:
The Duchesne county library ROCKS !

I want to say " hi " to goodbyes. She is my special cousin
and I couldn't wait to see her when we were kids. " hi "

Look close at the generator pic and you will see the moon
during the day.

I got an awesome e-mail from Dorothy Galyean's granddaughter
( check out one of my old posts )and sadly I am losing my
long walker. Not sure which one to blog first. I loose the
net and suddenly I got all kinds of things to say!

Living Off Grid - Part 1

An article in our local newspaper sparked this blog. Also a blog that I
have had written for a while, Titled: Ben, the wind generator and a
battery bike falls right into perfect place as part 2.

Cheryl Mecham writes for our local news paper, The Uinta Basin Standard
and in this one article asks her husband what is off grid? Off the map?
Outer space? The top of a mountain peak? Where? He explained that that
it meant some folks choose to live without electricity, water or sewage
systems. That is not quite how I would explain it but she goes on to
write it was a real "Jaw-dropper". She had heard of the Cedar-billie's,
a popular derisive term in the Uinta Basin for those who live in
substandard housing (lean-to's and even vehicles) amoung the vast acreage
of Cedar forests. There was more to her article and it was favorable to homesteaders/Ceadar-billies having pride and satisfaction when saying we
live off grid. It does bring up the question of the quality of life.

We are homesteaders and have had many set backs on our utilities. That
struggle goes into more detail in part 2. I personally did not set out
to be self sufficient. I wanted to live on Main street, any small town
Utah with Sheriff Andy Taylor, Aunt Bea and Opie as neighbors and friends.
I am not SURE that this remote mountain is the best place to raise an only
child. But, I do know that our old residence of 20 years was NOT a good
place. Living off grid is certainly not an easy way of life. We have a
farmer friend and his wise words are: To make a life out here, you have
to be 1- rich 2- very tough and 3- stupid. Two outta three, not bad.
We are almost out of cash!

Quick basics on how we do it: We drive off the mountain every other day
to collect water and the mail. Aprox 7 miles round trip. We drive to
town once a week to get grocery and clean clothes. Aprox 50 miles round
trip and round town. Everything takes alot of time. We get all cooking
and drinking water from our daughters house in Roosevelt, and keep it in
seprate containers. A few people have drank the well water we use for
washing and without names they all seem fairly normal, but in my family
I can't rightly say what normal is. Sorry Pa .

We heat the water each night for dishes and the baths. I was so worried
about this and taking care of Eli. I never want it said the he is not
clean, happy and healthy under the circumstances that we live. But just
the opposite is true. More needless worry . He gets the best care and
the same care as any home with running water and modern conveniences.
He gets a bath every night, we prepare food the same and our home is
clean and comfortable. It just takes a little extra special care and
work. We have an outhouse and a chemical "potty" in the house bathroom
for after dark.

My husband Dean has put everything into this homestead. Our small 900
sq. foot cabin house is beatiful inside and on a solid foundation.
We have spent the last two years on it and the loft divided into two
rooms. I have a lot of creativity and Dean has alot of muscle. He is
the brains behind it all. There was nothing here but the shell of our
house, no pipes, only basic outlets for power. Dean has designed and
built it all. From the make - do for now - power supply, to the cistren
and underground water lines. He had jack hammer in 80 feet out of
300 feet of water lines, buried 3 feet deep for frost protection.
They don't call this place Rim Rock for it's great soil. We have
been denied a septic sewer twice. Bad soil out here. He had to put
in bathtub, sink, wash and dryer hook-ups, and all lines , water heater
to put in place and plumb it in to the tub, sinks, washer. How do you
set up a fully functioning home with limited power? He has done it.
We are almost there. Dean put in propane lines and we have a
cook stove and a propane fridge and the water heater will be the insta -
hot - power saving one. All lights have energy efficient
low watt bulbs.

Once the cistren is in (1200 gallons) we will fill it with a 300 gallon
tank that sits in the back of a pick-up truck. Dean will go into Duchesne
to fill it prob 3 times per week. We can buy a water card for a nominal
fee of $35.00 per 8000 gallons. Part 2 will explain why the cistren and
a monthly water bill was not a part of the master plan. But things they
do change. Also the cost of gas will be greater hauling water.

Dean likes to collect things and this adventure would never have been
possible without his knowledge - determination - and all the "stuff"
he has gathered. LOL . It may look bad but it works good.
Dean can fix - learn - and - do everything. I have heard (by many)
that I am also a rare breed, as not many women like to camp and would
never consider this style of living. We have had our struggles, but no
more than anyones and certainly less than alot of people. Amazingly,
I miss television shows more than water, power and sewer. Oprah, Dr.OZ,
Dr. Phil, Little House (yes - for real), Law and Order, A- Idol ! All
things are possible and with permanent power station maybe satellite dish ?

This is a very challenging place and way of life. We must be up for the
challenge, we are still here. Any one can ask questions about our
"Hill- billie's ways by sending an email from my profile page (I think)
and I welcome all questions. I no longer have internet so it may take
time before I reply, but I will get back to you. Also I shall blog part
2 from Amandas house on saturday.

Tabiona Sky

The pictures were taken from a house that we were interested in the
Tabiona area. There was an old three room cabin that was build in
1935. Over the years someone had put up stucco siding and we had
grand visions of restoring it back to it's original log. I look
back after all the work and time we have put into the inside of
this place and realize how much time we would have spent on that
project. Soooo glad the septic was not up to code.
Beautiful golden sunset and a rainbow.

Internet Blues

Two more pictures from Kearns. The one was taken from our front
door. It's the rooftop of the house across the street, with
a fiery red sunset.

The flower a bulb that was spreading fast. It bloomed atop a
3 or 4 foot stem.

Our internet may be a thing of the past. If so I may try to
post a blog from the library or Mayberrys house every few weeks
or so. Will keep you posted.

For Real ?

This actually happened to me on March 25th, 1981 at Cottonwood hospital.
I also had to eat a spaghetti dinner with my left hand. Try it sometime.
Good thing they sent me home with a baby girl.